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What are British Columbia Company Articles?
BC Company Articles are rules that govern the internal management of a British Columbia company, including corporate meeting requirements, voting requirements, and responsibilities of officers.
In other Canadian provinces, Company Articles are known as the company’s Corporate Bylaws.
What rules do Company Articles include?
In British Columbia, Company Articles include crucial information about how a business operates. This document is typically drafted upon incorporation and sets the rules of conduct for meetings, specifies voting restrictions, outlines share rights, and more.
When drafting BC Company Articles, here are a few key rules you’ll include.
1. Voting regulations
These rules will include any information about how the shareholders and directors of a corporation can vote on corporate matters. These rules will typically outline what percentage of the voting shares constitutes a quorum, if shareholders are allowed to form voting trusts, and if cumulative voting is allowed when electing directors.
2. Meeting regulations
Company Articles should outline certain meeting rules. For example, will directors and shareholders be permitted to use remote technology to participate in meetings? How much notice is required for special directors' meetings? These are questions to consider when drafting your Articles.
3. Share regulations
A crucial part of any for-profit corporation is its share structure. Typically, BC Company Articles will include a section devoted to details about the corporation’s shares. This might include the number of share classes, share redemption rules, and rules for dividends.
Are British Columbia Company Articles required by law?
Yes. In British Columbia, Company Articles are regulated by the Business Corporations Act, which states that all corporations must have Company Articles.
The Business Corporations Regulation, under the Business Corporations Act, sets out a template for Company Articles, which can be adopted in whole or in part by any British Columbia corporation. Using LawDepot’s Company Articles template, you can customize this document to suit your corporation’s specific needs based on your answers to our questionnaire.
How do I create Company Articles in British Columbia?
Before you start creating your Company Articles, our questionnaire requires a response to two important questions.
Firstly, confirm that your business is based in British Columbia. If your business operates out of a different Canadian province, use our Corporate Bylaws document.
Secondly, state if you are incorporating a new company. If so, an Incorporation Agreement will also be included in your Company Articles. This helps ensure you have all the information required to electronically file your Incorporation Application with BC Corporate Online.
After you’ve confirmed your location and incorporation details, we’ll take you through the following steps to complete your Company Articles:
Step 1: Provide the registered name of your company
Next, you’ll be asked to provide the full legal name of your business. This should be entered exactly as it appears on your company’s incorporation application filed with BC Corporate Registries.
If you haven’t registered your company’s name yet, you can enter the name you are hoping to use.
Step 2: Provide share details
At this stage in our questionnaire, you will be asked to provide the following information about the company’s share structure:
- Number of share classes: BC Corporations are required to have at least one class of shares. With LawDepot’s template, you can specify up to five different classes. They will be assigned a corresponding letter (i.e., Class A, Class B, Class C, etc.) Using multiple share classes is a great way to encourage investment in the company while still retaining decision-making powers.
- Voting rights: This determines which share classes give shareholders the right to vote on corporate matters and other managerial issues, such as electing directors.
- Share redemption details: In some cases, shares can be repurchased from the shareholder by the corporation. This is typically done through a Share Repurchase Agreement. When completing our questionnaire, select one of four options:
- Non-redeemable
- Redeemable by the corporation only
- Redeemable by the shareholder only
- Redeemable either by the corporation or shareholder
- Dividend details: In business, there are two kinds of dividends: cumulative and non-cumulative. Cumulative dividends pile up and must be paid later if not given when due. Non-cumulative dividends don't stack up, so if a dividend is not declared, it does not have to be made up in a future year when a dividend is declared. Non-cumulative dividends are more common.
Step 3: Provide incorporator details (if applicable)
This step is only necessary if you are incorporating a new company.
Incorporators are anyone who is forming the company and signing the incorporation agreement. Typically, the incorporators become the corporation’s shareholders after the incorporation process is complete.
Incorporator details will include the following:
- Incorporator type (i.e., individual or business entity)
- Incorporator’s name
- Number and class of shares that the incorporator will take
Step 4: Outline shareholder meeting details
Next, set the rules that will govern shareholder meetings. For example, determine:
- Quorum requirements. This decides the minimum number of people or the percentage of voting shares required to be present before a meeting can proceed. Any decisions made at a meeting without a quorum are not considered legally valid.
- Remote communication regulations. Can shareholder meetings be held remotely? If yes, then board members can join the meeting through phone or video conferencing.
- If shareholders can form voting trusts. If so, shareholders can temporarily give their voting shares to a third party, who will then vote on behalf of the shareholder in accordance with a voting trust agreement, also known as a Shareholder Proxy.
- If cumulative voting is allowed when electing directors. Cumulative voting allows minority shareholders to concentrate all their votes on a single director candidate. Cumulative voting allows minority shareholders a better chance of influencing the election of at least one of the directors.
Step 5: Create director meeting rules
Much like you will set the rules for shareholder meetings, your Company Articles provide an opportunity to outline any regulations on meetings of directors. This might include:
- Notice periods for special meetings. When a special meeting is called, the Company Articles should state how much notice is required. LawDepot’s template provides three options: reasonable notice, number of hours, or number of days.
- Remote communication regulations. Can director meetings be held remotely? If yes, then board members can join the meeting through phone or video conferencing.
- Conflict of interest guidelines. Specify if a director is disqualified from voting on issues where there is a direct conflict of interest with the company.
Step 6: Finalize director and officer details
Finally, your Company Articles must state:
- The number of directors the corporation has
- If the corporation can lend money to officers, directors, or employees
- If the corporation will consist of a simple or complex officer structure
- A simple officer structure consists of a president, a treasurer, and a secretary.
- A complex officer structure might consist of a CEO, COO, CFO, president, and any number of vice presidents.
- Who will appoint officers
Step 7: Sign the incorporation agreement (if applicable)
This step is only necessary if you are incorporating a new company.
If you are creating Company Articles for a new corporation, this document will need to be signed by all incorporators. This step is crucial because you will need to certify that you have both a signed incorporation agreement and a set of articles when filing for incorporation.
Who can use British Columbia Company Articles?
British Columbia Company Articles can be used by for-profit corporations whose home jurisdiction is the province of British Columbia.
If your company’s home jurisdiction is not British Columbia, please use our Corporate Bylaws template.
When do BC Company Articles come into effect?
Usually, a company’s Articles are officially approved by the corporation’s directors at the first Directors’ Meeting.
After this meeting, the rules and procedures outlined in the corporation’s Articles come into effect and will begin guiding the company’s internal management.
However, depending on the particular circumstances of the corporation, the following documents can also be used to approve and adopt Company Articles:
Do Company Articles need to be filed with BC Corporate Registries?
No, British Columbia Company Articles do not need to be filed with BC Corporate Registries. This document is an internal record of a company’s rules and regulations and, as a result, is generally not accessible to the public. Instead, BC Company Articles should be stored with the corporation’s other records in their Corporate Minute Book.
However, for new corporations, you will be required to confirm that you have both a signed incorporation agreement and a set of articles.
BC Company Articles versus Notice of Articles
Both Company Articles and Notice of Articles are essential first steps in creating and organizing your corporation. Although they may sound similar, these two documents serve distinctly different purposes.
In British Columbia, a company’s Notice of Articles is a legal form that the corporation files with BC Corporate Registry. A Notice of Articles will typically include any information about the company that will be publicly available, such as the company’s name, directors, share structure, and registered office.
On the other hand, Company Articles may include information that is not publicly available. As we’ve already outlined above, this may include the finer details about the day-to-day governance of a company, internal policies, and other private information.
How do I amend BC Company Articles?
As your business grows and corporation regulations change, it’s important to update your Company Articles to reflect any changes in your corporation.
Both directors and shareholders can amend Company Articles using a Director's Resolution or a Shareholder's Resolution. Once the proposed change has been voted on and approved, it can be adopted and integrated into the Company Articles.