This report makes recommendations for the enactment of a new Incorporated Associations Act, which would repeal both the Companies Act and the Societies Act and apply only to true non-profit associations. The Act would not replace some specialized statutes such as the Cemetery Companies Act, the Co-operative Associations Act, and the Agricultural Societies Act and would not apply to non-profit corporations incorporated by the Legislature under special individual Acts. Many parts of the draft Act are similar to counterpart provisions in the Business Corporations Act.

Under the Act, anyone would be able to incorporate a non-profit association and it outlines the requirements for application. The articles of incorporation would set out the association’s name, its purpose, the classes of memberships, and by-laws under the incorporated association’s constitution. An incorporated association would have a great deal of flexibility in its internal operations as well as having all the powers of a natural person and it would be required to use those powers only for the purposes stated in the articles of incorporation.

The draft Act is intended to cover a wide range of incorporated associations (e.g. private charitable foundation, or a sport or social club) but is not designed to cover subjects that would be dealt with elsewhere in the law, such as the regulation of charities.