The Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the “OBCA”) is being amended effective December 10, 2016, to require a corporation incorporated or continued under the OBCA to maintain a “register of ownership interests in land in Ontario”. The register must identify each “ownership interest” in land and show the date the corporation acquired and disposed of the interest. For each property, the corporation must keep with the register a copy of “deeds, transfers or similar documents” that contain the property’s municipal address, if any, the registry or land titles division and the property identifier number of the property, its legal description and the assessment roll number, if any.
It is unclear what “ownership interest” means, but the phrase is likely broad enough to include a leasehold interest or a beneficial interest.
A corporation incorporated or continued under the OBCA before December 10, 2016, has until December 10, 2018, to complete its register and compile the documents required to be kept with the register. A corporation incorporated or continued under the OBCA on or after December 10, 2016, must perform the foregoing work immediately.
The foregoing requirements are set out in subsection 140(1) and section 140.1 of the OBCA.
