BC societies incorporated under the Society Act (BC) are required to file an Annual Report with BC Registry Services to remain in good standing. Until this fall, filing an Annual Report involved submitting an originally signed Annual Report to Victoria for filing. Filing times at the Registry ranged from a few days to several weeks, provided that for an expedited processing fee of $100 the Annual Report would be filed by the Registry within 24 hours.
The Registry has now introduced the option of filing Annual Reports for BC societies electronically, which creates an immediate filing date without the need for an expedited processing fee. This is in line with how for-profit BC companies file Annual Reports.
In order to file an Annual Report online, the society must have an access code, which the Registry is currently sending to societies in their Annual Report reminder letters. These may be sent to the operating address of the society or to AHBL as the address of the society where records are maintained. Societies should provide copies of this letter to their lawyers to facilitate the Annual Report filing process.
The general information required to complete an Annual Report remains the same, and includes the date of the annual general meeting of the society, up to date address information and a list of current directors and their addresses.
For more information about the annual filing requirements of BC societies, contact Ingrid M. Tsui at (604) 484-1746, itsui@www.ahbl.ca, or Robert W. Pakrul at (604) 484-1720, rpakrul@www.ahbl.ca.
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