AGM Process and Procedures

The OCC provides the following guidelines to assist members in determining whether an issue is appropriate for consideration at the OCC AGM. An issue must be:

• Provincial in scope or impact;
• An important matter of principle that requires the OCC to be on the public record;
• Deemed important enough to be on the legislative agenda of the government or be of considerable concern to a majority of members.
• Not duplicative of any existing resolutions

Further, policy resolutions must not duplicate any existing resolutions. Duplicative resolutions will be considered invalid. Please refer to the OCC’s Policy Compendium for a list of 2018-21 policy resolutions.

Given the current economic climate, we encourage submitting chambers to avoid making large fiscal asks in their policy resolutions. For more information reference the Policy Resolution Guide.

A policy resolution should consist of four main parts:

Title: The title should reflect the objective of the policy resolution and language must be action-oriented (e.g. “Fix the WSIB”, “Cut the corporate tax rate to 8%”, “Ease congestion at the US-Canada border”).

Issue: A brief two or three sentence summary of the policy resolution.

Background: A brief outline of why the policy issue is relevant and important. The background should include any relevant information and data. 

Recommendations: These should list the course(s) of action that government should pursue. Recommendations should be directed to the Government of Ontario. It is advised that resolutions not exceed three recommendations.

We encourage you to download this template for reference.

Submitted policy resolutions will be posted on the OCC website on April 2, 2019.

In an effort to ensure that the policy plenary at the OCC AGM runs efficiently, the OCC’s Policy Committee will review each resolution in advance to ensure they meet resolution guidelines. The Committee will provide comments to submitting chambers of commerce and boards of trade, regarding any key issues or concerns related to a resolution.

OCC staff will work with submitting chambers of commerce and boards of trade to schedule a call with the OCC Policy Committee to address any outstanding questions regarding their submitted resolution(s).

Only the recommendations of each policy resolution will be debated during the policy plenary session of the OCC AGM. The background sections of the policy resolution will not be considered for discussion.

The deadline to re-introduce and submit a sunsetting policy resolutions will be February 9, 2019.

Proxy votes can be submitted to the OCC so that we can assign a delegate who may not already have a vote. Alternatively, you can choose to assign the proxy yourself as long as your preferred chamber/board is attending the OCC AGM & Convention. Within the next few weeks, we will be providing a form to be completed if your chamber/board will not be attending the AGM and would like to assign a proxy vote. The deadline to submit your proxy vote is Thursday, April 25, 2019.

If you have any questions about the policy resolution process, please contact Ashley Challinor, Vice President of Policy.