SMART IDEAS
You’ve got email Electronic proxies have arrived. Two Toronto condominium directors and a corporate lawyer are behind a new platform that lets unit owners vote online
Electronic proxies have arrived, meaning it’s now possible to elect condominium directors with the clicks of a mouse. Faced with rising owner apathy and declining AGM attendance, two Toronto condominium directors and a corporate lawyer teamed up to create the platform called GetQuorum. Last fall, co-founders Ben Zelikovitz, J.J. Hiew and Trevor Zeyl took the earliest iteration of their software out for a test-run, reaching quorum in their 200-unit, mixed-use, downtown condominium days before the meeting began. Since then, they have commercialized the platform, working with several large property management firms, including Brookfield and Malvern, to roll it out to nearly 20 condominium corporations in Ontario to date. A common concern surrounding paperbased proxies is the potential for tampering.
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GetQuorum creates unique access codes and tracks IP addresses to verify the identity of the person filling out the proxy form. In addition to capturing quorum, the software allows corporations to elect directors and pass bylaws on desktop or mobile devices as well as send AGM packages electronically if owners opt in. Certain changes to the Condominium Act, passed last fall but not yet in force, are expected to make it easier for Ontario condominium corporations to use technology. In the meantime, however, the creators of GetQuorum obtained a legal opinion from Miller Thomson confirming that their software meets the current requirements of the legislation. GetQuorum has also been accepted into Ryerson University’s Legal Innovation Zone, an accelerator for start-ups that will contribute to the modernization of the law and justice system. Their participation will give them the opportunity to speak with the provincial government as it works out the details of the regulations that will accompany the recently passed changes to the Condominium Act. For more information, visit www.getquorum.com.