Guide AGM · Alberta societies
How to run an AGM in Alberta
Notice, quorum, agenda and voting for a society under Alberta's Societies Act, with the timeline and the agenda we use when we produce one.
Two documents set the rules: the Societies Act and your own bylaws. The Act requires one AGM a year where an audited financial statement is presented, 21 days' notice and 75% of the votes cast for any special resolution, and an annual return to the Registrar. Your bylaws set the rest: how much notice the AGM needs, quorum, proxies and who can vote. Read them first.
What the Societies Act requires
These rules apply to every society incorporated under the Act (RSA 2000, c. S-14). We checked them against the King's Printer consolidation current to November 16, 2022.
| Rule | What the Act says |
|---|---|
| Hold an AGM | A society holds an annual general meeting and presents a financial statement showing income, disbursements, assets and liabilities, audited and signed by the society's auditor (section 25). |
| Special resolutions | A special resolution needs at least 21 days' notice that says you intend to propose it, and at least 75% of the members who vote, in person or by proxy where allowed. It can also pass on shorter notice if every member entitled to vote agrees, or in writing signed by all of them (section 1(d)). |
| Electronic meetings | Unless your bylaws say otherwise, members may attend and vote electronically, and a meeting may be held entirely online. Members attending that way count as present in person. |
| Electronic notice | Unless your bylaws say otherwise, notice of a meeting may be sent electronically. |
| Annual return | Each year, by the last day of the month after your anniversary month, file a return with the Registrar: the registered office address, each officer and director, and the audited financial statement presented at the last AGM (section 26). |
| File special resolutions | Every special resolution passed for a purpose in the Act, such as a bylaw change, is filed with the Registrar (section 28). |
The Act leaves the AGM notice period, quorum and voting rights to each society's bylaws. Bylaw changes are special resolutions, so they need the 21 days' notice even when your bylaws allow shorter notice for the AGM itself.
What your bylaws decide
Pull your registered bylaws, not the draft someone remembers. Check these six things before you set a date.
- Notice period and method. How many days, and whether email counts. Bylaws we read range from 14 to 30 days.
- Quorum. A number or a percentage of members, and what happens if you don't reach it. Some bylaws adjourn the meeting for half an hour, then proceed with whoever is present.
- Who can vote. Members in good standing, one vote per member or per business, and whether dues must be paid by a cutoff date.
- Proxies. Allowed or not, and the deadline to submit them.
- Elections. Board size, terms, the nomination deadline, and whether nominations can come from the floor.
- Rules of order. Robert's Rules or a simpler set, and who chairs.
The 8-week timeline
Count back from the meeting date. If you have a special resolution, the notice must go out at least 21 days before, so week 4 gives you a week of margin.
- 8 weeks out Lock the basicsDate, venue and format (in person, online or hybrid). Confirm the auditor can finish the statements in time. Read the bylaws for notice, quorum and voting.
- 6 weeks out Draft the agenda and call for nominationsWrite any special resolution word for word. Open nominations for the board. Book AV, and the voting platform if anyone attends online.
- 4 weeks out Send the noticeDate, time, place or link, the agenda, the full text of every special resolution, and the proxy form if proxies are allowed. Keep a record of when and how you sent it.
- 2 weeks out Finish the papersAnnual report, audited statements, last year's minutes, the nomination slate. Print voting cards from the current member list. Write the run of show.
- 1 week out RehearseWalk the chair through the script and the motions. Test the online voting with a dummy vote. Confirm who moves and seconds each motion.
- The day Count before you startOpen sign-in 30 minutes early. Check each person against the member list and hand out voting cards. Count quorum before the chair calls the meeting to order, and record it.
- The week after File and follow upDraft the minutes. File any special resolution with the Registrar, and the annual return by its deadline. Send members the results.
A standard agenda
Your bylaws may set the order. If they don't, this is the order we use. Put times beside each item in your run of show, not on the printed agenda.
- Call to order, quorum confirmed and recorded
- Land acknowledgement and welcome
- Adoption of the agenda
- Approval of the minutes of the last AGM
- Chair's report and the annual report
- Audited financial statements and the auditor's report
- Appointment of the auditor for the coming year
- Special resolutions, such as bylaw amendments
- Election of directors
- New business
- Adjournment
Voting that holds up
Most AGM disputes start with a vote nobody can reconstruct. Three habits prevent them.
- One card per vote. Hand each voting member one card at sign-in. At the Chinatown & Area BIA's 25th AGM we printed YES on one side and NO on the other, one card for each member business, so every vote was visible from the stage.
- Count the 75% from the votes cast. The Act counts the members who vote. If 60 members vote on a bylaw change, it needs at least 45 yes votes to pass. Members who sit out aren't counted, so record yes and no separately.
- Write the count into the minutes. Record yes, no and the result for every special resolution, and how online votes were taken.
If you're a business improvement area
A BIA is set up under the Municipal Government Act's Business Improvement Area Regulation and its own city bylaw, so its AGM follows city rules on top of its bylaw. In Edmonton, the City's BIA toolkit says members get 14 days' written notice of the AGM, and the meeting covers the auditor's report and statements, the proposed budget and programs, major projects, board nominations and last year's minutes. The budget goes to the City by mid-October for Council's approval, so most Edmonton BIAs hold their AGM in September or October.
From our work Chinatown & Area BIA · 25th AGM
What we learned producing a 25th AGM in three languages
On November 4, 2026, at Dynasty Century Palace, doors opened at 6:00 and the meeting started at 6:30. The stage deck followed the printed book page for page, so members could read along at their table in their own language. Members, partners, the City and police were in the room.
AGM Production From $3,500 per AGM
Want someone else to run the room?
We bring the run of show and floor plan, agenda timing, registration and sign-in, AV and a producer on the day. You get a member-notice email and agenda template within 5 business days of signing. You run the vote.
Or see AGM Production. Travel extra outside Edmonton.
Sources
- Societies Act, RSA 2000, c. S-14 (Alberta King's Printer)
- Business Improvement Area Regulation, Alta. Reg. 93/2016
- City of Edmonton, Business Improvement Areas Toolkit: Operating a BIA (October 2025)
This guide is general information from an event producer, not legal advice. Your registered bylaws and the current Act govern your meeting. For a bylaw question, ask a lawyer or Alberta Corporate Registry.