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Chairing


COCHF provides experienced and neutral outside chairpersons for co-op meetings.  Meetings can be: a difficult meeting, a special meeting or a regular meeting such as an AGM.  A chairperson for a Board meeting can also be provided.

Each COCHF member co-op now gets a FREE Chair for one meeting during each calendar year! If it prefers, the co-op can request an Elections Officer instead of a chairperson.

When should a co-op use an outside chair at a meeting?

Here are a few of the situations where the co-op should consider using an outside Chair for a meeting.

    • There is no one available from within the co-op who can act as or will be seen as a neutral Chair for a discussion on a major agenda item.
    • The Board has decided that the meeting agenda requires an experience level of chairing that is not available in the co-op for the meeting.
    • A members’ meeting has been requisitioned by members and an agenda item on the requisition relates to a disagreement with or other matter relating to the Board or individual directors on the Board.

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How to request an outside Chair from COCHF

  1. First, check your co-ops by-laws to see if there are any requirements limiting who can be a meeting Chair.
  2. A request for a neutral Chair should be the result of a recorded decision made by the co-op Board at a Board meeting.
  3. The request is submitted to COCHF on the Chairing Request Form and signed by an authorized representative of the co-op.
  4. COCHF will notify the co-op office to confirm the neutral Chair for the requested meeting date.

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Fees for Chairing

The first request for an outside chair in a calendar year is FREE! For the first request in a calendar year from a member co-op, COCHF provides a Chair at no cost to the co-op for the first 3 hours.

For subsequent chairing requests, COCHF will charge its usual chairing/consulting fee as follows for COCHF member co-ops:

  •  $30/hour for each hour the chair is present at the meeting plus any consultation or preparation time prior to the Call to Order.  The minimum charge is $100 plus travel costs.  Travel costs are the Chair’s travel to and from the meeting at the current COCHF/CHF Canada rate for reimbursement per km.

Contact COCHF for fees charged for non-member co-ops.

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