The Province is considering amendments to the Business Corporations Act that would allow for a new hybrid type of company — the community interest company  — structured to both benefit the larger community and allow limited investor returns within the context of a traditional for-profit company.

“We have heard from community and business leaders in the social enterprise sector that community interest companies could offer a model for entrepreneurs that want to attract investment capital and address social and community needs,” said Finance Minister Colin Hansen. “I encourage anyone with an interest in social enterprise to review the consultation letter and submit feedback by the December deadline.”

Community interest companies (CICs) would be incorporated with all the flexibility and certainty of regular companies, but under legislation that ensures they primarily benefit the community. CICs would allow an alternative business model not currently available through a regular business whose primary focus is making money for shareholders, or a society which is not allowed to make a profit.

The model for the possible reforms is the 2005 amendment to the Companies Act in the United Kingdom. Consistent with the UK framework, the British Columbia community interest company would be subject to an “asset lock” — capping dividends on CIC shares and interest on bonds to ensure that profits are either retained by the CIC or directed to the community benefit.

“Social enterprises are businesses with social objectives that reinvest most of their surpluses into those purposes,” Surrey-White Rock MLA Gordon Hogg said. “They can be engaged in different areas of business and have many different objectives, including health, environmental, cultural or educational services.”

Once a company selects the CIC model, the choice would be irrevocable. The only way to end CIC status would be to dissolve the company, in which case the assets could go only to another asset-locked entity and could not be distributed to shareholders.

This proposal forms part of the Province’s ongoing revision of important framework statutes in the corporate, commercial, real estate, and financial services sectors. In recent years, this process has resulted in several pieces of new or revised legislation.

For more information and to view the consultation letter, visit: http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/prs/cicc/

The deadline for submissions is Dec. 1, 2010.

Submissions can be emailed or mailed to:
Email: fcsp@gov.bc.ca
Mail:
Financial and Corporate Sector Policy Branch
Ministry of Finance
PO Box 9418 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, B.C.  V8W 9V1
Phone:  250 387-1269