Condo Board Meetings in Quebec: Notice, Quorum, Minutes

Quick answer: in Quebec, the Civil Code sets only a handful of rules for a condo syndicate's board meetings. Decisions are made by a majority of the directors' votes (article 336 CCQ), directors may attend remotely (article 1084.1 CCQ), a written resolution signed by every director counts as a decision taken at a meeting (article 354 CCQ), and the minutes go into the register (article 1070 CCQ). Everything else, including notice and quorum, comes from the building's by-laws.

Most condo directors in Quebec eventually learn the rules of the co-owners' meeting: the notice, the quorum, the majorities. The board meeting gets far less attention, even though that is where nearly every decision of the syndicate is actually made: the budget, contracts, repairs, contributions, the follow-up to a water damage claim.

This guide walks through what the Civil Code says about board meetings, question by question, and ends with the most practical one: finding a date that works for everyone.

A note on vocabulary: in Quebec law the condo association is called the syndicate, the board is the conseil d'administration, and the by-laws are the règlement de l'immeuble, which is part of the declaration of co-ownership.

Where do the board's rules come from?

The syndicate is a legal person (article 1039 CCQ) and, like any legal person, it acts through its organs: the board of directors and the general meeting (article 311 CCQ).

Three layers apply, from the most specific to the most general:

1. The by-laws of the building. Article 1084 CCQ leaves the composition of the board, how directors are appointed, replaced and paid, and the other conditions of their office to the by-laws. The by-laws are part of the declaration of co-ownership (article 1052 CCQ), and they usually set the number of directors, the quorum and how meetings are called.
2. The divided co-ownership chapter. Besides article 1084, it adds one rule specific to syndicates: remote attendance at board meetings (article 1084.1 CCQ).
3. The general rules for legal persons. Articles 335 to 344 and 354 CCQ govern how a board operates. They apply to legal persons that take a form governed by another title of the Code, as a syndicate does, but those legal persons may depart from them in their by-laws as long as the members' rights are preserved (article 334 CCQ).

So before anything else, read your by-laws. Where the Code is silent, they usually are not.

Who calls a board meeting, and with how much notice?

The Civil Code says neither who calls a board meeting nor how much notice is required. The notice periods most directors know apply to meetings of the co-owners, not to the board. The by-laws usually say who calls the meeting, often the president or the secretary, and how far ahead.

If they are silent, a few habits prevent most disputes:

• Notify every director, without exception, in writing, with the date, time, place or video link, and the agenda.
• Give reasonable notice, except in an emergency, so everyone can arrange to attend and read the documents.
• Attach what the board will decide on, such as quotes or a draft budget, and keep a record of when the notice went out.

There is also a legal reason to include everyone: a director who is absent from a meeting is presumed not to have approved the decisions made at it (article 337 CCQ).

Quorum and majority on the board

Majority. Under article 336 CCQ, board decisions are made by a majority of the directors' votes. What counts is directors, not the relative value of each unit as at a co-owners' meeting.

Quorum. The Code gives no quorum figure for the board. It assumes there is one, though: when vacancies bring the number of directors below quorum, the remaining directors may still validly call a meeting of the members (article 340 CCQ). The quorum is normally set by the by-laws. If yours are silent, the cautious course is to decide only when a majority of the sitting directors is present, and to ask a lawyer before an important decision rests on it.

Vacancies. Directors fill vacancies on the board, and vacancies do not prevent them from acting (article 340 CCQ), subject to the appointment rules in the by-laws (article 1084 CCQ).

A deadlocked board. When the board can no longer act by majority, because directors cannot act or because some systematically oppose, the others may act alone for conservatory acts. If the situation persists, a court may step in at the request of an interested person (article 341 CCQ).

For the quorum of the co-owners' meeting, which is counted in votes, see our quorum calculation guide.

Can the board meet by video or phone?

Yes. Article 1084.1 CCQ, added in 2021, lets a syndicate's directors take part in a board meeting by any means that allows all participants to communicate immediately with each other. Phone and video calls meet that test, and a meeting can mix people in the room with people online. Directors attending that way may vote by any means that lets the votes be verified afterwards and keeps the vote secret when a secret ballot is requested.

One detail worth knowing: the general rule for legal persons (article 344 CCQ) only allows remote attendance if all directors agree. Article 1084.1, written for condo syndicates, does not carry that condition.

In practice, everyone must be able to hear and speak at the same time, so an email thread is not a meeting. The chair records at the start who is present, and the minutes say so. The co-owners' meeting has its own rules for this, covered in Virtual condo meetings in Quebec.

Written resolutions: deciding without meeting

Under article 354 CCQ, a written resolution signed by all the persons entitled to vote has the same value as if it had been adopted at a board meeting. Two conditions follow from the text:

• Every director entitled to vote signs. A resolution signed by four directors out of five is not a written resolution under article 354 CCQ, even though four votes would carry the decision at a meeting.
• A copy is kept with the minutes. The syndicate's register must also contain its written resolutions (article 1070 CCQ).

Written resolutions suit simple, uncontroversial decisions. As soon as one director has doubts, a meeting is the right place to discuss them. Electronic signatures can be used; our article on condo meeting minutes explains the conditions.

Conflicts of interest: disclose, record, abstain

Every director must act with prudence and diligence, and with honesty and loyalty, in the interest of the syndicate (article 322 CCQ). In a condo, conflicts of interest are common and usually mundane: a director's brother-in-law bids on the roof, a director's own unit benefits from the repairs, or a director has a claim against the syndicate.

The Civil Code expects three things:

1. Avoid the conflict and disclose it. A director must disclose any interest in an enterprise or association that could put them in a conflict of interest, and any rights they may assert against the syndicate. The disclosure is recorded in the minutes of the board's proceedings (article 324 CCQ).
2. Abstain. A director who contracts with the syndicate, or acquires rights in property they administer, must say so immediately, ask that it be recorded in the minutes and, except where necessary, abstain from discussing and voting on the question. This does not apply to their own remuneration or conditions of work (article 325 CCQ).
3. Know the consequence. If the disclosure is not made properly and without delay, a court may, at the request of the syndicate or a member, annul the act or order the director to hand over the profit made. The action must be brought within one year of learning of the acquisition or contract (article 326 CCQ).

A related rule specific to condos: a co-owner who has not paid their share of common expenses for more than three months cannot be a director until they have paid everything owed (article 1086 CCQ).

Minutes of the board meeting

The Civil Code does not list what board minutes must contain, but several articles give them a specific job:

• Dissent. A director is liable, with the other directors, for the board's decisions unless their dissent was recorded in the minutes (article 337 CCQ). For a director who disagrees, the minutes are the protection.
• Conflicts of interest. The disclosures of interest described above are recorded there.
• The register. The register the syndicate keeps available to co-owners contains the minutes of both co-owners' meetings and board meetings, along with written resolutions (article 1070 CCQ).
• Access. Co-owners may consult the register at reasonable hours and get copies for a reasonable fee (article 1070.1 CCQ). The board keeps the books and registers, which belong to the legal person and to which members have access (article 342 CCQ).

A common mix-up: the 30-day deadline in article 1102.1 CCQ covers the minutes of co-owners' meetings and written resolutions adopted by the co-owners. It does not cover board meetings. The Civil Code does not require board minutes to be sent to every co-owner, but they must be in the register and available for consultation.

Good board minutes record the date, time and format of the meeting, the directors present and absent, any guests, the agenda, each decision with the result of the vote, any dissent and any disclosure of interest. Who signs them and how they are approved is usually set by the by-laws.

Finding a date that works for the whole board

This is the part the law leaves alone, and the one that most often stalls a volunteer board: five directors, five schedules, and an email thread that drags on for two weeks. A few habits help:

• Set a rhythm. A standing slot, such as the second Tuesday of the month, means you do not renegotiate every time.
• Offer specific slots, not an open question. "Which of these four evenings works?" gets answers; "When are you free?" gets silence.
• Allow an "if needed" answer. It separates the ideal evening from the possible one.
• Send one reminder, only to those who have not answered. Reminding everyone wears out the people who already replied.
• Decide and tell everyone, with the meeting link and the agenda.

How CondoAide helps a board meet

CondoAide is management software for Quebec condo syndicates. It does not replace your by-laws or the board's judgment, but it takes much of the friction out of getting the board together. The release notes are in The syndicate calendar.

• A syndicate calendar. The "Calendar" page shows the month as a grid and an "Upcoming" list. Dates CondoAide already knows appear on their own: co-owners' meetings, board meetings, the deadline to send the minutes, contribution due dates, work orders, planned maintenance, insurance. Each event is visible at its own level: whole building, co-owners or board.
• Date polls. A director chooses "Propose dates" and offers 3 to 8 time slots. Each board member answers "Yes", "If needed" or "No", and answers appear live. A single email reminder goes to members who have not answered, once the poll is 24 hours old and its first slot is less than 48 hours away. The board then picks "Choose this date", and everyone is notified.
• Meetings planned from the calendar. A board meeting can get a "CondoAide video room", which nobody enters until a board member admits them from the waiting room. A guest, such as a contractor, receives their own invitation with a calendar file, without the details reserved for the board.
• Everyone's availability. A director can connect a Google or Microsoft calendar ("Connected calendars") so that no meeting is proposed at a time they are already busy. CondoAide reads only busy times, never the titles of appointments, and other board members see only "Busy". For that check, Google or Microsoft receives, outside Quebec, the calendar identifiers and the period to check.
• The calendar on your phone. "Subscribe" adds whole-building and co-owner events to Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. Board events go only to an iPhone or iPad, through "Calendar on iPhone", where each device gets its own access.
• The meeting, the minutes and written resolutions. Under "Meetings and assemblies", CondoAide helps run the meeting, record the directors' votes and produce the minutes. A "New written resolution" goes out for the directors' signatures, and the signed resolution is added to "Signed written resolutions".

The calendar is available to every syndicate, whatever its plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many directors are needed to hold a board meeting?

The Civil Code sets no quorum figure for a syndicate's board; the by-laws usually do. Decisions are then made by a majority of the directors' votes (article 336 CCQ). If your by-laws are silent, decide only with a majority of the sitting directors present, and have a lawyer confirm the point.

Can the board meet by video or phone?

Yes. Article 1084.1 CCQ lets directors attend by any means that allows them to communicate immediately with each other, and to vote if the votes can be verified afterwards and kept secret when a secret ballot is requested. An email exchange does not qualify; outside a meeting, you need a written resolution signed by every director.

Is a decision made by email valid?

Not as such. A decision outside a meeting must take the form of a written resolution signed by every director entitled to vote (article 354 CCQ), kept with the minutes. Three "agreed" replies out of five directors do not meet that condition.

Can co-owners read the board's minutes?

Yes. The register the syndicate keeps available to co-owners contains the board's minutes (article 1070 CCQ), and any co-owner may consult it and get copies for a reasonable fee (article 1070.1 CCQ). Unlike the minutes of a co-owners' meeting, they do not have to be sent to everyone within 30 days.

Further reading

• Condo meeting minutes in Quebec: deadlines, electronic signatures and the register.
• Quorum calculation guide: votes, quorum and majorities at the co-owners' meeting.
• Virtual condo meetings in Quebec: quorum, voting and proxies by video.
• Why a condo syndicate needs its own email address: board correspondence and what a director must hand over.
• The syndicate calendar: what is new in CondoAide for planning meetings.

This article provides general legal information current as of October 16, 2026. It is not legal advice and does not take your syndicate's declaration of co-ownership into account. For a situation that commits your co-ownership, consult a lawyer or a notary.