What Is a Microboard

The Microboard Guide: Part 1 of 5

A microboard is a small group of committed people who come together with an individual who has a disability to form a registered non-profit corporation. The microboard provides governance, advocacy, and decision-making support for that person throughout their life. It creates a formal legal structure that can outlast any one individual’s involvement.

A microboard is not a group home or a service agency. It is a personalized structure, built around one person, governed by the people who know them. The members meet regularly and make decisions together about the person’s supports, services, and quality of life. They can advocate on the person’s behalf, coordinate care across different programs and providers, plan, and provide continuity when family circumstances change.

A microboard can also become the legal entity through which government funding is managed on the individual’s behalf. Under the Transfer Payment Agency (TPA) model used by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), a microboard can receive and manage public funds from a TPA to employ support staff and arrange services. This is not yet universally available and is covered in Part 3, How a Microboard Fits into the Funding Landscape.

What This Guide Covers

This guide is organized as a series of five posts, each covering one topic:

Part 2: Building Your Circle of Support covers who can be part of a microboard, where to find them, how to grow a support network over time, and the role of a professional facilitator.

Part 3: How a Microboard Fits into the Funding Landscape provides a high-level overview of how different government funding streams work and where a microboard fits in.

Part 4: Making It Official: Incorporation and Structure covers the steps to formally incorporate a microboard as a non-profit corporation.

Part 5: Keeping It Running: Governance and Compliance covers the ongoing obligations of an operational microboard.

Timing

The content in this guide focuses primarily on the individual’s adult life, including government funding programs that begin at age 18. Parents of young children can use the guide for long-term planning. The earlier families begin cultivating relationships and understanding the system, the stronger the foundation will be when the time comes to formalize. A parent with a five-year-old does not need to incorporate a microboard, but they can begin thinking about who will be in their child’s life and how support will be structured in ways that will matter a decade from now.

Getting Support

Every family’s situation is different. Microboards Ontario (www.microboardsontario.com) supports families through the microboard process, including building a circle, incorporation, and governance. 

Other Resources

Partners for Planning (P4P) at planningnetwork.ca is a provincial organization founded by families that provides free webcasts, tip sheets, and planning tools across all life stages. P4P maintains directories of facilitators and professionals with disability expertise across Ontario. Contact: info@p4p.ca.

PooranLaw at pooranlaw.com is a disability law firm whose founding Partner is a founding director of Microboards Ontario. PooranLaw and Community Living Ontario have produced free e-books covering future planning, Henson Trusts, government benefits, education, engaging support workers and legal decision making.

Community Living Ontario at communitylivingontario.ca works alongside 124 local agencies across the province and provides resources for families.

Vela Canada at velacanada.org is the British Columbia organization from which the microboard model originated, with over 1,200 microboards supported since 1990.