On July 14, 2023, the PROBUS Canada Board of Directors adopted the following:

On July 17, 2023, all Directors were requested by email from Inga Thomson Hilton, then the Chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, to inform their assigned clubs about this change, as per the amendment process defined in the document itself.

Rationale

Why did the Board make this decision?

Contradictory Clauses

It had been pointed out by a club representative that the Standard Constitution for Probus Clubs was contradictory in stating that membership is open regardless of gender identity while allowing for clubs to be open to men or women only.

Human Rights Act

During a review of the Standard Constitution for Probus Clubs by a Human Rights lawyer, it was noted that single-gender clubs were at risk of legal challenges to that status. Such challenges could potentially be costly to the club and introduce unwanted conflicts.

Growth

The growth of the 3 types (men, women, combined) of Probus clubs in Canada can be viewed in the below chart of the cumulative number of still active clubs by their chapter date. Initially, new clubs were mostly for men only, but by 1998 the majority of clubs were combined. Women-only clubs grew steadily between 1994 and 2012 but then plateaued. The last men-only club was chartered in 2007. 

Summary

• The Board had to address a conflict between subsequent clauses of Article II. Membership of the Standard Constitution for Probus Clubs. 

• It also needed to protect clubs from potential legal challenges. It assumed that the risk level was low so as not to encourage existing single-gender clubs to change to a combined club. 

• The growth pattern for new clubs in Canada shows that combined clubs were the de facto club type even before the change to Article II.2.