Does the Royal Charter still exist?
Yes. The Charter which resides here in our executive offices in Toronto, consists of 5 pages of vellum (sheepskin) parchment, hand-lettered and embellished with elaborate calligraphy. Its many clauses talk about the sorts of things one would find in modern articles of incorporation: number of directors; frequency of meetings; number of officers, their titles and duties; communication with shareholders, etc. There are also other clauses which set out responsibilities of the Company to the Crown, including the payment of a rent of “two elk and two black beaver” whenever the Sovereign or his Successors should enter into the area of the Company’s tenure, as well as an obligation to expend every energy in discovering the North West Passage to the Far East. Although certain provisions of the Charter, such as the rent and our title to the initial land grant, have been superseded by subsequent amendments to the Charter, legally it remains the founding document of our existence as a corporate b
