Read the full Guild Charter (PDF, updated December 11, 2025).

The charter is the set of rules the Western Canadian Blacksmiths Guild runs by. Most members will never need to read the whole thing, so here’s a quick rundown of what’s in it. If there’s ever a question, the PDF above is the official version.

What we’re here for

Our mission is pretty simple: keep blacksmithing alive as a trade, a craft and an art form, both the traditional side and the modern side. We want people to be able to learn from experienced smiths while they’re still around and willing to teach, and we want smiths across Western Canada to have a way to share what they know.

Membership

Anyone who supports that mission can join. The board sets the yearly dues. If you want to leave, just let the secretary know in writing, but fees aren’t refunded after you’ve been a member for six months.

If your dues aren’t paid within three months after the end of the year, your membership is suspended until you catch up.

A member can be expelled by a two-thirds vote of the members at a meeting. That vote happens at the meeting after the motion is made, the member gets written notice within two business days, and they get a chance to speak before the vote. Someone who’s been expelled has to wait at least a year before they can ask to come back, and that also takes a two-thirds vote.

The board

The guild is run by a volunteer board: a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary/Treasurer, and two or more Directors at Large who take on whatever jobs the board needs done, like special projects or committees.

  • The President chairs meetings and sits on every committee.
  • The Vice-President steps in when the President can’t.
  • The Secretary/Treasurer keeps the minutes, the member list and the correspondence, sends out meeting notices, collects dues, handles the bank account and reports on the finances at the AGM.

Board members have to make it to at least four meetings a year, including the AGM. If they don’t, the Chair puts forward a motion to remove them, and it goes to a vote at the AGM.

Elections

Elections happen at the Annual General Meeting. Positions are staggered: odd-numbered positions are elected in odd years and even-numbered ones in even years, so the whole board never turns over at once. If a spot opens up partway through a term, it’s filled at the next meeting, as long as the meeting notice says there will be an election. Any member in good standing can run for any position.

Meetings and voting

  • The AGM is held on or before the second Saturday in January, weather permitting. If it gets snowed out, it moves to the February meeting. That’s where the Secretary/Treasurer presents their reports and elections are held.
  • Other meetings can be called by the board with a week’s written notice by email or phone. If a third of the members sign a petition, the President or Secretary has to call a special meeting.
  • Quorum is five members in good standing, and at least one of them can’t be on the board.
  • Every member in good standing can vote. Voting is in person only, with no proxies, and if there’s a tie the Chair breaks it.

Money

The books are audited every year, either by an accountant or by two members picked at the AGM, and the results are presented at the AGM. Any member can look at the books at the AGM or by arranging a time with the Secretary/Treasurer. Nobody gets paid for their work with the guild unless it’s approved at a meeting. The guild can borrow money if it needs to, but only with the members’ approval.

Changing the rules

Anyone can propose a change to the charter at a general meeting. If 75% of the members there vote for it, it takes effect right away and then goes to the next AGM to be made official. The board can also make day-to-day regulations (like our shop rules) by a simple majority of the board, and has to make them available to all members.

Everything else

New chapters of the guild can be set up with the board’s approval. If the guild ever shuts down, everything it owns goes to a similar non-profit, chosen by a majority vote of the members at a meeting called for that purpose.