Dear Tony: At a recent general meeting, our strata had a lengthy dispute over how quorum was calculated and whether we could continue our meeting near the end as more than half of the registrants had left the meeting. Including proxies, we were well below one-third of the owners present. Read the Q&A……………………………..
5 escape fire in west Edmonton condo building (AB)
A family escaped an early morning fire in west Edmonton on Thursday. Three units at Ormsby Place Condominiums at 185 Street and 66 Avenue were damaged in the blaze, officials on scene said: two by fire, one by smoke. Read the entire article……………………………….
Builder blames construction costs after Montrealer gets hit with $50K price hike for condo (QC)
A Montreal woman who signed a deal to buy a condo was surprised when she discovered the price had gone up by $50,000 – a cost the builder pinned on higher construction costs. Read the entire article……………………………….
Flood leaves Lethbridge condo residents in the dark (AB)
About 90 units in a north Lethbridge condominium complex have been without electricity, water or heat, after a water main break flooded the buildings main utility room. Residents of Uplands Manor said they were unable to flush their toilets, and were left scrambling trying to save their perishable food items. Read the entire article……………………………….
Did I buy a condo on stolen land? How purchasing my first home made me question property rights (QC)
Last fall, I bought a condo in Montreal’s Mile End with my partner. It felt like a real accomplishment: I had a bright, two-bedroom apartment in a neighbourhood I love. However, one thought lingered. In land acknowledgments, it’s usually said Montreal is on unceded land because Indigenous people in the region never surrendered the land […]
B.C. creek fills with foam after laundry powder applied to nearby rooftops to control moss
The City of Abbotsford is investigating after residents witnessed large pillows of foam floating in a local creek a few days after laundry powder was spread on the rooftops of a nearby townhouse complex. Read the entire article……………………………….
Insurance running out for Langford residents still displaced by condo fire last year (BC)
Nearly seven months after a fire engulfed a Langford condo and displaced dozens of residents, the damage has yet to be repaired. “There’s still no real progress on site,” said one of the building’s residents Edward Gonzales. “The first update we got from strata company, was that it was to be finished by March or […]
Condo Smarts: How do we know if pipes are common property?
Dear Tony: Our strata is a typical older three-floor walk-up in North Vancouver. There is no elevator, and we have a common laundry on the ground floor. In many ways, it is a simple apartment-style building with few problems. Read the Q&A…………………………………
Burst pipe in Toronto condo building ‘catastrophic failure’ (ON)
A Reddit posting shows some Toronto condo residents dealing with massive flooding. The post labelled “catastrophic failure” and uploaded on Monday identifies the building as Emerald Park Condos at 9 Bogert Ave., in the Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. area of North York. Read the entire article……………………………….
Condo Smarts: Strata dealing with insurance claim involving late owner needs legal advice (BC)
Dear Tony: Our strata highrise was one of many hard hit by the insurance increases last year. Our deductible increased to $100,000 for water escape. Unfortunately, we had a unit involved in a claim resulting from a tragic incident with an owner who passed away. Read the Q&A…………………………….
Condos navigate ‘nasty little storm’ of rising insurance (BC)
Tony Gioventu doesn’t like referring to surging insurance costs facing B.C. strata corporations and condo owners as a perfect storm. “It’s a bad description,” said the executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC. Read the entire article……………………………….
Condo Smarts: Who gets refunds from special levy? (BC)
Dear Tony: Our strata highrise was one of many hard hit by the insurance increases last year. Our deductible increased to $100,000 for water escape. Unfortunately, we had a unit that involved a claim resulting from a tragic incident with an owner who passed away. We did not have sufficient funds in our contingency in […]
Woman loses fight over strata’s one pet bylaw, but tribunal makes no orders about her two dogs (BC)
So what happens now to Samantha MacKenzie’s dogs? The woman owns two dogs, which she describes as “members of her family”. However, her strata council has ordered MacKenzie to “rehome” one of them. In other words, she needs to let go of one of her four-legged companions. This is because the Abbotsford townhouse complex has […]
Mail suspended at Kelowna condo after mask-less residents spotted in lobby (BC)
Residents of a Kelowna condo building will have to pick up their mail at a Canada Post facility for the time being after delivery to the building was suspended. The reason: a Canada Post courier saw a number of tenants not wearing masks in the building’s lobby. Read the entire article……………………………….
Toilet trouble means strata owner must reimburse corporation’s $5,000 deductible (BC)
A British Columbia townhouse owner whose toilet overflowed and caused damage has to pay the $5,000 deductible on the strata corporation’s insurance claim, the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) has ruled. Read the entire article……………………………….
Condo fees are a case of ‘pay me now or pay me later’ (AB)
Question: In the past three years, our monthly condo fees have jumped from $450 per month (in 2019) to $530 per month (in 2020) to a whopping $650 per month (in 2021). As well, the board has told us that our reserve fund is too low. Some of the money from our monthly condo fees […]
Lack of charging stations in B.C. condos impeding use and purchase of electric vehicles
Drivers in British Columbia are keener than ever to buy electric vehicles, but the lack of charging stations in condo buildings is a major impediment. That’s one of the findings of a report that was discussed at the Metro Vancouver Climate Action Committee on Friday. The report found that, although adoption of electric vehicles is […]
Severe flood damages nine floors of condos at Vancouver House (BC)
Residents at the 49-storey landmark Vancouver House tower in downtown Vancouver found themselves walking around in their home in up to an inch of water on Thursday night. Read the entire article……………………………….
Bikes worth over $11K taken from West Kelowna condo complex (BC)
Bikes worth over $11,000 were stolen from a West Kelowna condo complex earlier this month. The RCMP said it received a report about a break and enter in an underground parking garage along Upper Sundance Drive on April 3. Read the entire article……………………………….
Condo Smarts: COVID-19 updates revisited (BC)
Dear Tony: Our strata corporation has chosen to leave our pool and our exercise room open to residents of our building. Many of our owners are concerned about the risks of spreading the virus and pressuring our strata council to rethink this option. Read the Q&A……………………………….
Condo corporations can officially schedule their Annual General Meetings (AGM) and Special General Meetings (SGM) without further delays (AB)
This is a follow up to our article of March 10 “Modernizing How Organizations Meet”, where we emphasized the need for condo corporations to be able to meet virtually in order to not only be on side with the Condominium Property Act (the Act) when it comes to holding their AGM’s which are supposed to […]
Fire department bills Saskatoon condo $58,000 for fire code repairs after months of ‘insanity’
From May 2019 to January 2021, Bryan Pisesky has been monitoring the video captured by the security cameras at the Prairie Heights condo in Pleasant Hill. He said he was hired by the condo board to compile evidence of criminal activity so the board could evict problematic tenants and clean up the condo tower. Read […]
Condo Smarts: Be wary about council members who aren’t owners or tenants (BC)
Dear Tony: Our strata corporation proposed a new bylaw at our recent annual meeting that will permit other classes of people to be elected to the strata council. It does not define what this means, and at our information meeting, the council basically suggested it could be any type of person who might fill our […]
Summerland retaining wall dispute reaches Civil Resolution Tribunal (BC)
A dispute about who must pay to repair a retaining wall at a Summerland stratum brought property owners and a strata council before a Civil Resolution Tribunal. Read the entire article……………………………….
B.C. couple wins fight with strata over ‘unacceptable’ repairs
A Lower Mainland strata corporation that held onto $2,000 to cover damages to a garage door after the owners sold the townhouse, has been ordered to pay the money back. The strata had argued that the repairs that the former owners had done were “unreasonable” and under its bylaw ordered the notary dealing with the […]
Anti-masker condo dispute shows difficulty of enforcing condo mask policies, says lawyer (ON)
A recent Superior Court decision, arising out of a dispute between two anti-mask condo-owners and their condo corporation, illustrates the dubiousness of mask-mandate enforcement in condo buildings, says Miller Thomson LLP condo lawyer Jason Rivait. Read the entire article……………………………….
Condo Smarts: Costs to obtain strata records (BC)
Dear Tony: As new buyers, we have been looking at several condo buildings in South Vancouver and Richmond. Our experience obtaining information for most properties has been that the strata councils have been very cooperative and willing to provide records and documents or access to their websites. Read the Q&A…………………………………
Condo stink: Tribunal orders restaurant to fix all-day ‘oniony’ cooking that forced Victoria man from his home (BC)
A restaurant has tried to fix the problem of cooking smells, but B.C.’s civil resolution tribunal found the owners broke the strata’s nuisance bylaw and told them to try again. Read the article………………………………..
Shared Spaces: What Can You Do to Common Condo Elements? (ON)
One recent case involved Irving and Nancy Kumer, who owned a luxury condominium townhouse on Lower Village Gate, near Spadina Rd. and St. Clair Ave. W., in Toronto. The owners had exclusive access to a small patio that forms part of the common elements of the condominium. Read the article…………………………………..
Condo Smarts: Pre-counting and reporting votes not valid (BC)
Dear Tony: What happens when owners get to a general meeting, and the proxy votes have already been counted, making the outcome of each resolution already known? Read the Q&A…………………………….
Strata dispute shines light on how insurance costs hit resales in Abbotsford in 2020 (BC)
A tribunal has upheld an Abbotsford strata’s decision to deny an owner an exemption to its non-rentals clause, leaving the owner unable to sell or rent her unit, likely because of “massively higher” monthly fees because of rising insurance fees. Read the article………………………………….
Surveillance video obtained by CTV News shows brawls, vandalism inside beleaguered Saskatoon condo building (SK)
Surveillance video captured inside a problem-plagued Saskatoon condominium building paints a startling picture of the challenges residents face there. Prairie Heights, located at 1416 20th Street West, is a known hotspot for police, with 410 calls to the address recorded last year by Saskatoon Police Service. Read the article…………………………………..
Strata unit owner loses $5,000 claim after mice chew through dishwasher line (BC)
In the case of a flood caused by a mice infestation, a B.C. strata unit owner was not allowed to recover her $500 insurance deductible or $273 premium increase from the strata corporation despite having warned the strata corporation about the rodent problem six years in advance of the flood. Read the article……………………………….
Hemlock Valley homeowners donate $1,000 to fire department (BC)
The Hemlock Valley Homeowners Association pulled together to donate $1,000 to the local volunteer fire department. On Saturday, March 20, the Hemlock Valley Volunteer Fire Department was up near the ski hill on Sasquatch Mountain to raise awareness and funds for the volunteer firefighters. Read the article……………………………….
How can a condo owner deal with noisy neighbours? (AB)
Question: We moved into our condominium complex two years ago. Lately, noise from an adjoining unit during the day and night is becoming unbearable, and often we cannot sleep. We have contacted the condo board about this, and were told to talk to the owner directly, which we did. However, the owner denied making any […]
Fire breaks out at old Toronto church converted into condos (ON)
Toronto Fire Services say firefighters are still battling hotspots after a fire broke out at an old church that was converted into condominiums……..Fire officials said the bulk of the fire is knocked down but they believe there is still some fire in the walls of the church. Read the article……………………………………….
Condo Smarts: Owner, occupant education is critical (BC)
Dear Tony: We had a dreaded flood in our building caused by a defective washing machine where the pump switch failed to turn off. The tenant had started a load of laundry and left to get groceries. By the time she had returned, we had to access the unit to turn the water off, and […]
Personal touches can be ordered removed from condo properties’ common elements (ON)
Disputes over the unauthorized use of condominium common elements continue to appear in Ontario courtrooms. One recent case involved Irving and Nancy Kumer, who owned a luxury condominium townhouse on Lower Village Gate, near Spadina Rd. and St. Clair Ave. W., in Toronto. The owners had exclusive access to a small patio that forms part […]
Regina-Based Thornton Place Condominium Corporation Invests in Bitcoin (SK)
Thornton Place Condominium Corporation (“Thornton Place”), a Condominium Corporation incorporated pursuant to The Condominium Property Act, 1993 (Saskatchewan), today announced that it has purchased 0.4 bitcoin for its reserve fund with $25,000.00 (CAD) in cash at an average price of approximately $62,500.00 (CAD) per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. Read the article……………………………………….
Smoking mad: Frustrated condo-dweller sues strata, neighbour for $30,000 (BC)
There was smoke but not a lot of fire after a three-year dispute between condo neighbours over smoking in their Burnaby tower made its way to court. The complainant, who filed almost 150 complaints about the smell of cigarette smoke in her suite to the strata council, sued her smoking neighbour and the strata for […]
Another “3 Ps” in Condos? Policies, Programs, and Plans (ON)
Most people are familiar with the declaration, by-laws, and rules of condominiums, but many are less familiar with policies in condominiums. This is not surprising as the only references to “policies” in the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Condo Act”), are for insurance policies. In recent years, condominiums are more regularly creating policies to address a […]
Waterloo boy, 5, starts recycling initiative for his condominium complex (ON)
Dallas Carder, a five-year-old from Waterloo, has decided to do something about the food waste in his home. An initiative he asked for will now allow the resident of his condominium complex to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Read the article…………………………………….
Why these B.C. strata owners didn’t have to pay the corporation’s $5,000 deductible
A British Columbia strata unit owner is not liable for their strata corporation’s $5,000 deductible on a property claim arising from a fire, the province’s civil resolution tribunal has ruled. Read the article…………………………………..
Condo Smarts: Bundling resolutions can be helped by agenda meetings
Dear Tony: Our recent Annual General Meeting was held electronically and had 17 resolutions on the agenda for upgrades and repairs to our buildings. Read the Q&A……………………………………
Hundreds evacuated from condo building after fire in parkade (AB)
Hundreds of people were evacuated after a fire broke out inside a condo parkade in the Beltline Tuesday night. Read the article……………………………………..
Even Toronto’s worst condos not as bad as Saskatoon building: landlord association
he current state of the Prairie Heights condo in Saskatoon is the result of condo owners not properly screening renters, according to the Saskatchewan Landlord Association CEO. “We’ve all seen pictures of the state of this property and it’s deplorable and something needs to be done,” said Cameron Choquette. “You don’t see this in bigger […]
Aluminum wiring an issue for Sudbury condo residents (ON)
A condo owner in New Sudbury is appealing to political representatives for support after learning she and other residents will be on the hook for a costly electrical upgrade. “Out of the blue the insurance company said they wouldn’t be insuring us anymore because of aluminum wiring,” said Lesley Bramah, who resides at the Parkland […]
Condo corporations can levy fees based on unit factors, or sometimes by a different calculation (AB)
Question: I am an owner of a residential unit in a condominium complex. I believe that the distribution of unit factors in our building is unfair. What options are available to the owners if they want to change how condo fees and related charges are levied? Please help! Read the Q&A………………………………..
Condo Smarts: Who decides if owner should pay deductible?
Three years ago, my washing machine hose ruptured, causing a flood in my unit and the two units below me. It was managed well by the strata insurance provider without any delays, and as expected, I was responsible for the deductible, which at the time was $5,000. Read the Q&A…………………………………..
B.C. condo insurance crisis continues in 2021, but faint signs of hope for unit owners
B.C. government still unable to provide dates for implementation of reforms promised last summer to bring condo insurance market under control. Read the article……………………………………….