April 13, 2016 was International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Transmisogyny, better known as the “International Day of Pink.” A recent Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision demonstrates that condo boards must apply the Day of Pink concepts every day of the year.    Read the article…………

Many boards like to wait until the very last moment to register a lien so they give the owner the most time possible to make payment. This is risky because the lien right expires and delaying may mean the condominium is unable to register a lien before the right expires.   Read the article………….

Your own unit and a portion of the space you share with all your neighbours. That’s the simple explanation. The more complicated one is contained in the Condominium Property Act, a little light reading on the Service Alberta website. Condo fees are your communal responsibility.     Read the article…………..

In a prior blog post, we blogged about a case (3716724 Canada Inc. v. CCC No. 375) where the Court determined that a condominium corporation had unfairly disregarded the interests of a commercial parking unit owner, when it refused to allow the owner to make changes to the common elements to accommodate “pay and display” […]

The order of business should be set out in the agenda distributed with the notice of meeting and other attachments (i.e. audited financial statements). According to Robert’s Rules of Order, the standard order of business is as follows:    Read the article…………

In a recent case, Yim v. Talon, the purchasers of a new condominium unit were successful in getting a court order requiring the developer/vendor to return the deposits previously paid, after the Court found that the purchasers had properly rescinded the agreement of purchase and sale.    Read the article……….

The Toronto Star recently reported that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) awarded a total of $30,000 in damages to 10 residents of a housing co-op ($3,000 per resident) to compensate them for the co-op’s board of directors failing to promptly deal with a number of offensive posters that had been anonymously posted on […]

A recent article in the Globe and Mail reported about a group of condominium unit owners in British Columbia who had decided to sell the entire condominium to a developer. The condominium was 32 years old and consisted of 21 residential units.   Read the article………….

In a case that we recently blogged about, Seto v. PCC No. 492, several commercial condominium unit owners were unsuccessful in their application for an order that the condominium corporation had engaged in oppressive conduct.   Read the article………..

We all know that Bill 106 (the Act amending Ontario’s Condominium Act and other related legislation) was adopted and received Royal Assent in December 2015. It did so after the required three readings before the Legislative Assembly and after having been referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.     Read the article…………

In a prior blog post, we reviewed the case of Couture v. TSCC No. 2187, where the Court found that the condominium corporation had conducted itself in a harsh, burdensome and oppressive manner in a dispute with a unit owner concerning the parking space that she leased from the condominium corporation.    Read the article…………

Enforcing compliance with the condominium documents against a defaulting condominium owner can be a very costly undertaking for a condominium corporation. Even though section 17(3) of the Condominium Act, 1998 imposes an obligation on the condominium corporation to take all reasonable steps to enforce compliance, there is no guarantee that the condominium corporation will be […]

Trying to decide if a condo is right for you? Organizing your pros and cons into ABCs is a manageable way of sorting through them. This week we look at A to E.   Read the article……….

Many people, it seems, are keen to assert their apparent rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in a broad array of disputes. The Charter may get invoked in situations ranging from an eBay purchase gone wrong to matters involving owners, directors and condominium corporations. This can sometimes become a free-for-all of legal […]

The timely payment of common expenses (commonly referred to as “condo fees”) is essential to the survival of condominium corporations. For this reason, the Condominium Act has put in place various mechanisms to facilitate the collection of these common expenses.    Read the article…………….

In a recent case, Seto v. PCC No. 492, several commercial condominium owners were unsuccessful in their application for an order that the condominium corporation had engaged in conduct that was oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to their interests.  There were several issues in dispute between the parties:

There is no shortage of reported legal cases where pets and condominium corporations are adversaries. Many cases deal with the nuisance of a barking dog or with dogs in breaches of the corporation’s rules. But there is an increasing number of cases dealing with dog attacks on common property. In such cases, both the corporation […]

A group of condominium unit owners in Richmond, B. C. have filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, claiming that they were being discriminated against because the condominium board decided that all board meetings would be conducted in Mandarin.   Read the article………….

An Ottawa condominium corporation recently found that it was unable to recoup all of its legal costs incurred in seeking a compliance order against a unit owner and her resident son. There had been a 25-year history of incidents relating to the aggressive conduct of the unit owner’s son, many of which were parking and […]

As we are quickly approaching a new year, we’ve taken a look back at the condominium legal landscape in Ontario over the past year. As usual, it has been an interesting year.   Here’s our list of the some of the most newsworthy items in 2015:   Read the article……….

As most of Ontario is hit with its first snow storm of the winter, I sit down to take stock of 2015. And what a year it has been for us and for the Condo Adviser! Since our launch on March 24, 2015, we have published more than 70 posts! Best of all, the response […]

A dispute about whether commercial parking units in a condominium could be operated on a “pay and display” hourly basis, led a unit owner in Ottawa to commence an application under section 135 of the Condominium Act (the “Act”) for a declaration that the condominium corporation had unfairly disregarded the unit owner’s interests.   Read the […]

As 2016 approaches I find myself reflecting on the most important news, cases, and other events from this past year. Here is my list of the most important condo lessons for 2015:   Read the article…………..

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (“CMHC”) recently released data concerning foreign ownership of condominium units in Canada. The survey conducted by CMHC indicates that foreign ownership in Canada increased in 2015 over 2014 in Toronto Centre (from 4.3% to 5.8%), Vancouver City (from 3.4% to 5.4%) and Winnipeg (from 0.1% to 2.7%).   Read the article…………

As you probably know by now, the Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015 (Bill 106) received Royal Assent on December 3rd, 2015. I have had a couple of people ask me what this means for the industry.    Read the article…………