Q: I recently requested permission to look at documents in our strata office related to alterations to our complex’s balconies. Our strata corporation indicated we have a bylaw for this charge. The management company imposes a fee of $100 per hour for staff to attend and provide documents, which would be charged back to my […]

Strata corporations are permitted to adopt bylaws that limit or prohibit pets, short term rentals, age of occupants, and control the use and enjoyment of all property within a strata plan.   Read the entire article……………………………….

A Saskatoon condo board is suing a developer for a list of alleged defects in the high-rise.  In a statement of claim filed at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, the No. 1 River Landing condo board says Toronto developer Urban Capital “breached its duty of care” and was “negligent in failing to design and construct […]

New research from the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) contains alarming news for condominium owners living in a building with low reserve fund contributions.  The end result, the organization says, “will likely lead to overwhelming annual increases and require lump sum payments from owners to cover shortfalls.”    Read the entire article……………………………….

The condo board at No. 1 River Landing is suing Toronto developer Urban Capital for alleged “defects and deficiencies” in the $55-million tower on the Saskatoon riverbank.  The 120 units in the tower at No. 1 River Landing sold out within hours when first made available and the building opened in October 2019. It’s built […]

Q.  My family has been looking at several condos in Vancouver and, in the process, have read several sets of bylaws from these buildings. A common theme that we find confusing is the language applied to the generic use of strata lots, in hopes the corporations can cast a broad net over a number of issues.   Read […]

A small wall resulted in a big expense for a North Okanagan couple.  Colette and Stephen Gelter built a wall on the patio of their former waterfront townhouse in Vernon’s Okanagan Landing area.  A Feb. 28 Civil Resolution Tribunal decision reveals the Gelters paid $21,279 into the strata’s trust account, which would allow them to […]

One of Canada’s largest condominium builders has announced it will add a raft of new technologies and systems to its future high-rise projects to help address an increase in water damage problems.  “Water damage in condo development is an industry-wide issue,” said Peter Webb, senior vice-president of development for Concord Pacific Group Inc. “When there […]

A small wall built on the patio of a $1.4-million lakeside Vernon townhouse has cost the former owners more than $14,000 in bylaw fines and legal fees in a fight with the strata.  According to a Feb. 28 Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Colette and Stephen Gelter paid $21,279 into the strata’s trust account, which allowed […]

Q: Last year, we purchased a townhouse in Ladner and loved the community and our new home. Our strata corporation is undertaking several upgrades, including resealing and caulking doors and windows on the exterior and some window upgrades.   Read the Q&A…………………………………

Volunteering to serve on your condominium’s board of directors can be a thankless task – and in some cases a legally and financially risky one.  One little-known vulnerability for condo board members is baked into the liability insurance policies for directors and officers those corporations are required to purchase in Ontario: If one director brings […]

A Kamloops strata has lost its fight to stop a tenant from smoking on their balcony because it addressed the $100 fines to the landlord and not the tenant.  According to a Feb. 25 Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, the strata of the Battle Street condo building issued four $100 fines to the tenant of a […]

Our townhouse complex of 38 units in Abbotsford approved a special levy in two payments for roofing replacement.  The first levy of $8,000 was due on Feb. 1; however, we are unable to start the project until May 1 as the contractor has a number of delays associated with staffing issues.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Some community associations in Calgary are “extremely disappointed” that a political advertisement was published in the February edition of 38 community newsletter magazines across the city without their approval.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Q:  We live in a 26-unit condo complex in Burnaby. We have a large piece of land and have been approached by several developers interested in purchasing our strata property.  Read the Q&A………………………………..

The Yukon government has approved new regulations for the Condominium Act, 2015, setting the date for the new act to come into force on Oct. 1.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Residents of a downtown condominium complex are rattled and calling on police to increase patrols around their building after a frightening incident on the weekend when a group of men they believed to be convoy demonstrators appeared to briefly handcuff the lobby doors shut.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Dear Tony: As an aging resident of our highrise condo building, I am growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of access or complicated access to our building. I use a walker now to support my back, and still drive. Our main building access has an electronic door opener, but our three parking garage elevator lobbies […]

A problem-plagued condo building in the city’s Pleasant Hill neighbourhood has been sold to a construction company based in B.C.  The high-rise, known as Prairie Heights, was shut down on May 6, 2021 after the Saskatoon Fire Department deemed it no longer healthy or safe to live in due to ongoing fire hazards and drug […]

Dear Tony: As an aging resident of our highrise condo building, I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of access or complicated access to our building. I use a walker to support my back, and I still drive. Our main building access has an electronic door opener, but our three parking garage elevator lobbies do not.  […]

When Greg Gillis opened a notice from the insurance provider of his Fredericton condominium last spring, he was shocked by what he saw.  The cost of insurance for the 10-condo building had skyrocketed to $22,000 a year — a $12,000 jump.  Gillis is the condo board president at York House in Fredericton, built in 1893 […]

New research by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries reveals that low reserve fund contributions will likely lead to overwhelming annual increases and require lump-sum payments from owners to cover shortfalls, and could potentially lead to the loss of homes, especially in the context of rising interest rates.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Dear Tony:  Our strata have been plagued with short-term accommodation problems. The occupants have damaged property, violated numerous bylaws and now lost keys and fobs for building access.   Read the Q&A……………………………………

A request from a condo board has The Blue Mountains reconsidering how many of the town’s sidewalks are cleared of snow in the winter.  The town is considering options for improving its winter sidewalk maintenance, after receiving a letter from the Windfall Condominium Boards that expressed concern about the lack of municipal snow removal within […]

Dear Tony:  We have some issues with our management company. First, it’s imposing a $100-an-hour charge on owners wishing to inspect documents. Also, it recently notified us of a 50 per cent fee increase beginning Jan. 1 and has already drawn the increase without our approval.   Read the Q&A………………………..

When Shiva Ashtari and her family moved into a condominium on Charles Best St. in Chomedey eleven years ago, they weren’t aware that the fireplace which had been installed when the eight-unit building was completed in 1986 didn’t meet construction and fire code requirements.    Read the entire article……………………………….

As much as $9 million of debt plus a rapidly deteriorating structure have caught up to York Condominium Corporation No. 82, which runs the 321-unit building in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood. And last week, an Ontario Superior Court judge cited an engineering report that found repairs needed in the 10-storey building over the next […]

Toronto’s waterfront is set to welcome Ontario’s first elementary school built inside of a condo building.  The Ontario government announced the project Friday as part of an effort to create more educational spaces in the downtown core.    Read the entire article……………………………….

Wood frame construction for stratas, increased building material costs, and earthquake exposure in British Columbia contributed to the skyrocketing condo insurance premiums that hard market sector saw over the past few years, an Aon executive says.   Read the entire article……………………………….

Dear Tony:  Our building has a major roofing and deck reno coming up in spring, but we can’t get a three-quarter vote passed to approve a special levy.    Read the Q&A…………………………………….

Construction company CPL Interiors Ltd. was fined $761,967 today after pleading guilty before the Ontario Superior Court for its role in a criminal bid-rigging conspiracy. The bid-rigging scheme victimized condominium corporations in the Greater Toronto Area.    Read the entire article……………………………….

One of Ontario’s provincial condo watchdogs says it’s going to tell condo managers to be impartial when running their board elections after it received a warning that features in digital condo votes made popular in the pandemic could compromise their integrity.    Read the entire article……………………………….

A Burnaby resident is warning people that the place they see for rent online might not actually be real.  The resident told the NOW that he recently bought an apartment in the Brentwood area.  After the deal went through, he discovered the same unit being listed for rent on several rental websites for $1,900 a […]

Question: I live on the third floor of a condominium building. The unit above me on the fourth floor had a flood and the water damaged my unit. The condominium corporation repaired my unit. It is my understanding that the condominium corporation’s insurance was used to pay for the repairs.    Read the Q&A………………………………………….

The brother of a deceased B.C. property owner says the building’s strata council was wrong to clear out his brother’s townhome after he died.  Ross Graham, who is the executor of his deceased brother’s estate, filed a complaint with the B.C. Civil Resolutions Tribunal alleging that $40,000 worth of items were removed, without permission, from […]

On Jan. 1, 2022, the Condominium Authority Tribunal’s (CAT) jurisdiction is expanding to include disputes about nuisances, annoyances or disruptions involving noise, odour, light, vibration, smoke and vapour, as well as nuisance and related indemnification provisions in condominium governing documents.   Read the entire article……………………………….

If your strata corporation implements the following simple basics correctly, your exposure to actions and disputes will dramatically decrease   Read the entire article……………………………….