The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has released its policy recommendations to help address B.C.’s concerns about the affordability of its strata insurance.  An official release from the bureau revealed that its recommendations builds on the work of its National Commercial Insurance Task Force. The task force brings together insurers, government, and other stakeholders to […]

As some BC condo owners are reporting insurance premium hikes of 300 per cent, the MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson says he knows his bill to try and reduce skyrocketing strata insurance rates won’t solve the problem.  Todd Stone – the BC Liberal Municipal Affairs Critic – says he believes his bill would provide some relief […]

Q: Read the Q&A………………………Our strata corporation is one of the properties where our deductible has gone from $25,000 to $100,000 dollars as a result of two claims last year. We approved our annual budget in December and now are projecting a short fall of about $65,000 with the insurance increases.  A number of questions have […]

Despite amendments made Jan. 1 to the Condominium Property Act — meant to cut red tape and protect condo owners and their investments — some critics say it doesn’t go far enough.  Effective now, condo corporations must have insurance to protect themselves against fraudulent or dishonest acts, specifically pointing to crimes committed by condo board […]

The BC Liberals have introduced legislation the party says would address skyrocketing insurance rates that strata corporations are being required to pay.  Liberal MLA Todd Stone introduced private member’s legislation on Tuesday that, if passed, would require insurance companies to provide strata corporations insurance renewal terms at least 30 days in advance.      Read the […]

Premier John Horgan says his government is looking into the issue of soaring insurance premiums for condo buildings in the province and will “do what it can” to manage those costs.   Property managers and condo owners have been calling for the provincial government to intervene in the industry, which some say is on the verge […]

Residents of a boutique Hamilton condominium are contemplating selling off the entire building and terminating the condo corporation as a way to ward off a financially ruinous special assessment for repairs.  Read the article………………………..    Case file……………………………….

Asifa Lalji has worked hard to stay in her New Westminster, B.C., home.  When she was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, she invested thousands of dollars to make the strata unit more accessible. Now, she worries an increase in her building’s insurance premiums might force her to move.   Read the article………………….

A group representing condominium owners says a city budget recommendation to cut garbage collection at some multi-family buildings should be trashed.  The proposed cuts to city collection would make property owners responsible for hiring their own garbage collection and would impact about 1,600 locations in the city, water and waste director Moira Geer said in […]

How long will it take for the strata insurance crisis to be resolved? That’s the burning question on the lips of thousands of Canadians living in British Columbia, who are currently getting to grips with some serious strata (also known as condominium) insurance headaches. Many consumers are facing significant premium and deductible increases, much stricter […]

A group representing condominium owners says a city budget recommendation to cut garbage collection at some multi-family buildings should be trashed.  The proposed cuts to city collection would make property owners responsible for hiring their own garbage collection and would impact about 1,600 locations in the city, water and waste director Moira Geer said in […]

Q: Our family has been shopping for a two-bedroom condo for the past three months and finally found a location and price range that fits our needs.  We put in an offer on the condo subject to receiving specific records and documents and reviewing the depreciation report. One of the documents we specifically requested was […]

Residents who live in a townhouse condo complex on Moncton Road are furious they had no say in a decision to ban overnight parking on their street all winter long.  Read the article…………………………….

Condos across B.C. could be hit by soaring insurance bills this year, a New Westminster strata council president is warning.  When residents of Anchor Pointe in New Westminster gathered for the strata’s annual meeting in December, they were stunned to learn their building’s insurance premiums were expected to increase by 40 per cent for 2020.  […]

With strata insurance rates in B.C. skyrocketing between 50 and 780 per cent, the Insurance Brokers Association of B.C. (IBABC) is proposing changes to provincial legislation to try and ease the pain.  Several condominium buildings across the Lower Mainland and elsewhere in B.C. have seen massive jumps in their insurance premiums and deductibles this year, […]

There are dire warnings that the condo real estate market in B.C. could collapse unless the province steps in to stop it. It all has to do skyrocketing insurance rates. Some condo buildings are unable to get insurance at all, putting owners at risk of losing their financing and unable to sell their properties.   Read […]

Dear Tony: We are first-time buyers looking at an older condo in Surrey that is affordable and large enough for our family.  The building just posted a notice, without any explanations, that they could no longer purchase insurance as of Jan. 31. Our sale is due to complete in mid-February.   Read the Q&A……………………………..

The head of the Condo Owners Council of Alberta says it’s time the Alberta government brought in a way for condo owners to resolve their battles with their neighbours, their condo boards or property managers — without having to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees, plus months or even years under stress, fighting for […]

Dear Tony: Our strata has had a deductible of $100,000 for several years due to a number of claims and the inability to approve a resolution to replace our piping. In November we had another claim over $100,000.  In one of your articles you indicated the strata corporation could levy that amount to the owners […]

Instead of a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, move-up property, Richard Lemaire plans to do some couch surfing at friends’ homes for the foreseeable future, after an unexpected $25,000 special assessment ate away a good chunk of his down payment.  Lemaire says it’s far from the image he had in mind when he decided to sell his 880-square-foot, […]

In the nearly six months since a four-storey apartment was evacuated in Fort Saskatchewan, the condo’s president is hopeful owners can repair the building, and its lawyer said that repair could take up to seven months and cost millions of dollars.   Read the article……………………..

Thousands of residents of a downtown Toronto condo tower — described as the tallest in the country — reacted angrily Saturday when initially told they would be out of water for at least seven weeks.  Water at the Aura tower was cut off at 2 a.m. Saturday when a “booster pump” failed, according to an […]

Dear Tony: Our strata corporation has consulted with a lawyer and our property manager and has been advised that if we approve a bylaw that limits the amount an owner would have to pay if they were responsible for a claim, it would be easier for the strata corporation to renew our insurance policy.  Read the […]

B.C. condo owner Yan Ming Liu believes his tenant did the right thing.  Liu’s tenant had forced open the building’s elevator when two people were trapped in the lift.  The elevator doors were damaged as a result of the forcible opening, and the strata corporation wants Liu to pay for the repair.   Read the article………………………….

Dear Tony: Our strata corporation recently approved a special levy at our annual meeting to pay for a deficit of $37,000 from 2019 overruns.  The resolution required three equal payments, on March 1, April 1 and May 1. At the meeting, several owners objected to the resolution, as the payments were due in a short […]

A tribunal has directed a Vancouver strata corporation to refrain from gathering “sensitive” personal information from overnight guests.  The order was made by Eric Regehr, a member of the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal, in a dispute involving two residents and the strata of the high-rise condominium building.     Read the article…………………………

An $80-million condominium complex in Fort McMurray has been denied coverage, leaving the buildings uninsured since Dec. 31, 2019.  Lougheed Estates, built in 2006, is a complex with 227 units, mixed between three apartment-style buildings and a section of townhouses.    Read the article……………………………

A 26-storey condominium in Abbotsford, BC, has taken the focus of the national media over the past week. Why? News broke that the condo has been rocked by an astronomical 780% increase to its strata (also known as condominium) insurance premium, with the annual rate jumping from $66,000 in 2019 to a mind-boggling $588,000 in […]

Within four years, heavy rain caused him to lose part of his yard in a landslide, and he’s now spent more than $70,000 trying to fix the issue, or have it fixed by the city or a neighboring homeowners association.  Schwartz thinks the problem stems from a stormwater retention pond in his neighborhood.   Read the […]

Q: At our annual meeting, there was to be a vote on a no-smoking rule. The meeting was chaired by the corporation’s lawyer. He allowed an owner to ask only one question and owners were not otherwise to speak — including commenting on the no-smoking rule. Can the chair refuse to allow owners to speak?  Read the […]

Dear Tony: In August, we held a third special general meeting to approve a special levy to replace the piping in our 30-year-old building. Once again, an owner showed up with enough proxies (28) to defeat the special levy. She always demands a secret ballot and we have no way of controlling how she votes. […]

The president of another Lower Mainland strata council is speaking out after getting served with a sky-high hike to his building’s insurance.  Mike Pauls lives in a year-old 26-storey building on Gladwin Road in Abbotsford — a structure so new, it doesn’t even show up in Google Street View.  In 2019, the building paid a […]

New rules that came into effect at the beginning of the year means Alberta condo owners could be on the hook for upwards of $50,000 if damage is caused within their unit.  Read thge article………………………

Residents of a condo complex in Langley are reeling over what they say is an inexplicable massive hike in the cost of their strata insurance.  Kevin Froese and Jacklynn Loewy bought their unit brand new in 2015 but had to stretch their budget to make it work.    Read the article………………….

The regulatory agency for B.C.’s real estate professionals is launching a mandatory anti-money-laundering course to show real estate agents and strata and property managers how to recognize red flags and what steps they’re obligated to take to report suspected cases.    Read the article……………………………

We did it. We officially broke the housing market. Great job finance dudes.  For a look at how Canada’s housing market has officially slipped into the demogorgon-laden upside down world, let’s run some numbers from Toronto. Specifically, let’s look at the mythical “empty investment condo” that has long been an urban legend in the big […]

The developer of our townhouse condo had a bylaw passed that amends the corporation’s declaration. It adds 49 parking units to the description of the property. And it modifies the allocation of the corporation’s common expenses amongst the unit owners. This is all provided that 90 per cent of the owners vote to approve the […]

The dangers of being a property leaseholder combined with an affordable housing crisis are creating a perfect storm for dozens of residents at a modest condo development in Richmond.  Many of the seniors and lower-income families at 6420 Buswell St. fear they may soon be on the street if they can’t come up with the […]