Condo Act amendments partially extended with the passing of Bill 72

The Buy Ontario Act received Royal Assent at Queen’s Park yesterday afternoon, giving the government additional time to proclaim some Condo Act changes into law. But not all un-proclaimed amendments were extended.

 

What’s changing?

Nothing, yet. The Condo Act amendments that were extended remain un-proclaimed. The government simply has an additional year to proclaim them, which would make them officially part of the Condo Act. This extension will also give the government time to draft regulations that will clarify the changes and outline their full impact on condo communities.

 

Which amendments are being extended?

Here are some key extensions:

 

1. Shared facilities

While these are becoming more common, the Condo Act currently does not provide much guidance on them. Proposed amendments would make having an agreement mandatory and open the door for regulations to later offer guidelines for defining boundaries, structuring cost sharing and enacting joint by-laws and rules for how they are used.

 

2. Voting

Some condo boards must reserve one position for a director that must be voted in by owners that have not rented out their unit – usually to ensure the board has some representation of owners living in the building.

Proposed amendments would require that this position only be created if an owner of one of these non-leased units requests it, and only in corporations where at least one and less than half of units are not leased.

Additionally, owners of these units would need to submit a statement declaring that their residential unit has not been leased before they can cast a vote in elections for these positions.

 

3. Owners’ requisitioned meetings

Currently, owners can compel their condo to hold a meeting to discuss and vote on important issues, including removing directors. Owners can call these meetings on their own if their corporation does not.

Proposed amendments would add a new form that owners must use to request the meeting and make it so that condo corporations must respond and hold the meeting. Disputes about the requests could be taken to the Condominium Authority Tribunal, provided that the CAT’s jurisdiction expands to include owners’ meetings.

 

4. Developer legal protections and duties

Sometimes developers add clauses in condo governing documents and other contracts when they first establish the corporation that may not be in the best interest of the condo later. Proposed amendments make it more difficult for developers to do this and would provide better opportunities for condo boards to challenge issues. This may impact how corporations are able to challenge construction defects in the courts.

 

5. Board terms

Condo board director terms generally expire after three years. Sometimes a director’s term may expire before the corporation is able to hold an election, potentially disrupting the board’s ability govern if they are not extended.

Proposed amendments would allow directors in positions that can be voted in only by owners who have not rented out their units to keep acting on the board until either an AGM or election is held, whichever comes first.

 

6. Status Certificates

Proposed amendments would require that status certificates include additional information – notably financial impacts of legal actions or judgements, annual budget changes and shared facilities agreements.

 

What’s not being extended?

Some proposed updates to the Act were not included in Bill 72 and will expire by the end of 2025.

Here are some key proposed amendments that were not extended:

 

1. Reserve funds

Amendments would have provided more guidance on what adequate funding means when it comes to condo reserve funds, as well as what qualifies as a major repair. Corporations that don’t keep an adequate fund would have been forced to get an expert’s written opinion on whether an early reserve fund study was needed.

 

2. Procurement

Amendments would have opened the door for regulations to define a set process for how all condos in Ontario need to conduct their procurement processes.

 

3. Annual budgets

Amendments would have established explicit requirements for owners to get copies of their condo’s budget separately and more quickly once changes were made to it. Currently owners get updates at least bi-annually, through Periodic Information Certificates.

 

4. Condo fees

Amendments would have increased transparency around chargebacks, including allowing for new regulations to define more scenarios where condos could issue chargebacks to owners. They would have also established a mandatory notice and timelines for corporations notifying owners about chargebacks and how owners can respond.

 

What do you think of these potential Condo Act changes? Send your comments to [email protected]!

Send this email to anyone who is following this issue and tell them to subscribe to CAO to get the latest on condo living in Ontario!