Ontario · Condominium Act, 1998
A property manager is not the corporation. The board is. The documents — declaration, by-laws, rules — are the constitution of the building. The Act sits above all of them. Managers who treat owner email as optional are ignoring a statute, not a preference.
s. 17, Condominium Act, 1998
The corporation must control, manage and administer the common elements and the assets of the corporation, and must take all reasonable steps to ensure owners and occupiers comply with the Act, the declaration, the by-laws and the rules. The property manager is the corporation’s agent — not a free agent who can ignore you.
s. 26, Condominium Act, 1998
The board of directors manages the affairs of the corporation. When a site manager buries your email, copy the board. They are the actual client.
s. 46, Condominium Act, 1998
Owners of at least 15% of the units can requisition an owners’ meeting. It is a blunt instrument. It exists because boards and managers sometimes need an audience.
s. 55, Condominium Act, 1998
The corporation must keep adequate records. Owners, purchasers and mortgagees may request them — on the CAO prescribed form, after a first notice has been ignored, not as a seven-day threat. Core records (including the last 12 months of board minutes) have a short, hard clock. The board has 30 days to answer. CAT can order production and a penalty of up to $5,000 if the corporation refuses or stalls.
s. 76, Condominium Act, 1998
The corporation must provide a status certificate in the prescribed form, generally within 10 days of a request, for the prescribed fee. Delays here are not a vibe. They are a statutory failure.
s. 89, Condominium Act, 1998
Subject to the declaration, the corporation must repair the units and common elements after damage. A leak that is still dripping is not ‘pending’. It is an unrepaired condition.
s. 90, Condominium Act, 1998
Subject to the declaration, the corporation maintains the common elements and each owner maintains their unit. What is ‘unit’ versus ‘common element’ is a declaration question — which is why the full document matters.
s. 91, Condominium Act, 1998
The declaration may alter the standard repair and maintenance split. Quote the actual pages. Do not let management quote a vibe.
s. 117, Condominium Act, 1998
No person shall permit a condition or activity to exist or occur in a unit or on the common elements that is likely to damage the property or cause injury. Active leaks, ice, fire-code failures, and some infestations belong here.
s. 119, Condominium Act, 1998
Owners, occupiers, the corporation and directors must comply with the Act, the declaration, the by-laws and the rules. The corporation must take all reasonable steps to enforce. Selective enforcement is not a strategy. It is a problem.
s. 132, Condominium Act, 1998
Some disagreements are funneled to mediation and arbitration rather than court. It is slow. It is still a real path when CAT does not have jurisdiction.
s. 134, Condominium Act, 1998
The Superior Court can order compliance with the Act, declaration, by-laws or rules. This is the heavier tool when CAT cannot hear the dispute.
s. 135, Condominium Act, 1998
The court can remedy conduct that is oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to an owner. It is not a first letter. It is why first letters exist — so you never have to go there unprepared.
The board of directors manages the affairs of the corporation. They hire a management company. That company puts a site manager in your lobby. The site manager’s job is to keep the building quiet and the board unbothered. Your job, if they will not act, is to make the board bothered — in writing.
Condo managers in Ontario must be licensed under the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015. Unlicensed practice is not a personality. It is a regulatory issue.
The Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO) publishes guides, the records-request form, and runs the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT). CAT is online and relatively cheap. It is not a general complaints desk. Jurisdiction is real, and it is limited: records, many nuisances, pets, parking, storage, and related charges. Repair of a leaking slab is usually not CAT. Withholding the work orders about that slab often is.
The Act and its regulations
Cannot be contracted out of.
The declaration
The constitution. Unit versus common element lives here.
The by-laws
How the corporation runs itself.
The rules
Day-to-day living. They must be reasonable and consistent with the documents above. New rules can be objected to.
CAT, a lawyer, a board, and a regional manager all ask the same first question: what did you send, and when. Reply Required exists so the answer is not ‘I called the desk’.
Require a replyReply Required is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Condominium disputes turn on your province’s statute, your declaration or bylaws, and the facts. We write a stern paper trail so a manager, a board, a tribunal, or a lawyer has something to work with. For legal advice, retain a lawyer or licensed paralegal in your province.