What do condo common expenses (maintenance fees) actually cover in Ontario?
Common expenses — often called maintenance fees or condo fees — cover the condominium corporation's cost of running the building and maintaining the common elements. This typically includes building insurance, utilities for common areas, landscaping, snow removal, property management fees, cleaning, security, and repairs to shared systems like elevators and HVAC.
A portion of every owner's monthly common expense contribution goes into the reserve fund, a mandatory savings account the corporation must maintain under the Condominium Act, 1998. The reserve fund pays for major capital expenditures: roof replacement, parking garage repairs, window replacement, and similar long-term projects. The required reserve fund contribution is determined by a periodic reserve fund study conducted by a qualified engineer or certified reserve fund planner.
Common expenses do not usually cover your in-unit utilities (unless the building has bulk metering), your unit contents insurance, or maintenance inside your unit. Reading the current budget and the most recent reserve fund study before you buy tells you whether fees are likely to increase.
Key takeaways
- Fees cover common element maintenance, building insurance, management, and a reserve fund contribution.
- The reserve fund is legally required and funds major future repairs.
- In-unit utilities and contents insurance are typically the owner's own expense.
- A reserve fund study tells you the financial health of the corporation.