Main Laws Governing Condos in Ontario: Condo Act and Your Rights

When you own a condo, you agree to live under a set of shared documents as well as a statute. People often ask which one wins when they disagree. The short answer is that they sit in layers, and the layer a rule lives in affects how hard it is to change and how it can be challenged.

This article gives a plain overview of the main sources of condo law in Ontario and how they relate. It is general information. The wording of your own declaration, by-laws and rules controls your situation, so a lawyer should read them if a dispute is serious.

The layers of condo law

The starting point is the Condominium Act, 1998, a provincial statute. It sets out duties for corporations, such as insurance under sections 99, 102 and 39, and it sets processes boards must follow, such as how rules are made.

Below the Act are documents specific to your building: the declaration, the by-laws and the rules. The declaration and by-laws are registered, while rules do not need to be registered.

What happens when they conflict

Rules must aim to promote the safety and welfare of owners and property, or to prevent unreasonable interference with the use of units, common elements or assets. They must be reasonable and consistent with the Condominium Act, the declaration and the by-laws. A rule that conflicts with a higher layer is open to challenge.

The declaration is different. It is not held to any legal standard of reasonableness. Pets are a good example: both the declaration and the rules can restrict or ban pets, but a pet restriction in the declaration is not subject to the reasonableness test that applies to rules.

Changing the declaration is harder than changing a rule. Amending it needs 80% of the units to consent, or 90% for changes to cost-sharing proportions, access to common elements or maintenance responsibilities.

How rules are made and challenged

To make or change a rule, the board must send owners the proposed rule, its suggested start date, a reminder of the right to requisition a meeting, and copies of sections 46 and 58 of the Act. The rule takes effect 30 days after notice unless owners requisition a meeting.

If owners requisition a meeting about a rule, the board must hold the meeting and a vote within 35 days, and the vote is decided by a majority of votes cast by owners. A requisition must be in writing, state the topics, be signed by owners of at least 15% of the voting units, and be delivered to the board. Tenants cannot sign it, and neither can owners who are 30 days or more in arrears.

Some requirements for owner-requisitioned meetings are scheduled to change, including a new prescribed form. Confirm the current requirements before you start a requisition.

Money, liens and the Tribunal

The declaration sets each unit's share of common expenses as a percentage, which may vary with unit size. If an owner does not pay common expenses, the corporation automatically has a lien on the unit. The lien expires after three months unless the corporation registers a Certificate of Lien.

The Condominium Authority Tribunal can decide certain disputes. For pet provisions, it can hear questions about compliance and enforcement, whether a provision is reasonable and consistent, and whether the right process was used to make it. It cannot deal with a pet dispute that is not tied to a specific provision.

Service animals are not pets. Their accommodation is protected by Ontario's Human Rights Code, and accommodation disputes go to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The Condominium Authority Tribunal can hear Code issues only when they are part of a dispute already within its jurisdiction.

If you are asked to deal with a pet issue, you must keep complying with the governing documents while you try to change them, for example through an owner-requisitioned meeting. Owners or the corporation may file a Tribunal case against an owner who does not comply.

What to do next

• Get current copies of your declaration, by-laws and rules.
• Find out which layer a restriction comes from, because that affects how it can be challenged.
• Keep complying while you raise your concern with the board.
• Gather other owners if you want to requisition a meeting, and check who can sign.
• Keep written records of notices and correspondence.
• See a lawyer before a dispute reaches a lien or the Tribunal.

Frequently asked questions