Condominium Manager Magazine

If you’ve been in condominium management for any length of time, you’ve dealt with difficult owners. That part is unavoidable. Condos bring together strong personalities, big emotions, and people who care deeply about where they live and how their money is spent. But not every difficult owner is toxic.

There is a lot of attention today on mental health and the importance of taking care of ourselves in all aspects of our lives. I say – It’s about time! As a society, we have not been very good at being kind to ourselves. We’ve carried forward ideologies and work patterns from a different era, and even when we know they no longer serve us, our brains can have a hard time letting go.

 In a world of offering more for less, it is becoming increasingly common for condo developments to share facilities. These range from joint parking garages to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and even elevators and recreation centres. Frequently shared between two or more corporations and, in mixed-use sites, between residential and commercial entities, these allow facilities to offer residents better and improved amenities.

Infrastructure that is critical for the everyday operation of condominiums sometimes gets forgotten and overlooked because it’s hiding below the surface. Rainwater, sewage, and groundwater-related infrastructure must be properly managed in a well-functioning condominium. Regular maintenance and check-ups of these systems are required to comply with municipal codes and policies and to ensure the safe operation of a building. 

There are days when managing a condominium feels like trying to keep a dozen spinning plates in the air—on a rooftop, during a windstorm, while fielding emails about BBQ bookings and a leak on the 27th floor. And somehow, that’s not even the hard part anymore.

Ontario’s condominium sector is undergoing a quiet but profound shift in how health and safety are managed. For years, boards and property managers focused primarily on fire, life safety, building code compliance, sprinkler systems, emergency lighting, and evacuation procedures. However, recent inspections, court decisions, and actions by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development (MLITSD) have expanded the scope of responsibility under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to encompass a broader range of responsibilities, including contractor due diligence, workplace violence, and harassment prevention.

Meeting compliance standards has long been a key aspect of the regulatory landscape in condominium communities. For condominium managers and corporations, these standards are nothing new, but what is often overlooked are the responsibilities of the trades operating within these communities. The Accessibility of Ontarians Disabilities Act (AODA) establishes clear guidelines that extend beyond building design, outlining how all service providers, including trades, have a duty to comply with these standards.

It has been about three years since that horrific day on December 18, 2022, when our nation’s worst case of mass shooting in a condo community occurred at the Bellaria Residences condominium tower in Vaughan. Five people, most of them condo board directors, were executed in cold blood. Years after the tragic shootings and the aftermath, I’ve spoken to directors and unit owners about their emotions and thoughts on the matter and without hesitation, they jointly expressed fear and anxiety regarding potential safety concerns in their condo community.

It was the kind of twist that makes condo managers sit up and take notice: “Who pressed record?” That unexpected question became central to the decision in Bogue v. Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 288, where Ontario’s Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) ruled that a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) recording made by a third-party platform, not the board, was not a corporate record.

By now, most of us have heard about the declining honey bee population. Honey bees are just one of the pollinators facing declines. Pollinators also include many birds, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, bats, wasps, and even some mammals, many of which are native to Canada and facing declines. 

You are a Board member of a residential condominium in Ontario and have just been advised that, unbeknownst to the Board, your condominium security or cleaning company recently became unionized without your knowledge.  

The lawyer for the corporation shocks the Board by revealing that, regardless of your opinion and wishes, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) from the existing company that just unionized will now apply to any replacing company. 

Condo corporations in Ontario are losing millions of dollars to fraud through outdated procurement processes – often without any awareness or subsequent detection.

In the evolving landscape of AI, cultural shifts, and social changes, condo managers and their colleagues face increasing challenges in managing what are often simple misunderstandings. 

Building decarbonization retrofits takes a significant amount of time and effort to plan, design, finance, and construct. They require input from multi-disciplined engineering teams and collaboration with management and boards.