Condominium Manager Magazine

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.

If it feels like every parking garage in the province is breaking down at the same time, that’s not a coincidence; it’s a consequence.

As climate risks and infrastructure challenges intensify across Canada, the condominium sector faces mounting pressure to evolve. Rising operational costs, energy inefficiency, extreme weather events, and an aging building stock have made it imperative for condo managers and boards to pursue long-term resiliency strategies.

Ontario's rainfall patterns are changing. Across the province, short, intense downpours are becoming more frequent, placing stress on building drainage systems that were never designed to handle such volume. For condominium buildings, the result is all too familiar: flooded basements, sump pump failures, backflow into sewer systems, and costly damage to mechanical, electrical and building infrastructure. The need to adapt is no longer a distant concern; it is a pressing reality.

At the heart of our management philosophy is the belief that condo owners are seeking peace of mind. Our goal is to guide our condos to maturity, where all building systems have been replaced at least once, they have adequate reserve contributions, and a large minimum balance in their reserve fund, minimizing the risk of special assessments. 

Suppose you are a property manager or board member of a condominium corporation. A unit owner refuses to comply with its obligations under the Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998 c. 19 (the “Act”). What are your options? This scenario came before the Ontario Court of Appeal in the recent decision of Halton Condominium Corporation No 61 v. Kolarovaliev, 2024 ONCA 848 (“Halton Condominium”), which involved a dispute between a resident and the condominium corporation over a no smoking rule.

In today's technology-driven lifestyle, enhancing digital automation has become a priority for increasing efficiency and boosting resident engagement. Cutting-edge automation technology now allows the automation of multiple tasks, such as scheduling repairs, monitoring building systems and communications with residents. This timely, automated approach can result in faster response times and improved resident experience while lowering operational costs.