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Being a condominium director is often a thankless job: most condominium directors in Ontario serve on an unpaid volunteer basis to deal with big-ticket items such the corporation’s finances, maintenance and repair and rule enforcement all while inevitably making themselves a target for unhappy owners. Generally speaking, the Condo Act and a condominium’s by-laws requirements…

It is well known that condominiums owe a duty to accommodate persons with disabilities.  It is less clear, however, what constitutes adequate proof of a disability. Ambiguous medical notes containing no meaningful details are often the only documentation given to condo boards and managers, who must decide whether the legal threshold for disability is met.

Thankfully, the Ontario Human Rights Commission recently clarified this issue.  On February 1, 2017, it released a new policy statement on medical documentation to be provided when disability-related accommodation requests are made.
Continue Reading Accommodating disabilities: What medical evidence is required?

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the annual ACMO/CCI-Toronto Condominium Conference.  Taking place from November 11-12, 2016, the theme of this year’s conference was “Shaping the Future”.

With the regulations under the amended Condo Act expected to be rolled out in the coming year, the condo industry has reached a pivotal juncture in its evolution.  The education sessions offered at the conference focused on fundamental changes that will shape the condo world over the next several years, with topics such as the use of technology in condo living and condo dispute resolution taking front stage.  It is vitally important to keep abreast of industry developments, and part of that entails learning as much as you can from industry leaders and experts.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the conference education sessions I attended this year.  I have broken down each session into subsections based on the nature of the topics discussed.Continue Reading Key takeaways from the 20th annual condo conference

We used to regularly post blog entries featuring our most recent Condo Alert! newsletters but lost track a couple years ago.

This is an unforgivable oversight and we apologize to our faithful readers and especially to our associate Andrea Lusk, who has cranked out our newsletter for the past 8 years.  Condo Alert! is a visually appealing, high-quality newsletter that has become an “essential reading” item distributed in hardcopy at condo manager luncheons and educational conferences throughout Southern Ontario since 2008.

In response to popular demand, here’s a listing of our previously-unreported back-issues, with links to pdf versions for easy download. 
Continue Reading GMA Condo Alert! catchup for 2013-2016

The 19th annual ACMO/CCI Condominium Conference was held November 13-14, 2015 in Toronto.  Over 1,600 attendees (including condo owners, directors, property managers, lawyers and other industry members) took the opportunity to network, meet exhibitors for updates on the latest condo products and services, attend professional development sessions and learn from industry experts.

Over two days, the conference ran various breakout sessions on a wide array topics including proposed changes to Ontario’s Condominium Act (“the Act”), insurance, manager relations and governance and others that impact the more than 1.3 million condominium residents in Ontario.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the sessions I attended.
Continue Reading Key takeaways from 19th annual condo conference

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It is estimated that almost 9,000 condo corporations have been created in Ontario since 1967, but no more than a half dozen have ever been terminated.

To explore a relatively obscure but increasingly important area of our condo law, the Real Property and Civil Litigation sections of the Ontario Bar…