Condo Act Reform Reaches Stage Two

As most of our readers will know, the province is in the midst of an extensive review of Ontario’s Condominium Act. The current Condominium Act, 1998 came into force in 2001. According to the stage two report (released on September 24, 2013) the province feels that there is “pressing need to overhaul the rules governing condo communities, provide better information to owners, and devise new tools for resolving disputes”.

The province has hatched a three-stage process for review of the Condominium Act:

1. Under the first stage, which was completed in early 2013, various participants from Ontario’s condominium sector offered their comments and suggestions for reform of the Act.
2. In stage two, the province set up five working groups and a twelve-member expert panel to review and consider the various comments received in stage one, all with a view to developing recommendations for reform and offering ideas for further consideration. The resulting “Stage Two Solutions Report” contains numerous suggestions and comments about Condominium Act reform, including 112 recommendations in the following categories:
   1. Condo Office
   2. Consumer Protection
   3. Financial Management
   4. Dispute Resolution
   5. Governance
   6. Condo Management

For more detail about the recommendations in the Stage Two Solutions Report, click here to see my full article.

3. As far as concerns the “next steps”, the stage-two report states as follows:

“We plan to launch the third and final stage of the review process in the fall of 2013:

• A residents’ panel will review the stage-two recommendations.
• Government officials will draft an action plan for implementing the recommendations.
• Condo residents and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to review the action plan.”

Click here to review the complete Stage Two Report on the Ministry of Consumer Services website. If you would like to provide feedback to the province, the Ministry’s website tells you how you can do that. NOTE: The Ministry’s website also says: “You can comment on the Stage Two Solutions Report until November 8, 2013.”  So, if you would like to comment, don’t delay.

We’re still a long way from the finished product (the actual amendments to the Condominium Act). But it certainly appears that amendments are coming within the next few years.

To enter this week’s Great Eastern Ontario Condo Quiz, please click here!