Licensing of Condominium Managers-What Does It Mean To Have an Address for Service in Ontario? (Blog No. 7 in a Series)

We now have the draft regulations under the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 (the “Management Services Act”).  This is the seventh in a series of blogs that I am preparing in relation to the draft regulations.

In this Blog No. 7, I explore the following question:

What does it mean to have an address for service in Ontario?

The draft regulations – Section 30 – state that “a licensee shall maintain an address for service that is in Ontario”.

Furthermore, the Management Services Act – Section 45 – says that licensed managers and management providers must notify the Registrar of any change in the licensee’s address for service (within five days).

Section 73 of the Management Services Act states as follows:

Service
73. (1) Any notice, order or request is sufficiently given or served if it is,
(a) delivered personally;
(b) sent by registered mail; or
(c) sent by another manner if the sender can prove receipt of the notice, order or request.

Deemed service
(2) If service is made by registered mail, the service shall be deemed to be made on the third day after the day of mailing unless the person on whom service is being made establishes that the person did not, acting in good faith, through absence, accident, illness or other cause beyond the person’s control, receive the notice, order or request until a later date.

Exception
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the Tribunal may order any other method of service it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Based on the foregoing, my conclusions are as follows:

I.     The address for service must be a mailing address, in Ontario. [An email address would not be sufficient, because it must be an address that is capable of receiving ordinary / registered mail.]

II.     However, I don’t see any requirement that the licensee reside at the particular address. [I say this because service can clearly be effected by registered mail.]

In summary, I don’t see any requirement that licensees reside in Ontario.  However, they must maintain a mailing address, in Ontario.

It also appears to me that the licensee must plan to regularly check the mail that is coming to the particular mailing address.  In other words, the licensee must have a genuine intention to use the mailing address in the usual manner (for receipt of mail).  I think the licensee must also have a genuine intention to cooperate in relation to delivery of items by registered mail – that is, by confirming receipt of the mailed item (in accordance with the protocols for registered mail).  I think that this is implied when a licensee provides the Ontario address for service (because this is done on the understanding that items may be “served” by registered mail to that particular address).

I could put it this way:  In my view, a licensee could not “neglect” or “ignore” the mail coming to the particular address, and then attempt to claim that service was not effective due to a “cause beyond the person’s control”.

So in summary, it appears to me that the licensee would need to diligently accept and review mail arriving at the Ontario mailing address that is provided to the Licensing Registrar; and the licensee would also be expected to reasonably co-operate in relation to registered mail to that address.

Stay tuned to Condo Law News for more blogs about the draft regulations under the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015.