Lack of Enforcement of Condo Acts in Canada

The issues of lack of regulation and enforcement of Canada's various provincial Condo Acts permeates most of the letters received, whether explicitly or indirectly so. The letters also reinforce the pressing fact that these Acts need updating. The few letters posted below simply address the failures of oversight more directly than others do. 

The Condo Act needs to be improved to better protect owners' rights and condo governance — click here for more information

Letter:  I have read all the letters you have posted and I find it scandallous that our government is not moving to enforce the Condo Act and to update parts that could make life easier for owners. But then again I have to remember that few institutions receive government oversight in Ontario and that consumers, patients, seniors, and condo owners are not protected in any efficient way. There are no condo inspectors, for instance. Shame on our government! They are just protecting the industries that oppress us because these people can contribute to their election campaigns.

— February 2011, London, ON

Letter: My condo is like a little totalitarian state: everyone is afraid of displeasing the manager or even members of the Board of Directors and I think that the latter are even afraid of each other. When we ask for a service, we never know whether it will be considered legitimate or a huge threat to their egos or a bloody nuisance. It is very unsettling and I don’t think that our elected officials in the Legislature understand this.

— August 2009, Toronto

Letter: I honestly don’t know what the use of having a Strata Act is if our government does not enforce it. It’s as ridiculous as installing red lights and then firing traffic cops and as a result drivers drive through. [In BC, the Strata Act is the same as a Condo Act.]

— August 2009, Victoria, BC

Letter: My condo townhouse complex is run so poorly and with no professional experience I have to move. I am so angry that there is no one out there to protect my rights. I have written, phoned, visited, joined every possible group and yet my situation stays the same. I am bullied by 3 guys who know less than I about running a condo and I cannot afford to run to a lawyer to get this place in order. What a mess. I will never again buy a condo of any kind. It's so wrong that our government is so useless in this matter. Things have to change and fast. If I could tell you all the details you would be shocked.

— August 2009, Ontario

Letter: We have a lot of older condos in Montreal and many are conversions. Some of them are turning into slums because preventive maintenance is not carried out and fees are often too low. Some owners even refuse to pay their fees.

— August 2009, Montreal

Letter: Don’t we have an enforcement office for licensing, etc? We could have an enforcement office for the Condo Act.

— August 2009, Mississauga, ON

Letter: I am not much in favour of governments regulating the condo industry because governments make such a mess of just about everything they touch. But the police does a reasonable job of enforcing crime laws so what we need is a Condo Police that would make sure that Boards of Directors and Managers enforce rules and treat everyone fairly and take a good care of our condo; our condos are our biggest investment.

— August 2009, Calgary

Letter: I totally agree with you that individual Board members and individual managers should personally pay penalties that at this time are paid by the condo corporation itself. I am thinking not only of the $500 that a corporation has to pay in Ontario when an owner is refused access to corporation documents but that such penalties should exist for failure to investigate noise complaints, failure to respond in a timely fashion when there is a problem of water penetration, failure to help owners requisition a meeting, and so on and so forth. I don’t think that having such penalties would end up in penalties being actually paid by individual Board members but the fact that these penalties would be well known would serve as a deterrent.

— August 2009, Hamilton, ON