If you have ever tried to make sense of a condominium’s paperwork, you know it is not exactly light reading.
Under Ontario’s Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act“) corporations must keep owners and buyers informed. That is a good thing. Transparency builds trust. But the way we currently deliver that information is more confusing than it needs to be.
Condo corporations are required to produce three key documents:
1. Status Certificates for prospective purchasers
2. Information Certificates for owners twice a year
3. Annual Returns filed with the Condominium Authority of Ontario (“CAO“)
All three contain overlapping information about the corporation’s finances, legal matters, governance and operations. Yet none of them are fully aligned.
For example, the number of leased units must be disclosed in both Status Certificates and Periodic Information Certificates, but the total number of units only appear in the Annual Returns.
Another example relates to the disclosure of legal matters. While the Status Certificate requires corporations to disclose whether they are party to any proceeding before a court of law, arbitrator, or an administrative tribunal, the Periodic Information Certificates only requires corporations to provide information on any “legal actions”.
Similar data is scattered across different forms, presented differently and often without helpful context. The result is extra administrative work for managers and boards and documents that are harder for owners and buyers to understand.
This is not a new concern.
In 2019, the Community Associations Institute (Canada) (“CAI Canada“) recommended that Ontario review and standardize these documents. The goal was simple: create a clear, consistent set of questions with answers presented in context.
In 2022, when responsibility for many condominium forms shifted to the Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO), the recommendation was passed along, but no meaningful changes followed.
More recently, both CAI Canada and the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario (“ACMO“) renewed calls for reform. Their proposal makes practical sense:
1. Divide the Status Certificate into two parts:
(i) A corporation section with general information about the condo; and
(ii) A unit specific section with details about the particular unit
The corporation section could double as the Periodic Information Certificate and be distributed annually or semi annually to all owners. The unit section would be provided for a fee only to prospective purchasers.
The Annual Return could then focus strictly on what the CAO needs for regulatory purposes and potentially incorporate the corporation section of the Status Certificate. Some even suggest making that corporation level information publicly accessible through the CAO registry.
The benefits are clear. Less duplication. Less bureaucracy. Clearer information. Lower administrative costs.
Most importantly, owners and buyers would receive information that is actually useful, not just technically compliant.
Because if we are serious about transparency, the paperwork should actually make sense.
This guest post was contributed by David Crawford, President of MTCC 573, who brings both a practical perspective and a healthy dose of real‑world experience to the discussion.
