Condominium Governance

In general all matters relating to condo in Ontario are governed by a series of documents. On the top of this line of authority is the Condominium Act 1998 [1]. In complement to the Act are two Regulations [2] that basically fine-tune the main legislation, i.e., the Condominium Act 1998. (More on the Regulations in later articles.) These two documents are like the “grand constitution” of all condominiums in Ontario.

The next document in line of authority is the Declaration and Description of the condominium corporation that the builder registers with the Land Registry Office during the process of creating the condominium corporation. This is like a “mini constitution” of a particular condominium corporation, and is specific to that particular condo. The Declaration and Description of TSCC #1446 (the 880 building) was registered on July 18, 2002 by Eminent Construction Limited.

"Wait a minute!" You'd say, "I thought the Grandview Way residential complex is a DEL condo that was built by Tridel." Yes, it was. Typically, developers like Tridel would set up a limited company for each building project. One of the reasons is that because under certain scenarios, builders are required by law to disclose if they are being sued. So, if the building project should result in any lawsuits, it won't negatively affect other ongoing projects. Tridel in this way acts like an umbrella company.

The Declaration and Description of TSCC #1446 (the 880 Grandview Way building) contains, among other things, information about the shared facilities. (Again, more on this later.)

The next level down are the By-laws of the condominium corporation. The By-laws give more specific rules as to how the condo should be run. The By-laws of TSCC #1446 (the 880 Grandview Way building) specifies, among other things, how the condo is to be managed through the Board of Directors as well as Officers of the Corporation.

The lowest in the line of authority are the Rules. Rules deal with very specific day-to-day operations of the condo (such as a Rule that allows or disallows pets). Rules are made by the Board of Directors after passing a resolution in a Directors’ meeting. The Condominium Act also has specific requirements on communicating the proposed rules to the owners of the condo before the rules become effective.

Earlier this year a Rule regarding visitor parking was passed by the each Board of Directors of MTCC #1113 (the casitas), MTCC #1132 (the 88 Grandview Way building), and TSCC #1446 (the 880 Grandview Way building). So, the Rule is now in effect. But, do you know what the Rule is about?

Hierarchy of authority:
1) The Condominium Act over-rules the Declaration and Description;
2) The Declaration and Description over-rules the By-laws;
3) The By-laws over-rule the Rules.

Therefore, Rules may not contradict By-laws, By-laws may not contradict the Declaration, and Declaration may not contradict the Condominium Act. The Act also says that if any part below (Declaration, By-laws, or Rules) contradicts the Act, that offending part will be rendered useless.

[Note 1] The Condominium Act 1998 is Chapter 19 of the Statutes of Ontario 1998 (S.O. 1998, c.19). For a complete text of the Act, see http://iijcan.net/en/on/laws/stat/so-1998-c-19/latest/so-1998-c-19.html

[Note 2] There are two Regulations that supplement the Condominium Act 1998. The Ontario Regulation 48, 2001 (O. Reg. 48/01) General, and the Ontario Regulation 49, 2001 (O. Reg. 49/01) Description and Registration. For a complete text of both Regulations, see http://iijcan.net/en/on/laws/regu/o-reg-48-01/latest/o-reg-48-01.html and http://iijcan.net/en/on/laws/regu/o-reg-49-01/latest/o-reg-49-01.html.

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