What Will Mandatory Licensing of Condo Managers Look Like in Ontario?
When Bill 106 (the legislation aimed at protecting condominium owners in Ontario) received Royal Assent on December 3, 2015, it set out to amend the existing Condominium Act but, as importantly, it also laid out a new licensing regime for condo managers. A year later, on December 17, 2016, the Province circulated its first set of proposed regulations to be adopted under the new Condominium Management Services Act. This regulation is still in draft form and the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services is inviting comments on these by February 6, 2017. We blogged on this already.
The Condominium Management Services Act is not in force yet and the first set of regulations is still in draft form. Still, we are now getting a far clearer picture of the licensing process and licensing requirements of condo managers in Ontario.
Mandatory Licensing of Condo Managers
Until now, property managers were not required to be licensed to provide their services. This will radically change once the legislation comes into force. When this happens (on a day to be set by the Lieutenant Governor), the new legislation will prohibit anyone from providing condominium management services unless they are licensed either as a Condominium Manager (for individuals) or as a Condominium Manager Provider (for a management “company”). More details to follow on this in a later blog.
Someone who is not licensed as a condo manager (or as a condo manager provider) will not be authorized to directly or indirectly hold himself/herself out to be one and they will not be authorized to perform any of the functions of a condo manager. The prohibition against unlicensed individuals providing condo management services goes further. An unlicensed person will not be authorized to take any legal actions to claim any form of remuneration for condo management services. Basically, if you provide condo management services while unauthorized to do so, be prepared to have to do it for free… you may not be able to enforce the compensation clauses of the management contract if you are not licensed.
What are “Condo Management Services”?
The question begs to be answered: What are the Condo Management Services for which one will need a licence? These services will include any of the following services provided to or on behalf of a condominium corporation:
- Collecting or holding contributions to the common expenses or other amounts levied by, or payable to, a condo corporation;
- Exercising delegated powers and duties of the corporation or its board of directors, including:
- Making payments to third parties on behalf of the condo corporation;
- Negotiating or entering into contracts on behalf of the condo corporation; and,
- Supervising employees or contractors hired or engaged by the condo corporation.
Once the new legislation comes into force, you will require a license to provide any of these services, unless you are exempt from licensing. These exceptions to licensing will be covered our next blog post.
There will be three kinds of licenses
The regulations presently contemplates three different types of licences:
- The General Licence
- The Limited Licence (which will require some of the work to be done under the supervision of a supervising licensee);
- The Transitional General Licence (which is set to assist in the implementation of the new licensing regime. These time-limited transitional general licences will be afforded to individuals with at least two years of demonstrable condo management experience and who are providing such services when the Act comes into force).
We will unpack the specific distinctions and requirements of each of them in a later post.
There are lots of changes ahead in the industry. Now would be a good time to subscribe to our Condo Adviser’s email service to be notified when we add new content to our blog.
The Province is Inviting Your Comments
Please note that the information in this post is based on a draft version of the regulations proposed to be adopted pursuant to the Condominium Management Services Act. These regulations are still in draft form and subject to change. Anyone wishing to comment on the proposed regulations is invited to do so before February 6, 2017. Comments can be sent by email or by mail at 56 Wellesley Street West, 6th Floor; Toronto, ON; M7A 1C1. You should quote proposal number 16-MGCS023.