Draft New Regulations Under the Condo Act Are Out for Consultation!
The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has posted yesterday a first draft of the proposed regulations to be adopted under the “New Condo Act”. The province is seeking comments on this first draft by March 30, 2017. Some of the proposed regulations could come into force as early as July 1, 2017.
Bill 106, the Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015 received Royal Assent on December 3, 2015, marking the first overhaul of the province’s condo law in over 16 years. The changes to the Condominium Act, which are not in force yet, can be reviewed on the province’s E-law website. The current version of the act can be seen in plain font. The changes to come appear in grey.
Since then, the province has also adopted the Condominium Management Services Act, the legislation to regulate and licence condo managers. The province has also circulated draft regulations to be adopted under that act. We have blogged on this extensively in the last few weeks.
What is new?
What is new this week, is that the province is now circulating the draft regulations to be adopted under the Condo Act. Some of these regulations are expected to be in force as early as July 1st, 2017. Others will come in force later this fall.
The proposed regulations deal with the following:
1. Communications (planned to come into force on July 1, 2017)
These proposed regulations are aimed at improving communications between boards and owners. They include:
- Regular mandatory updates about the corporation, including its finances;
- Clearer rules around the corporation’s requirement to maintain a record of owners.
2. Director Qualifications & Disqualifications (planned to come into force on July 1, 2017)
These are aimed at improving condo board transparency and at establishing required training. These regulations include:
- New requirements for mandatory director training;
- New requirements for candidates for director positions and sitting directors to disclose information such as potential conflicts.
3. Meetings (planned to come into force on July 1, 2017)
These are aimed at improving meeting and voting procedures. They include:
- New notice of meeting procedures;
- Establishing new mandatory proxy forms.
4. Records (planned to come into force in fall 2017)
These provide clearer rules regarding records retention and access, including:
- A non-exhaustive list of records that need to be retained by each corporation and a minimum retention period for each type;
- A more standardized process for records requests.
A “plain language” version of the proposed regulations can be examined. We are advised that the full language of the regulations will be circulated to the public “very shortly”.
The Province is Inviting Your Comments
The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services is inviting comments by March 30, 2017. Comments can be sent to :
56 Wellesley Street West, 6th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 1C1
Comments can also be sent by email. You should quote proposal number 17-MGCS001.