How Much will the Condo Authority Cost Condo Owners?
As you certainly know by now, the new Condo Authority of Ontario will be designated as the condominium authority as of September 1, 2017. The CAO will provide education and information and will oversee the Condo Authority Tribunal. But how much will all of this cost condo owners? The province wants to know how much owners are prepared to pay for this.
CAO Services
The Condo Authority of Ontario (CAO) will provide various services to condo owners and condo corporations. These will include:
- Helpful and easy to use information for owners on condo living;
- Mandatory training for condo directors;
- Setting up and maintaining a public registry of all condo corporations and their directors for increased transparency and accountability;
- Self-help tools and guided pathways for resolving common issues and disputes;
- Overseeing the Condo Authority Tribunal (CAT), which will provide online guided negotiation, mediation and adjudication services for certain disputes.
How much will it all costs?
The CAO and The CAT will be not-for-profit, non-crown corporations. For some time now, we have heard from various sources that they would be financed through a levy payable by all condo owners and by those using their services – a sort of pay per use. We’ve repeatedly heard that the CAO would charge anywhere between $1 to $3 per unit, per month. With approximately 700,000 condo units in the province, this would generate between $8M to $25M per year.
The CAO is now conducting a province-wide consultation on the fees it proposes to charge condo owners and those using its services. Below are the fees contemplated by CAO:
- $12 per unit, per year – collected by condo corporations;
- $25 filing fees for parties wishing to access the Tribunal’s online dispute resolution system where they can negotiate in a neutral forum and resolve their dispute;
- $50 for the services of a dedicated Tribunal’s mediator who will attempt to settle the dispute in a collaborative manner between the parties;
- $125 to get a formal adjudication of the dispute by a member of the Tribunal.
Don’t forget to factor the universal fee into next year’s budget.
[ctt template=”5″ link=”YBW4I” via=”no” ]The Condo Authority is proposing a universal fee of $1/unit/month. Has your Condo adjusted its budget?[/ctt]
What do you think of these fees? Complete CAO’s survey
The CAO is conducting a survey to determine how condo owners feel about these proposed fees. The survey will be conducted from July 4, 2017 to July 18, 2017. Now is the time to provide your opinion on this! You can participate to the survey by visiting the CAO website and by clicking on the “provide your input” link (top right corner of the site). I have already provided them with my thoughts on these. I’m sure they want to hear from you on this.
Condo Adviser also has a survey
Now, just for fun, we decided to make our own Condo Adviser survey. Please note that our survey is not the official survey by the CAO. Our survey is only aimed at triggering a conversation between you and us. Please complete the CAO survey if you want the Province to consider your opinion.