CCI-Toronto CondoVoice - Spring 2013

www.ccitoronto.org VOL. 17, NO. 3 • SPRING 2013

PM #40047055

PUBLICATION OF THE CANADIAN CONDOMINIUM INSTITUTE - TORONTO & AREA CHAPTERPUBLICATION DE L’ INSTITUT CANADIEN DES CONDOMINIUMS - CHAPITRE DE TORONTO ET RÉGION

Kilgour I

Plus:n Participation, In Condo Livingn Noise Complaints in Condos: The Perils of Failing

to Enforce Condo Rulesn Condominium Act 1998 - Review Process Updaten Solar Panels - Capturing the Best of the Sun’s

Ample Energyn Multi-Ethnicity in Condominiumsn BUDGETING - Focus for the Future…and More

CONDO OF THE YEARQUARTER FINALIST

Features

9 Noise Complaints in Condos: The Perils of Failing to EnforceCondo RulesBy Rod Escayola

15 Multi-Ethnicity in CondominiumsBy Sue Langlois and Patricia Elia

18 Participation, In Condo LivingBy Dr. Jeff Lodenquai

20 Decisions from the Courts: The Impact on Your CondominiumCorporationBy Brian Horlick

30 Condominium Act 1998 – Review Process UpdateBy Armand Conant

47 BUDGETING - Focus on the FutureBy John Warren

53 Solar Panels: Capturing the Best of the Sun’s Ample EnergyBy Christine Lepage

CCI News5 President’s Message

6 From the Editor

26 Condo of the Year 3rd Quarter Finalist

39 Committee Member Profiles

40 New Board Member Profile - Ernie Nyitrai

41 Mark Your Calendars

43 New Chapter Members

44 Committee Updates

58 CCI-T Educational Program

Spring 2013 thecondovoice 3

Canadian Condominium Institute/ Institut canadien des condominiums

Toronto & Area Chapter2175 Sheppard Ave. E., Suite 310,

Toronto, ON M2J 1W8Tel.: (416) 491-6216 Fax: (416) 491-1670E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.ccitoronto.org

2012-2013 Board of DirectorsPRESIDENT

Brian Horlick, B.Comm., B.C.L., LL.B., ACCI, FCCI(Member, Legislative Committee,

Member, Government Relations Committee,Member, Conference Committee)

Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP

VICE-PRESIDENTMario Deo, BA, LL.B.

(Member, Communications CommitteeMember, Conference Committee)

Fine & Deo LLP

2ND VICE-PRESIDENTSally Thompson, P.Eng.

(Member, Education CommitteeMember, Legislative Committee)

Halsall Associates Ltd.

SECRETARY/TREASURERBob Girard, B.Comm, RCM, FCCI

(Chair, Special Projects Committee/President’sClub Sessions, Member, Education Committee)

YCC #50

PAST PRESIDENTBill Thompson, BA, RCM, ACCI, FCCI(Member, Education Committee, Chair, By-Law Review Committee)

Malvern Condominium Property Management

BOARD MEMBERS

Armand Conant, B.Eng., LL.B., D.E.S.S.(Chair, Legislative Committee,

Co-Chair, Government Relations Committee)Shibley Righton LLP

Tania Haluk, RCM(Ontario Caucus Representative)

Simerra Property Management Inc.

Jeff Jeffcoatt, P.Eng, BDS, RCM(Member, Education Committee,

Liaison of Health and Safety Committee)Construction Control Inc.

Murray Johnson, RCM(Member, Membership Committee,

Chair, Volunteer Resources Committee)Brookfield Residential Services Ltd.

Lisa Kay, BA, CCI (Hons)(Chair, Communications Committee,Member, Conference Committee,

Member, Special Projects Committee)JCO & Associates

Ernie Nyitrai(Member, Legislative Committee)

YRCC 636

Vic Persaud, BA(Chair, Membership Committee,

Member, Special Projects Committee)Suncorp Valuations Ltd.

John Warren, C.A.(Chair, Education Committee

Member, Legislative Committee)Adams & Miles LLP

OPERATIONS MANAGER - Lynn MorrovatADMINISTRATOR - Rebecca Harvey

EDUCATION COORDINATOR - Josee Lefebvre

Contents

thecondovoice Spring 20134

“TheCondoVoice” is published 4times per year – Spring, Summer,Fall and Winter, by TaylorEnterprises Ltd. on behalf of theCanadian Condominium Institute -Toronto & Area Chapter.

EDITOR: Mario DeoADVERTISING: Michelle RomanukCOMPOSITION: E-Graphics

All advertising enquiries should be directed to Michelle Romanuk at(416) 491-6216 ext.111 or [email protected]

If you are interested in writing articles for TheCondoVoice magazine, pleasecontact Rebecca Harvey at Ext 116 or [email protected]. Article topics must be on issues of interest to Condominium Directors and must beinformative rather than commercial innature.

The authors, the Canadian CondominiumInstitute and its representatives will not beheld liable in any respect whatsoever for any statement or advice contained herein.Articles should not be relied upon as aprofessional opinion or as an authoritative or comprehensive answer in any case.Professional advice should be obtainedafter discussing all particulars applicable in the specific circumstances in order toobtain an opinion or report capable ofabsolving condominium directors fromliability [under s. 37 (3) (b) of theCondominium Act, 1998]. Authors’ viewsexpressed in any article are not necessarilythose of the Canadian CondominiumInstitute. All contributors are deemed tohave consented to publication of anyinformation provided by them, includingbusiness or personal contact information.

Consider supporting the advertisers and service providers referred to in this magazine, recognizing that they havebeen supporters of CCI.

Advertisements are paid advertising and donot imply endorsement of or any liabilitywhatsoever on the part of CCI with respectto any product, service or statement.

Publications Mail Agreement #40047055 -Return undeliverable Canadian addressesto Circulation Dept. 2175 Sheppard Ave.E., Suite 310, Toronto, ON M2J 1W8

Oakville and Barrie encompasses primarilythe areas of corporate/commercial and con-dominium law. Patricia has been a regularspeaker and participant for ACMO and theToronto, the Golden Horseshoe and HuroniaChapters of CCI. She contributes articles towell-known industry publications.

CHRISTINE LEPAGE (SolarPanels - Capturing the Bestof the Sun’s Ample Energy,page 53) has been in proper-ty management for over 25years. She currently works

for Newton-Trelawney Property Manage -ment. Christine is passionate about hercareer and is the proud Mother of four chil-dren, which she considers to be her majorachievement.

DR. JEFF LODENQUAI(Participation in CondoLiving, page 18), is a semi-retired family physician anda Board Member for WaldenPond 2. In addition to his

board and community work, Dr. Lodenquaiis also the president of the CaribbeanChinese Association.

JAMES RUSSELL (Kilgour 1-Condo of the Year QuarterFinalist, page 26) is aToronto based corporatecommunications specialist

and filmmaker. He is currenting producinga TV movie based on the Giller-winningnovel “The Polished Hoe” starring theStratford Festival's Yanna McIntosh andStar Trek’s LeVar Burton.

JOHN M. WARREN, C.A.(Budgeting, Focus on theFuture, page 47) is a partnerwith Adams & Miles LLP,Chartered Accountants,whose clients include over

300 condominiums. He is a Director andPast President of the CanadianCondominium Institute – Toronto and AreaChapter and has served on a number ofCommittees of the Association ofCondominium Managers of Ontario. He iscurrently Chair of the Committee of theInstitute of Chartered Accountants ofOntario that periodically publishes guide-lines on accounting and auditing for OntarioCondominiums.

Contributors

ARMAND CONANT, B.ENG.,LL.B., D.E.S.S. (SORBONNE)(Condominium Act 1998 –Review Process Update, page30) heads the condominiumdepartment of the law firm of

Shibley Righton LLP and represents con-dominium corporations across centralOntario. Armand is a Past President of CCI(Toronto), and also Chairs the LegislativeCommittee and Co-Chairs the GovernmentRelations Committee. Armand is a memberof CCI National’s Government RelationsCommittee

ROD ESCAYOLA (NoiseComp laints in Condos: ThePerils of Failing to EnforceCondo Rules, page 9)practices civil litigationand leads Heenan Blaikie’s

Ottawa condominium law practice group.He also frequently contributes tocondoreporter.com, Heenan Blaikie’s blogon condominium matters.

BRIAN HORLICK, B.COMM.,B.C.L. LL.B., ACCI, FCCI(Decisions from the Courts:The Impact on YourCondominium Corp or a tion,page 20) has been successful-

ly engaged in the practice of law for 25years. He is a senior partner with the lawfirm of Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP and isan expert in the area of condominium law.He is the President of the CCI TorontoChapter and is a member of its Legislativeand Government Relations Committees .Brian is also the Co-Chair of the 2013CCI-T/ACMO Conference Committee andis Chair of the ACMO Associates ExecutiveCommunications Committee.

SUE LANGLOIS & PATRICIAELIA (Multi-Ethnicity inCondominiums, page 15).Sue Langlois is the founder/CEO of WOWnetwork inToronto. She provides com-munication managementsolutions for condos. Shecan be reached [email protected]. Patricia Elia is a lawyer,

mediator and professional coach. She prac-tices law with Elia Associates ProfessionalCorporation. Her law practice in Toronto,


President’s Message

Change, in life and in most human endeavours, is inevitable. The winds of change, as most readersare aware, have recently blown some new faces into key roles within the Ontario ProvincialGovernment. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tracy MacCharles,Member of Provincial Parliament for Pickering-Scarborough East, on her appointment as the newMinister for Consumer Services.

Ms. MacCharles inherits a process, already well underway, that will hopefully lead to meaningful, sub-stantial, badly-needed change to the condominium legislation in this province. We at the CanadianCondominium Institute’s Toronto & Area Chapter urge the Ministry of Consumer Services under Ms.MacCharles’ leadership to continue to make review of and revision to Ontario’s condominium legis-lation a priority.

On the legislative front, Stage I of the public engagement review process has now been completed andits reports have been filed. Stage II is slated to commence shortly with the establishment of an expertspanel to build on the findings of Stage I. Stage III, scheduled for 2014, would then provide a finalreport to the government in preparation for the new legislation. A full update of the CondominiumAct review process can be found in this issue’s magazine.

The winds of change are also now blowing for the CondoVoice. As you may be aware, CCI Torontohas now embarked on an exciting new launch of the magazine spearheaded by Lisa Kay, one of ourCCI Toronto directors and chair of the Communications Committee. While continuing to reach con-dominium board members, managers and professionals, the new magazine will also target condo-minium unit owners. To be sure, our CondoVoice will be sizzling hot this summer so watch for yourcopy to arrive by mid to late June.

Brian Horlick, B.Comm., B.C.L., LL.B., ACCI, FCCIPresident, CCI Toronto & Area Chapter


Perhaps the most important task of the first unit owner board of directors is dealing with constructiondeficiency/Tarion issues (let’s call these “CDT” issues). The administration of this task is usuallypassed down to the manager of the condominium corporation. However, it may be that the delega-tion of this responsibility to the manager does not satisfy the required standard of care for a board ofdirectors. It’s not because the manager is not qualified. It’s because there is not enough time set asidefor the manager to do the job properly. Part of the problem, among many others, is that the develop-er’s budget never has a separate budget line item for the correction of CDT issues, but rather, dealswith it as part of the line item for the performance audit. Boards cannot be expected to have the expert-ise themselves. Money must be spent to get the proper job done. Boards invariably are “penny wiseand pound foolish” with respect to costs because “it’s not in the budget”. Lack of attention, cheap workand cheap advice can be very expensive when it comes to a condominium corporation’s CDT issues.

I have asked three well-known managers if there is an industry standard for management fees to dealwith CDT issues – the answer was the same in all cases – nothing (meaning, they get nothing extra).If your manager is getting nothing extra for taking care of CDT issues, then that task is being “squeezed”out of the manager’s other tasks. When dealing with CDT issues, these managers are required to han-dle, in addition to their normal substantial day-to-day duties, the following massive tasks:

• managing the entire Performance Audit process;• dealing with and arranging meetings with the engineer and lawyer who constantly needinformation and updating;

• generally knowing the hundreds of pages of Tarion regulations;• attending numerous meetings with owners, board, construction trades, developer represen-tatives, service representatives;

• managing owner surveys for CDT issues, where there is overwhelming owner apathy;• preparing for and attending conciliation meetings (lawyers and engineers need copiousamounts of information and documents at these meetings);

• preparing for and attending at LAT hearings;• making sure no time limits are missed; and,• performing weekly or monthly inspections to ensure reporting of CDT issues.

In doing all of the above, the manager must be careful not to prejudice, lose, reduce or forget the con-dominium’s rights. It’s a huge job.

It’s time boards spent a little more money on and paid more attention to CDT issues. The best thingto do is to hire a separate company or individual to administer and manage the CDT issues. There isjust too much at stake not to. The day-to-day manager simply cannot be expected, in all cases, to havethe skills and time needed for the task. Tarion has the new Bulletin 49 timeframe of 18 months. Thelimitation period for non-Tarion claims (common law claims) is two years. Most directors and man-agers do not know that common law claims even exist – these are substantial rights to remedy CDTissues during and long after the Tarion Warranty has expired – but these claims expire two years afterthey are discovered. Two years in a condominium corporation can fly by. Much can bemissed. Directors change, managers change and threads can be lost.

Invariably, the representatives of the developer dealing with the CDT issues are very experienced in-house counsel (lawyers) whose full time work it is to minimize or avoid claims relating to CDT

From the Editor

continued on page 58


Noise Complaints in Condos: The Perils of Failing to Enforce Condo Rules

BY ROD ESCAYOLAHEENAN BLAIKIE LLP

Condominium corporations shouldtake noise complaints seriouslyor risk facing painful financial

consequences. In a recent case1, a con-dominium corporation that failed toenforce its own rules prohibiting exces-sive noise was ordered to compensatean owner for the costs she had incurredto find alternative accommodation. Thecorporation was also ordered to pay asignificant costs award. In his reasons,the judge criticized the property manag-er and the corporation for not havingtaken the complaint seriously.

The autopsy of a noise complaintgone wrong

Ms. Dyke lived in a high rise condo-minium in Toronto. She quietly enjoyedthe use of her unit from 1994 until2007, until the owner in the unit abovehers removed the wall-to-wall carpet-ing and replaced it with hardwoodflooring. Following a complaint fromMs. Dyke, the corporation retained asound transmission expert, who con-firmed that there was “more than aver-age” transmission of sound, and recom-


neighbour requesting that the noisecease. The corporation instead advisedMs. Dyke to stop complaining to theneighbour, but rather to direct any com-munications to the property manager.Ms. Dyke did just that and numerousreports were made of excessive noise,comparable to the constant banging ofa hammer. Yet, no steps were taken bythe corporation or the property manag-er to rectify the situation. Eventually,Ms. Dyke put the corporation on noticethat if they did not take some action toenforce the corporation’s own rulesprohibiting such noise nuisance, shewould hold them legally responsible.

Rather than address the situation, thecorporation advised Ms. Dyke that they“had been unable to independently ver-ify the intensity of the disturbingnoise”, completely ignoring the numer-ous past complaints, the 2007 noiseexpert report, and the fact that the secu-rity guard apparently had identified thesource of the noise. To make mattersworse, it appears that the corporationthen started a campaign of harassmentagainst Ms. Dyke, which includedunfounded allegations that Ms. Dyke’stwo dogs were disturbing neighbours.The corporation also took the positionthat Ms. Dyke should stop workingfrom home as the corporation’s docu-ments provided that units could only beused for residential purposes… yet itdid nothing to address the professionaldance studio above Ms. Dyke’s head.

As things worsened, Ms. Dyke couldnot work or make proper use of her unitand started to suffer ill health effectsfrom the noise and stress of having tolive with the constant noise of a dancestudio above her. Eventually, Ms. Dykehad no choice but to move out of hercondominium in December 2011.

Ms. Dyke then turned to the courts toobtain an Order enjoining the corpora-tion to enforce its own rules againstnoise nuisance. She brought an applica-tion under Section 135 of theCondominium Act, 1998 [the “Act”],which creates an oppression remedywhere conduct of a condominium cor-poration is oppressive or unfairly preju-

mended that 65% of the floor space becovered with area rugs.

The problem seemed to go away untilFebruary 2010 when a new tenantmoved into the unit above Ms. Dyke’sunit. Unfortunately for Ms. Dyke, thisnew tenant was a professional dancerwho eventually turned her unit into afull-time professional dance studio. Ms.

Dyke complained repeatedly to her newneighbour but to no avail. As thingsworsened, Ms. Dyke started to complainto the condominium corporation and tothe property manager, and eventuallycalled the police to report a nuisance.

Unfortunately, the condominium cor-poration initially took no action. In fact,they never even sent a letter to the noisy


dicial or where such conduct unfairlydisregards the interests of the applicant(in this case: Ms. Dyke). She also soughtcompensation for the financial lossesshe incurred when she was forced totemporarily move out of her condo.

The court concluded that the corpora-tion acted in a way which unfairly dis-regarded the interests of Ms. Dykewhen it failed to take the adequate stepsto enforce its own rules against suchnoise nuisance. The harassment cam-paign against Ms. Dyke also added tothe corporation’s unfairly prejudicialconduct.

The court ordered the condominiumcorporation to reimburse the expensesincurred by Ms. Dyke to find alterna-tive accommodations, such as rent,hydro, utilities, furniture and movers.These expenses exceeded $40,000. Thecorporation was also ordered to paynearly $20,000 in legal fees.

Unfortunately for the corporation, thematter does not end there. The judgedeferred to another hearing the issue ofwhether further damages should be paidto Ms. Dyke to compensate her for herpain and suffering, mental anguish anddistress, loss of income and loss ofcomfort and quiet enjoyment of herunit.

How to Best Deal with NoiseComplaints?

Compliance issues, and in particularnoise complaints, can be very difficultto resolve. Corporations and propertymanagers must take them seriously andact on them with haste and resolve.Noise complaints can probably best beapproached and resolved through thefollowing three phases. However, asno two situations are exactly the same,corporations and property managersshould involve legal counsel early inthe process to ensure they are acting incompliance with the applicable legisla-tion and with the condominium docu-ments and policies.

First Phase: The investigation

The first step in dealing with a noisecomplaint should be to investigate it inorder to determine whether the com-plaint is valid. Tolerance to noise isvery subjective. What is disrupting tosomeone may not be to the next person.The reality is that anyone who lives inthe city, and in particular in a condo-minium complex, must expect to beexposed to some level of noise. Thecorporation should intervene, however,when there is a breach to the Act, thedeclaration or the rules as they pertainto noise and nuisance.

The results of the investigation will alsodictate what further steps should betaken by the corporation. The source ofthe noise, as much as its intensity, willhave an impact on what the corporationcan or should do about it. For instance,noise coming from a nearby train sta-tion or from a construction site acrossthe street is really out of the corpora-tion’s control and the corporationshould not get involved.

The corporation should open a separatefile for each complaint and should getdetails of the complaint preferably inwriting. It is important to collect asmuch information as possible from thecomplainant and information should

“The corporationshould open a separatefile for each complaintand should get details

of the complaintpreferably in writing.”


also be gathered from neighbours. Thecorporation should also considerinspecting the unit at the source of thenoise but should first consult legalcounsel with respect to rights of entries.Finally, the corporation should exam-ine its declaration and rules on noiseand any flooring restrictions. Did theunit owner replace his or her carpetwith wood or tiles, as was the case inthe Dyke case?

The corporation should also considerretaining a noise/sound transmissionexpert. In the Dyke case, the court com-mented on the fact that sharing the costsof such an expert between the corpora-tion and the owner may often be seen asthe fair thing to do. In other cases, anowner may be justified in taking theposition that he or she should not beresponsible for such an expense. It isimportant to discuss these matters priorto incurring the expense.

If the investigation concludes that anoccupant of a unit is in breach of the

Act or the condominium documents,the corporation has a legal obligationto ensure compliance and intervene.Stated otherwise, the corporation can-not turn a blind eye to a specific situa-tion. Owners are entitled to expect thatthe corporation will enforce all of itsrules against all of its owners.

Second Phase: The Interventionby the Corporation or its PropertyManager

Where the noise is ongoing at the timeof the complaint, the corporation shouldconsider intervening immediately byknocking on the unit door to get theoccupant to stop the nuisance. That maybe sufficient to resolve the situation.

In every other case, the property man-ager should write to the offendingowner — and tenant in the case of arented unit — to advise him/her of theproblem. The letter should be as spe-cific as possible and provide details andparticulars of the incident(s). The letter

should also refer to the declaration orrule being breached. Finally, the ownershould also be given a specific (but rea-sonable) period of time to resolve thesituation. The time granted to resolve asituation will greatly vary dependingon the issue at hand: Noise from a partyshould cease immediately. Fixing anoisy A/C compressor may requiremore time.

In the event that the situation is notresolved, the property manager shouldsend a second warning letter to theowner/tenant in breach. This lettershould again provide details of the inci-dent(s) being complained of, refer tothe authority being breached, andspecifically refer to the prior warningletter. The owner should again be pro-vided with a very specific (and usuallyshorter) period of time to resolve thesituation. The letter should specificallyadvise the owner that should the noisedisturbance continue, the matter will bereferred to the corporation’s lawyer andthat such a step will result in legal fees


being claimed by the corporationagainst him/her. If appropriate, the cor-poration should consider referring thematter to mediation – keeping in mindthat tenants do not have a right torequest mediation.

Third Phase: Legal Intervention

If the disturbance or breach continues,the matter should be referred to the cor-poration’s lawyer, who will most like-ly write to the owner in breach, givinghim or her one last chance to immedi-ately resolve the situation. This letterwill likely specifically warn the ownerthat should the situation not beresolved, the matter will be referred tolitigation and that legal fees will beclaimed against the owner.

It is very important to provide yourlawyer with as much background infor-mation as possible. Your lawyer will bemore efficient and your legal fees willbe cheaper if your file is up to date, wellorganized and complete. The more factsyou provide to your lawyer, the morespecific he/she can be in his or her finalletter to the owner. This will avoid cost-ly back and forth between the corpora-tion and the lawyer.

In the event that the breach continuesdespite the final warning from thelawyer, the corporation may have nochoice but to take legal action, likelypursuant to section 134 of theCondominium Act to obtain compli-ance. In some instances, the first stepof such legal process may require for-mal mediation.

While a legal proceeding can be daunt-ing and costly, the corporation has anobligation to ensure that all ownersabide by the Act, declaration, bylawsand rules. In the Dyke matter referred toabove, the corporation’s failure to actresulted in the aggrieved owner beingthe one commencing legal action…. butagainst the corporation, not against thenoisy neighbour.

Conclusion

In Ms. Dyke’s case, because of the cor-poration’s failure to enforce the rules,

with noise complaints. Since “preven-tion” is often the best “medication”,corporations should consider adoptingan Enforcement Policy to assist themin best addressing noise complaints inan efficient and systematic mannerbefore things get out of hand.

1 Dyke v. Metropolitan Toronto CondominiumCorp. No. 972, 2013 ONSC 463. n

all of the owners will be paying for herdamages and legal costs as part of theircommon expenses. The unit owner andtenant of the unit where the noise orig-inated appear to have escaped anyfinancial consequences. Had the corpo-ration properly enforced the rules, theymay have been able to claim theirenforcement costs from the owner ofthe unit where the noise originated.

At the end of the day, corporations haveto be cautious and tactful when dealing


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Multi-Ethnicity inCondominiums

The Canadian multi-

cultural phenomenon

stands out in a world

where many are divided

by race, religion,

culture, ethnicity,

gender, creed etcetera.

Condominiums

advance the Canadian

advantage by being an

intimate multi-cultural

reality. Under one roof,

cultures meet, merge,

blend and harmonize

into a community.

BY SUE LANGLOIS, WOWNETWORK AND

PATRICIA ELIA, ELIA ASSOCIATES


Educate, Engage, Exchange andthereby Expand our minds. You choseto live in Canada and to live in a condo-minium - the most intimate form ofcommunity and the 4th level of govern-ment, yet how educated are you on thepeople around you? What are themindsets, values and beliefs of theircultures? Did you know that in Indianculture PDAs (Public displays ofAffection) are frowned upon? Did youknow that in Ethopia, rejecting some-one’s invitation to tea or coffee is rude,unless you have other plans? InEngland, cutting into line is frownedupon.

What are the similarities and differ-ences between you and your neigh-bour? Do you know what your com-mon dreams are with your neighbour?

How can you Engage in your commu-nity? Did you know that we are a multi-cultural society by law? Yes, in 1971Canada was the first country in theworld to adopt multi-culturalism. Weare not a melting pot like the U.S. Weare distinctly Canadian by believing inmany cultures but none because we areCanadian.

It means taking the time to engage indifferent cultural events in your com-munity. Exchange ideas that broadenyour community’s horizon. While foodis an obvious and delicious way to startwith community potlucks, other thingslike cultural fashion shows, storytellingevenings, business practices awarenessand cultural holidays awareness arealso good places to start. By buildingcommunity opportunities, barriers canbe overcome.

By being Canadian and understandingthat Canada by its own policies, (i.e.its values), has decided to be a multi -cultural state is important. WeEmbrace the mosaic.

Now, some may argue that meansambiguity in identity. But I wouldargue the contrary, rather it means get-ting to know people different than our-selves. In Canada, cultures come face-to-face and are able to live under one

roof in relative peace and harmonywhile maintaining their identity. Isn’tthat true success? Just Imagine, evenJohn Lennon would be impressed. Condominium living creates an inti-mate relationship with the human nextdoor because we are connected by ourchoice to live in a condominium envi-ronment.

Communication

The other day, I was visiting a condoand heard 2 languages other thanEnglish (or French) being spoken in theelevator. I crossed the lobby and heard2 more. Language, that most obvious

rate petri dishes forever? Can we trulyclaim to be a multicultural society,when after all our biggest exposure toother cultures (unless we have veryclose friends from whom we can learn)is quite often limited to our ethnic expe-riences with food?

In a condo environment, it is unbeliev-able how many cultures are represent-ed under one roof. With all those cul-tures it can be a real challenge foreveryone to understand, be understood,and get along peacefully. Commun -ication can help with that. It can bridgethe gap between the thoughts and ideasof one culture… over to the next. Whatan opportunity to truly make your con-dominium a better place to live, and ourcountry the multicultural icon that itclaims to be. Here’s how:

Take a SurveyFind out what ethnic backgrounds arerepresented in your community. Askevery resident that you see, get yourconcierge to ask, leave a ballot box atthe front desk that people can fillout. Of course, let them know what it’sfor, but keep the language simple andclearly state the goal.“Share your heritage! Please fill outthe ballot at front desk and let us knowyour ethnic background, so that we cancelebrate multiculturalism in our condocommunity.”

Post the Results:Did you know that within ABC build-ing we have 1000 residents, represent-ing 24 different countries around theworld! No need to list them with per-centages of each. Remember, the goalhere is to unite, not segregate.

The objective here is to give people asense of where they live, and then toshowcase it. I remember the first timewe posted Happy Diwali to our digitalmessage boards, we got a huge, posi-tive response. Why? Simply becauseat the time it was not something thatwas regularly seen in any media, letalone in the condo environment, and forthose who celebrate the Festival ofLights, it made them feel great to see itacknowledged.

‘In Canada,cultures comeface-to-face andare able to live

under one roof inrelative peace andharmony whilemaintaining theiridentity. Isn’t thattrue success?’

of communication tools, has certainlychanged in Canada over the past 50years and nowhere is it more obviousthan in the condo environment. And, itcan be argued, nowhere else is it such achallenge.

If multi-ethnic communities are nowthe norm in many of our condomini-ums, and residents form their own eth-nic “pockets” that create in-groups andout-groups of various ethnicities, arewe going to lose the multiculturalexperiment and live in our own sepa-


Do Your HomeworkWhat’s the idea here? Once you findout the different backgrounds, thenext thing is to do a little homework,and then communicate it to the resi-dents. Say you have three different cul-tures – Irish, Indian and Chinese. Findout a little about each. Keep it simpleand start with a few common themes.

If you have a communication commit-tee on your board of directors, or if yousubscribe to a service that takes care ofthis, then that is great, otherwise, relyon Google, your own travels, and theinput of people you know who sharethese backgrounds. Your lawyer, build-

ing science engineer, the custodian,security personnel... find out this infor-mation, and make it personal.Remember, you are trying to build rela-tionships, to make a better community.Communication for the Nation(s).

Select a week for each ethnicity andmake sure all of your communicationsrelay the information gathered for thecourse of that week. Email blasts, bul-letin boards, a sign at front desk,Twitter, even your website and digitalmessage boards.

Now I’m willing to go out on a limbhere and say that most people won’t

ever bother to ask someone of anotherculture why they do what theydo. (Excuse me ma’am, how come youwear that red circle on your forehead –what does it mean?) Even less likely issomeone else going to go out of theirway to explain it. (Excuse me, did youhappen to know that this red circle onmy forehead is called a bindhi and hasan ancient tradition of retaining energyin the human body?)

But what IS likely is that every time weget a peek into another person’s culture,every time we draw back the curtainand get a glimpse of where another per-son is coming from, we come a littlecloser to understanding one another alittle better. And ultimately, when weunderstand one another a little better,we get a better condo commun -ity. What was previously viewed asodd or different, is now at least partial-ly understood, and the more we under-stand something, the less likely we areto fear it, which makes for a happiercondo community. n

FOR EXAMPLE:

IRELAND INDIA CHINA

Say “hello” in: Gaelic Urdu Mandarin

Capital City is: Dublin New Delhi Beijing

Major Holiday is: St. Patrick’s Day Diwali Chinese New Year

Famous Canadian is: Prime Minister Meteorologist Simon, your friendlyLester Pearson Natasha Ramsahai neighbourhood

Property Manager!


Participation, In Condo LivingBY DR. JEFF LODENQUAI

BOARD MEMBER

WALDEN POND 2

In our condo, Walden Pond 2 inMarkham, we notice that the visibleminorities, especially those of

Chinese descent (who make up thegreater portion of our communityminorities), were hardly involved in theactivities of the condo. Walden Pond 2is primarily an adult lifestyle communi-ty comprised of 149 units. Of this,about 14 units are occupied by Chinese,while the rest of the units are occupiedby Caucasians. Our Board, headed byChairman, Ernie Nyitrai wondered if

By way of background, I am Chinese,from Jamaica, with an unusual Chinesename. English is my first language andI have been living in the condo for thepast 24 years. As I tried to learn aboutthe Chinese demographics within ourcommunity, I soon discovered thatsome of our Chinese residents spokevery little English, some worked fulltime and others had varied interests notfound in our condo.

In addressing the problem, I thought itwould be best if the Chinese residentsheld an event and invited all the otherresidents of the condo. Since we werenearing the Chinese New Year; the Yearof the Snake (February 10th), we couldincorporate it in this celebration. I con-tacted all the Chinese residents and can-vassed their opinion. I was amazed thatalmost 100% were in favour. And so,

Derek Gardener and Sandra McNabney entering Tea Room.

Guests admiring Chinese artifacts.

there was a way to address this situationof non-participation. I volunteered totry & find a solution.


was given a name tag with both theirEnglish name and the Chinese equiva-lent. Guests were then given a tradition-al Red Envelope for good luck, andwere directed to a Display Room wherewe showed some Chinese tableware,various types of teas, some handicrafts& a live demonstration of Chinese cal-ligraphy. Following this, guests wereinvited into our Tea Room where theywere treated to jasmine tea, & severalvarieties of tasty Chinese pastries. Ashort demonstration of Tai Chi wasgiven and was well received.

At the end of the very successful event,the chairman thanked all the organiz-ers and invited them to take a moreactive part in some of the events whichthe condo offered. Due to the positiveresponse and feedback from all resi-dents, it is hoped that this will becomean annual event! n

“A TASTE OF CHINA” was born.What was equally gratifying was theresponse from the other residents; forwithin two days of posting the noticeof the tea party on the condo noticeboard we had stop accepting names, as

the maximum capacity of 70 people forour party room had been reached.

At the tea party, held on February 1st,guests were greeted by ladies elegantlydressed in Chinese attire and each guest

Celia Chan demonstrating Tai Chi.


Middlesex Condominium Corp.No. 232 v. (Owners andMortgagees of) MiddlesexCondominium Corp. No. 232(Ontario Superior Court ofJustice, October 9, 2012)

This was an application by a con-dominium corporation under sec-tion 131 of the Act for an orderappointing an administrator. Thecondominium corporation in thiscase, like many others, was expe-riencing issues with respect todifferent groups that were com-peting for control of the gover-nance of the corporation. As isoften the case, these groups weredivided over money.

In this case, the corporation had beenexperiencing issues with exterior waterentry for several years. After consid-ering the options available to the corpo-ration to deal with this issue, the cor-poration’s board of directors decided toproceed with an option that was esti-mated to cost $755,000.00. Given thatthe corporation’s reserve fund held onlya fraction of this amount, the board ofdirectors then prepared a borrowing by-law to authorize the corporation to bor-row monies to fund this repair.

Before the corporation’s next annualgeneral meeting, at which a vote on theproposed borrowing by-law was sched-uled to be held, some unit owners whowere concerned about the cost of therepair option that the board planned topursue asked to be given access to cor-poration documents for the purpose ofreviewing same. These owners askedthe board to delay contract negotiationsfor the repair work to give them timeto carry out this review. When the own-ers were told by the corporation’s

Decisions from the Courts:The Impact on Your Condominium Corporation

BY BRIAN HORLICK

HORLICK LEVITT DI LELLA LLP

lawyer that they were only enti-tled to access a limited number ofthe requested documents, and thatthe board would not delay con-tract negotiations for the repairwork, these owners prepared arequisition for a vote to be heldat the AGM to defer considera-tion of the by-law for severalmonths. If that vote failed, therewas to be a vote for the removalof the board.

At the AGM, due to efforts by theowner group that opposed thepassing of the borrowing by-law,the corporation failed to get therequired number of votes toapprove the by-law. At that point,the board terminated the meeting

before the owners’ vote to remove theboard could be held. The board thencaused the corporation to bring anapplication for the appointment of anadministrator, as well as a motion foran injunction to prevent the requisition-ists from holding any requisitionedmeeting before the application could beheard. The court, however, refused thecorporation’s motion for an injunction,and a meeting was held and the boardremoved. Costs of the injunction appli-cation were awarded on a joint and sev-


eral basis personally against the oldboard members in the amount of$15,000 with the court finding that theold board had acted in bad faith.

At the hearing of the application, thecourt considered a number of issues,including whether this was a propercase for the appointment of an admin-istrator, and whether the requisitionedmeeting had been validly held such thata new board had been elected. In con-sidering whether this was a proper casefor the appointment of an administra-tor, the court held that, by involving thecorporation’s lawyer in response towhat was a reasonable request for

access to the corporation’s records, thecorporation needlessly escalated the sit-uation at an early stage. The court fur-ther held that the unit owners’ responseto this, namely the requisition for a voteto remove the board, was reasonable inthe circumstances, and that the corpora-tion’s attempt to portray the corpora-tion as being ungovernable and in chaosas a result of the unit owners’ actionswas “in turn hyperbolic, exaggeratedand alarmist”.

With respect to the validity of the req-uisitioned meeting, the court held that,based on the evidence, the meetingappeared to have been properly called

and held, and that the removal vote andelection that took place at that meetingwere valid. As such, the court held thata new board had been validly elected.

Given the court’s finding that the requi-sitioned meeting had been validly heldand a new board validly elected, thecourt held that the corporation was infact capable of managing itself, and thatthe appointment of an administratorwas not necessary. Accordingly, thecourt dismissed the administrator appli-cation. Costs of this application wereawarded on a joint and several basispersonally against the old board mem-bers in the amount of $21,300.52 with

‘…it is clear that the judge was of the view that the board of directors in this

case was using section 131 of the Act to try to get its way “regardless of the

democratic will of the owners”.’



the court finding that the old board hadacted in bad faith.

Author’s note: there are numerousreported decisions in which a condo-minium board of directors has, inresponse to a requisition for a meetingto vote for the board’s removal, causedthe condominium corporation to bringan application for the appointment ofan administrator. One would be forgiv-en for thinking, in those cases, that themotivation for the board runs along thelines of ‘if we can’t be the board, noone else can’. All too often, the boardis successful in having the court appointan administrator. This case stands asan interesting counter-point to thosereported decisions; given the commentsmade by the judge in dismissing thecorporation’s application, it is clear thatthe judge was of the view that the boardof directors in this case was using sec-tion 131 of the Act to try to get its way“regardless of the democratic will ofthe owners”. The author hopes that thiscase may signal an increased resistance

by the courts to allow section 131 ofthe Act to be used in this manner.Certainly, the total cost award of$36,300.52 may have a sobering effecton an over exuberant board, especiallyin light of s. 38(2) of the CondominiumAct which precludes indemnification ofboard members by condominium cor-porations in these circumstances.

Lahrkamp v. Metropolitan TorontoCondominium Corp. No. 932 (OntarioSuperior Court of Justice (DivisionalCourt), November 6, 2012)

This was an appeal from a decision ofthe Small Claims Court. The appellant,Mr. Lahrkamp, was a unit owner at therespondent condominium corporation.Mr. Lahrkamp had unsuccessfullysought election to the condominiumcorporation’s board of directors.Following the election, he asked toreview the ballots and proxies that hadbeen used for the vote, so that he couldcount the votes for himself. However,

the corporation refused to provide Mr.Lahrkamp with access to these docu-ments.

This led Mr. Lahrkamp to file a claimwith the Small Claims Court pursuantto section 55 of the Condominium Act,1998. In his claim, Mr. Lahrkampsought the $500.00 penalty prescribedby section 55, as well as access to anumber of documents including theseballots and proxies. Mr. Lahrkamp’sclaim proceeded to a trial, and, follow-ing three days of trial, Mr. Lahrkampsuccessfully obtained a judgment thatrequired the condominium corporationto pay him $500.00 and to provide himwith access to a number of documents,including the ballots and proxies.

After this judgment was rendered bythe Small Claims Court, the corpora-tion realized that providing Mr.Lahrkamp with access to unredactedproxies could raise a privacy issue, ashe would be able to see which unitowners had voted for which candidates.



In order to address this concern, thecorporation brought a motion to varythe judgment to add a term that theproxies should be redacted to delete thenames, signatures and unit numbers ofthe owners who gave the proxies. Thismotion was granted by the SmallClaims Court despite Mr. Lahrkamp’sobjections, and the judgment was var-ied accordingly. Mr. Lahrkamp thencommenced this appeal, seeking anorder restoring the original judgmentand requiring the corporation to pro-vide him with access to the unredactedproxies.

At the hearing of the appeal, Mr.Lahrkamp argued that the Small ClaimsCourt judge had lacked the jurisdictionto make any order that put conditionson the production of records. Essen -tially, according to Mr. Lahrkamp, theSmall Claims Court’s only options wereto either order unconditional access toparticular records, or refuse to makesuch an order. However, the DivisionalCourt rejected this argument, and held

“… the corporation realized that providing Mr. Lahrkamp with access to

unredacted proxies could raise a privacy issue, as he would be able to see which

unit owners had voted for which candidates. ”

that the interpretation argued by Mr.Lahrkamp was unduly restrictive andinconsistent with the spirit of theCondominium Act, 1998.

The Divisional Court then noted that itonly had jurisdiction to hear appealswhere the amount at issue in the pro-ceeding appealed from exceeded a pre-scribed amount. Given that the appealwas from the order varying the judg-ment (rather than from the judgmentitself), and that the order varying thejudgment did not require either party topay the other any amount of money, theDivisional Court held that it did nothave jurisdiction to hear the appeal.Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

Author’s Note: the manner in whichthe Small Claims Court ordered that theproxies be redacted is the manner inwhich our office, as a matter of prac-tice, recommends that proxies beredacted before unit owners are permit-ted to review same. In our view, redact-ing the proxies in this manner makes

intuitive sense, as those unit ownerswho voted by proxy would be in a posi-tion to vote anonymously by ballot hadthey attended the meeting in person. Assuch, we were happy to learn from thisdecision that the Small Claims Courthad effectively agreed with our prac-tice in this case.

While it is unfortunate that theDivisional Court did not take the oppor-tunity that was before it to expresslyapprove of this practice, we note withinterest that the Divisional Court simi-larly did not disapprove of this practicedespite having a similar opportunity todo so. Given the importance of pro-tecting unit owners’ rights to an anony-mous vote (should they choose to voteanonymously), we will continue toadvise our condominium corporationclients to redact proxies in this manneruntil and unless a court indicates thatsuch redaction is not permissible. n


CONDO OF THE YEAR – 3rd Quarter Finalist

Kilgour 1-TSCC #1849

A Muskoka Resort inthe Middle of Leaside

BY JAMES M. RUSSELL

Congratulations are extended to Kilgour 1-TSCC 1849 who been selected as the 3rd quarter finalist ofCCI Toronto’s annual Condo of the Year Award!

The 2012-2013 annual grand prize winner will be selected from amongst the quarter finalists in the late summer of 2013 andwill be announced at the CCI Toronto Annual General Meeting in the fall of 2013. Further details on this contest may be foundon the CCI-T website at www.ccitoronto.org.

It is no wonder that the residents ofKilgour 1 love where they live.

Their immediate neighbours are the head-quarters of the world-famous CanadianNational Institute for the Blind (CNIB);Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; andBurke Brook Park, home to white pine, east-ern hemlock, sugar maples and a Noah’s Arkof wildlife.

Kilgour 1 is located at 20 Burkebrook Placeand was the first phase in the 460 unitKilgour Estate, a gentle mix of low rises andtownhouses in the lovely enclave ofLeaside. “This area is so beautiful that youwould think we are living in the middle ofMuskoka, while still enjoying the vibrantcommunity of Leaside,” says board presi-dent John Mariai.

Eight storey Kilgour 1 is comprised of 199


units: 22 two and three bedroom townhomes (some with elevators) and a mid-rise tower of 177 one or two bedroomunits of varying sizes and design, thesmallest being 569 square feet andlargest 3015 square feet. The majorityof the units are owner occupied.Kilgour 1’s amenities include a salt-water pool, billiards/party room, fifteenseat theatre room, gym, library and afrequently used concert piano in theirelegantly appointed lobby. The individ-ual suites have six appliances, hard-wood flooring and either granite ormarble counters. Residents enjoy arange of facilities within the buildingas well, including a gym, pool, steamroom, movie theatre, and an impres-sively furnished and well-stockedlibrary.

Built on a southern section of thesprawling 178-acre property that wasonce Sunnybrook Farm, a countryestate established in 1909 by CanadaPaper Company president, JosephKilgour and donated to the City ofToronto by his widow, the four-phasecommunity Kilgour Estate is one ofCanada’s loveliest communities.

“It’s in a wonderful location – a blendof great shopping and restaurants alongwith easy and immediate access toSunnybrook ravine, beautiful walkingand cycling paths, parks, stables and offleash dog parks. Unlike many othercondominiums, we are dog-friendly,”says board president Paul Mariai, whothen adds “… but with a cap of twodogs per suite.”

Kilgour 1 was built by The DanielsCorporation, Tarion WarrantyCorporation’s Hi-Rise Builder of theYear for 2012 and the same companythat transformed what was once a park-ing lot at the corner of John and Kinginto the amazing Bell Lightbox, homeof the Toronto International FilmFestival.

Its elegant interior, designed byTorontonian and Ryerson grad, BrianGluckstein, Kilgour 1’s interior spacesexhibit the detail, grace, and warmththat over the years have won its design-er, Brian Gluckstein, internationalacclaim and a bevy of awards.

THE RESIDENTSBut of course it is the people not thedesigners that form the glue that bindsa community. Says John, “We have aterrific blend of ages, genders and cul-tures. Everyone is welcoming andpleasant to chat with.”

“There is a strong sense of communityat Kilgour 1,” adds the board’s VP ValTaylor, a former Unionville residentwho moved into Kilgour 1 in July 2007to be closer to her grandchildren.

Vital to that sense of community isKilgour 1’s very active SocialCommittee. Helmed by long-time res-ident Irene Cameron, the SocialCommittee organizes wine and cheeseevents; nature walks; theatre outings; abridge club, which recently expandedto include players from 21 Burkebrook;their annual summer BBQ, which lastyear featured gourmet burgers cookedby their resident chefs; one spring-

Board of DirectorsFront L-R: Val Taylor, Ken Karp, and Paul Mariai;

Rear L-R: Van Smith and John MorinLobby

Resident Tom Pittmann in exercise room.

Residents Anson Bowlby, Genna Duplessis,Alice (3 years) and Gracie (6 years) enjoy time

in the pool.


as well as providing themwith articles of interest. In2008, the KILGOUR 1NEWS was awarded“Condominium Newsletterof the Year” by the Canad -ian Condominium InstituteToronto Chapter (CCI-T).

Looming large in the imme-diate future is the commu-nity of Leasides’ 100th GalaBash, which will take placeApril 27 and Kilgour 1’sfirst golf tournament will beheld May 31.

But the resident’s sense ofcommunity extends far beyond thewalls of the building. In 2008 the resi-dents of Kilgour Estate (phases onethrough four) donated several thou-sands of dollars in the name of theEstate to Holland BloorviewFoundation, a registered charity thatgrants millions of dollars each year toHolland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation

themed event, and the well-attended annual ChristmasParty where, last year, eachparticipant went home witha treat bag of residentKathleen Mariai’s popularhome-made cookies.Coming up on the horizon istheir Kilgour 1’s first golftournament. The event willbe held May 31 and isexpected to draw a throng ofresident golfers.

The Wednesday night MovieClub is so popular that thesocial committee has had toestablish “Front of the Line”seating, similar to the preferred systemthat American Express established forits cardholders.

Kilgour 1 also has an active LandscapeCommittee whose members bothdesign improvements and collaboratewith the Corporation’s landscapingcompany.

In addition to the Social and LandscapeCommittees, Kilgour 1 has a prolificCommunications Committee that pub-lishes the quarterly KILGOUR 1NEWS, an impressive and informativetwelve-page newsletter. “Our Com -mun ications Committee ensures thatresidents are kept well informed ofBoard and Property Management news,

PM Van Smith chats with Board in the party room.


Hospital, which, according to theirwebsite, “helps kids with disabilitiesreceive the best care possible, whileaccessing innovative technologies andstimulating quality of life programs tohelp them realize their unlimited poten-tial.” To this date, residents continue todonate to the Foundation on an individ-ual basis. “Additionally, as part of ourmandate for the various committees, wehave outreach programs that work withHolland Bloorview Kids RehabilitationHospital, the CNIB, and SunnybrookHealth Sciences Centre,” says John.

GOVERNANCE

Kilgour 1 (TSCC 1849) has afive member board made upof three residents who havebeen on the Board since thedeveloper officially turnedover Kilgour 1 in 2007:Board President, Paul Mariai;Vice President and PastPresident, Valeria (Val)Taylor; and Vice-President,Ken Karp. Additionally, PeterFarwell serves as Treasurer/Secretary and John Morin isthe Board’s Director.Management consists of ten:two office staff, fourconcierges, and four cleaners.

“As a Board, the biggest chal-lenge we have had, and this is proba-bly true of any board, is to work alongwith the Property Manager to deliverexcellent services to the owners whilekeeping the budget under control andpreventing heavy increases,” says John.

Speaking about 2007, when their con-dominium was registered, “It’s alwaysa challenge getting a new board up andrunning, but we believe we’ve done agood job to this point. After more thanfive years on the job, the board has agood sense of what residents’ needs andpreferences are, and we have very goodstaff who respond effectively to resi-dents’ requests,” says Board memberand VP, Ken Karp. The Board andManagement communicate with theresidents through the KILGOUR 1NEWS, postings, flyers, and, in the

case of emergencies and generalreminders, email blasts.

“Initially there was also a lot of work tobe done with owners who had neverlived in condominiums before so a lotof time was spent by Board andManagement trying to create a sense ofcommunity and educating new residentswhat it meant to live in a condomini-um… and I think that the Board andManagement have done a pretty goodjob of that,” says Val who adds, “TheSocial Committee, which was set upvery early in 2007 was instrumental inhelping residents make that adjustmentand works closely with the Board and

City put in a new trunk and water lineto accommodate our building.” Boththe board and Kilgour Estate now havea good relationship with their neigh-bours, including the Leaside PropertyOwners’ Association and their currentrepresentative at City Hall, CouncillorJohn Parker.

GREENING

Recently, Kilgour 1 achieved a 35%reduction in hydro costs after retro-fitting the common-element corridorswith hundreds of LED lights andreplaced the sodium lighting in thegarage with T8 linear fluorescent bulbs.

Part of the credit for initiat-ing the work goes toBrookfield Property Man -ager Van Smith, R.C.Mwhose more than eight yearsof experience was instru-mental in achieving theimprovement. Says Paul,“Not only were our residentsvery supportive of this ini-tiative, but Van’s experiencein this area really helpedmake the changes a big suc-cess from everyone’s per-spective.”

“The board has been fortu-nate in having Van as ourProperty Manager because he

is very knowledgeable about what itcosts to live in a condominium, whatavenues that are open for saving money,and how to get the best value for ourmoney.”

efWith winter’s icy grasp waning, the res-idents of Kilgour 1 have begun lookingforward to the moment when the sightsand sounds and smells of ‘Muskoka inLeaside’ begin to waft through thespring air. Soon they will be enjoyinglong walks surrounded by the majestyof nature, cycling adventures, shoppingand dining at their favourite Leasidestores and restaurants and loving whereyou live, a phrase borrowed from thedeveloper but one that the residents ofKilgour 1 had made their own. n

PM Van Smith at concierge desk with Shareece of Paragon Security.

Management to maintain that sense ofbelonging in owners and renters alike.”

The subject of ‘belonging’ first surfacedyears before the first resident moved in,and when Kilgour Estate was still justan architectural drawing. “We weren’taltogether welcomed.” Says Val. “Thedevelopers were originally going toplace a quite extensive building on thispiece of property but former CityCouncillor and Mayoral candidate JanePitfield and the Leaside PropertyOwners Association negotiated theoriginal design down to eight floors andspread the building’s footprint. Part ofthe Leaside Property Owners’Association’s objection to the originaldesign was that the land we are current-ly sitting on had a tremendous drainageproblem which was corrected when the


Condominium Act 1998 – ReviewProcess UpdateBY ARMAND CONANT

CO-CHAIR, CCI-T/ACMO GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE

In previous articles it was reportedthat the review process of theCondominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”)

is well underway and was not affectedby the prorogation of government. Asmany of you will know, KathleenWynne was recently elected leader ofthe Liberal Party and thus becamePremier of Ontario. On February 19th,ACMO President, Dean McCabe and Ihad the privilege to attend Queen’s Parkand hear the government’s ThroneSpeech, and later to attend the recep-tion and speak with the new Premier.

We were anxious to see if the Throne

Speech would contain any reference tocondominiums or the reform of the Act.However, just before the speech wewere advised that the Throne Speechgenerally only mentions new initiativesand not those already in progress.Therefore, we did not expect to hearany specific reference to the condo-minium industry or the ongoing reformprocess. Readers will be pleased toknow, however, that condominiumswere mentioned when the governmentdealt with the various forms of commu-nity living. This demonstrates that con-dominiums are still an important agen-da item for the government.

After the speech, during our conversa-tion with the new Premier she con-firmed that condominiums are, and willremain, an important issue for the gov-ernment and that the review and reformprocess will continue to its completion.This is excellent news for our industry.

The interesting issue will be if there isa provincial election before the new Actis introduced, and if so, will the newgovernment change its priorities and notcontinue with the legislative reform.CCI (Toronto) and ACMO have workedhard over the last couple of years toreach out to all three political partiesand they have unanimously agreed thatcondominiums and condominium leg-islative reform is necessary in Ontario.This is good news and hopefully willmean that we will see the new legisla-tion in 2014.

As described in earlier articles, thebroad based, public engagement reviewprocess has three stages. Stage I wascompleted at the end of 2012 when thereports of the various sessions, panelsand committees were filed and anoverall Findings Report published bythe Independent contractor in chargeof the review process, The PublicPolicy Forum (“PPF”). All of thereports are available on the govern-ment’s website and on PPF’s website(http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Page


s/condo_rev.aspx). These reports con-tain valuable information about theconcerns, issues and options identifiedto date. The three stages consist of:

Stage One

Stage One involved various avenues orstreams of discussion and input: (a) Ministers Public Information

Sessions: Five were held inSeptember and November of2012 in Toronto, Mississauga,Ottawa, London and Scarb -orough;

(b) Residents Panel: Consisting of36 residents and tenants fromacross Ontario selected fromover 500 individuals who vol-unteered for the Panel. ThePanel met three times duringOctober and November withvarious members of the condo-minium industry speaking tothem on various aspects of con-dominiums. Then the panel

broke out into working groupsto discuss various issues andidentify possible solutions;

(c) Stakeholder Roundtable: Whichconsisted of approximately 25individuals from the condo-minium industry includingowners, owner associations,professionals, representativesfrom the building sector andmany others. The Roundtablemet for four days in Octoberand November and was askedto identify key challenges andpossible solutions. PPF alsoconducted many telephoneinterviews with stakeholders;

(d) Public submissions to the gov-ernment online portal at [email protected] and we encour-age everyone to continue tomake submissions includingcomments on all reports;

(e) Submissions and reports fromvarious stakeholder groups

including the Legislative Briefand Dispute ResolutionModel/Report submitted by ourjoint CCI (Toronto)/ACMOLegislative Committee.

Stage TwoStage Two should commence shortlywith the establishment of an ExpertsPanel. PPF indicates that for Stage Two,“subject matter experts” will build onthe findings from Stage One, undertak-ing a more in-depth examination of theissues raised in considering the feasi-bility of the options proposed, such astheir effectiveness, cost and impact onother policy areas. The experts willdevelop a detailed action plan and rec-ommendations based upon these dis-cussions and the findings from StageOne.”

Stage ThreeStage Three which should hopefully

Continued on page 34


occur in the fall of 2013 will consistof providing the various stakeholderswith the preliminary report from StageTwo for review and “validation” (i.e.comments). The expert panel will thenreview this validation and prepare theirfinal report to the government in late fallin order for the government to preparethe new legislation for introduction intoQueens Park in the spring of 2014.

In this article I would like to give a briefsummary of some aspects the FindingsReport by PPF. In subsequent articles

(28%), dispute resolution (15%),finances (10%), consumer protection(10%), and property management(16%). In addition, they found that16% of the submissions dealt with top-ics or themes outside the Act.

It is interesting to note that theResidents Panel identified seven valuesincluding well-being, fairness, in - formed communities, responsiveness,strong communities, financial sustain-ability and effective communication.Dispute resolution was an import issuefor the panel. PPF summarizes thesecomments by the Panel as follows:

“These values not only establish basicbenchmarks for the kinds of improve-ments condominium owners want froma revised Condominium Act; they alsoprovide a clear and persuasive blueprintfor the kinds of communities that own-ers want to build for the future.”

The following are summaries of theissues, options and potential solutions

we will discuss further parts of it alongwith the other reports submitted by thevarious parties mentioned above.

As mentioned in previous articles, thegovernment grouped the discussionsinto 5 areas or themes: consumer pro-tection, dispute resolution, financialmanagement, qualifications of condo-minium property managers and gover-nance. This is supported by the statis-tical analysis by PPF of the Oncondosubmissions which showed the percent-age breakdown as follows: governance

“These values not only establish basic benchmarks forthe kinds of improvements condominium owners wantfrom a revised Condominium Act; they also provide a

clear and persuasive blueprint for the kinds ofcommunities that owners want to build for the future.”


reported by PPF in their FindingsReport:

Consumer ProtectionPurchase and sale documents should bewritten in plain language and includesummaries that explained the key infor-mation buyers need to make informeddecision on whether to buy. The fullcost of buying and living in a condo-minium Corporation should be trans-parent. All costs should be included inthe first year and any exceptions mustmeet stringent criteria including disclo-sure, to ensure consumers can makeinformed decisions.

Dispute ResolutionIn it was almost universally agreed thata better system for resolving disputes isrequired. This means more than simplya better or more effective means toenforce the condominium corporation’sdocuments, but rather must includesuch things as better access to informa-tion to the Corporation’s information,ability to obtain informed and impar-tial advice and reliable, trusted media-tion.

While it was recognized that a moreeffective dispute resolution system isrequired for the future it was uncertainhow this would be implemented andmanaged. As PPF stated on page 7 ofthe Findings Report “Many felt thatsome form of independent, authorita-tive agency or organization is neededto oversee the development and imple-mentation of these tools and process-es.”

Financial Management

Reserve funds must be adequatelyfunded through contributions that arebased on appropriate, standardizedstudies. The purpose and use of operat-ing funds must be revisited and adjust-ed and in some cases there should bemore flexibility in which case it mustbe clearly stated how the funds can beused and that owners must beinformed. Owners should have the nec-essary tools and access to informationto keep them informed on how theircommon expenses are calculated and

used. This information should be in aform that is easily accessible reliableand provided on a timely basis.

Property ManagersManagers and management companiesshould have a higher standard of skillsand training, which will include com-pulsory knowledge and may requireregulation of the industry by govern-ment or some organization acting onthe government’s behalf. There was noconclusion in the Findings Report thatat this time property managers shouldor should not be licensed.

GovernanceThe first and almost unanimouslyadopted suggestion was that that direc-tors, particularly first-time directors,need to have training and support. It isimportant that corporations do a betterjob in informing and educating theirowners and residents about all aspectsof their community including theirrights and responsibilities and the finan-cial state of the Corporation.

PPF also reports that directors need totake additional steps to increase theirresponsiveness, transparency andaccountability. Many of the variousstakeholders of group indicated thatoften there is a breakdown in trustbetween owners and the Boards. Inorder to regain this trust it was suggest-ed that boards need to improve on theirresponsiveness, transparency andaccountability to the owners. This couldbe done in several ways including mak-ing the corporation’s records morereadily available and ensuring thatinformation given to residents is morecomplete, accurate accessible and upto date.

The various committees and stakehold-ers group did not just pick on theBoards. Owners and residents have abig role to play in regaining trust andimproving their community. It wassuggested that owners need to be moreengaged and as PPF stated “... Accept agreater degree of responsibility for thegood governance and management ofthe community, including participatingin AGMs.”


Issues outside the ActIt was interesting to note that all stake-holders, panels and discussion streamsraised issues beyond the scope of theAct all of which would affect other leg-islation. These included property tax(fairness the municipal taxation), build-ing conversions and Tarion coverage,insurance rates, tenant rights andresponsibilities as well as “industrytrends and power imbalances in thecondominium sector.” PPF reports thatall these comments and proposals havebeen shared with the other appropriategovernment ministries.

Conclusion

As PPF mentions, it was certainlyagreed by all that there is no easy solu-tion to the many issues and problemsthat face our condominium communityparticularly since there is such a greatdiversity in the size of condominiumcorporations and their needs particular-ly from a management point of view.

We agree with PPF that there cannot bea “one-size-fits-all” solution.

Having been part of several of the dis-cussion streams, including theResidents Panel, the StakeholdersRoundtable and the Deputy Minister’sAdvisory Group, not to mention work-ing with so many great people on theLegislative Brief (and we are in theprocess of updating it), I agree withPPS’ comment that “we should beencouraged by how much agreementexists across the condominium commu-nity on the issues and solutions.”

While we still have a long way to go,and no doubt that the new legislationwill not satisfy everybody, the broadbased public consultation process thatthe government is using for the firsttime in Ontario appears at this stage tobe working very well. If it is ultimate-ly successful then the process mightbecome the template for all legislativereform in Ontario. Even if it does not,we should end up with much improvedcondominium legislation capable ofdealing with the explosive growth ofcondominiums and the many newissues and problems that are sure toarise in the years to come. n

Materials supporting the findings from Stage One of Ontario’s CondominiumAct Review are now available on Canada’s Public Policy Forum website at(http://www.ppforum.ca/publications/ontarios-condominium-act-review-stage-one-findings-report)

Documents include reports from the Residents’ Panel and Stakeholders’Roundtable, as well as summaries of the public information sessions andONCONDO email and mail submissions.


Follow us on LinkedInfor all the latest CCI News andcourse announcements, that willhelp you and your board function like a well-oiled machine!


Member News

Sue Langlois Sue Langlois is the Founder/CEO of WOWnetwork, abroadcast/digital publishingservice for condo board direc-tors who need to solve the com-munication issue in condos.

After successfully owning and operating a TV/radio com-mercial distribution business for fifteen years (DMDBroadcast Services Inc.), Sue piloted a digital messageboard project for condos in 2006/07, and spent severalyears interviewing property managers, board directors,and condo residents, to determine the communicationneeds of the industry. Since then she has put her back-ground to work overseeing the development of creativecontent specifically designed to provide effective com-munication in condos that is beyond the scope of tradi-tional property management contracts.

Sue is an active member of CCI Toronto and credits theCCI courses and its Annual General Meeting for being aconstant source of information that translates to relevant,critical information for broadcast to condo residents viaWOWnetwork. She is delighted to be further involvedwith CCI as a member of its CommunicationsCommittee.

Joy MathewsB.P.H.E. (Kin.), B.A.,M.A., JDJoy is a graduate of OsgoodeHall Law School and theUniversity of Toronto, receiv-ing both a Juris Doctor and

Master of Arts. Joy is currently a member of the teach-ing team at Osgoode Hall Law School for the Lawyer asNegotiator course, and also serves as a legal member onthe research ethics boards for Veritas and PrincessMargaret Hospital (Oncology).

CCI Toronto Welcomes the Following NewCommittee Members:

Mark Seenarine Mark Seenarine is the President& Founder of Purple HeartsSecurity Inc.; the Toronto-basedSecurity Company specializingin Security Guard/ConciergeServices and Security GuardTraining.

Drawing on his education as a graduate of the PoliceFoundations program (1996) from Seneca College,Business Management (2007) from Humber College andhis 16 years (1996 to 2011) employed at WoodbineRacetrack as the Security Manager, he used these foun-dations to start Purple Hearts Security (PHS) Inc in 2009.

Mark has also completed Canadian CondominiumInstitute (CCI) Level 200 and 201 Courses in October2010. These CCI courses prepared him to meet the chal-lenges as a board member of a condominium corpora-tion and gives Mark and his team a better understandingof the Condominium industry and the role of the SecurityGuard Concierge.

Mark was recently elected to his condominium Board ofDirectors for TSCC#1799 located downtown Toronto.Having this opportunity to be on the board will give Marka unique perceptive. It allows Mark to learn what Condoboards look for and enables him to have a deeper under-standing of the boards his security firm are presentlyworking with. In turn, the community will benefit fromMark`s years of experience in the Security Industry,alongside his regular involvement with CCI.

Mark is a member Canadian Security Association(CANASA) and is actively involved in various charitiesas he feels it’s very important to give back to the commu-nity. Mark is also a member of CCI and has recentlyjoined the CCI Toronto Membership Committee, wherehe will bring the dual perspectives as a vendor who workswith various property managers and also as a board mem-ber. n


Member News

CCI Toronto Welcomes a New Board Member

Ernie Nyitrai

Ernie Nyitrai is the current President of the Board of Directors for "Walden Pond II", YRCC636, in Unionville. He also serves as the owner representative Board member on theCondominium Management Standards Council (CMSC).

After many years of attending CCI Toronto courses and events, Ernie became activelyinvolved in attending CCI Legislative Committee meetings in 2012 and was a speaker at the

2012 CCI-T/ACMO Conference. In December of 2012 Ernie joined the CCI Toronto Board of Directors.

Ernie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University and a Master of Public Administration from theUniversity of Toronto. He spent all of his 33 years in the work world within public service. The first 20 years werespent with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs in the Government of Ontario. The last 13 years, he was ExecutiveDirector of a political lobby group representing the elected officials within the Catholic School Boards of Ontario. Heretired in 1998. Judy and he have two children and five grandchildren. n


Mark YourCalendars!!

www.ccitoronto.org

Level 201 Course Dates & Times: Tuesday, March 19, 2013

7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Location: IN CLASS SessionNorth York Novotel Hotel3 Park Home Avenue

Cost: $125 for Members$225 for Non-Members (plus HST)

Level 300 CourseDates & Times: Tuesday, May 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2013

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. each evening(4 part course)



Level 101 Course - CentralDates: Wednesday June 5, 2013

7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.



Level 101 Course - WestDates: Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Location: IN CLASS SessionNovotel Hotel Mississauga3670 Hurontario Street


For further course information or to register online,please visit www.ccitoronto.org/Education

The Year of Education2012 -2013

FREE Course Offer!CCI Toronto is pleased to remind membersthat 2012-2013 had been flagged as the Yearof Education. As a special promotion duringthis year, condominium corporations whoqualify will receive two complimentaryLevel 101 course registrations with theirmembership renewal. Be sure to takeadvantage of this amazing opportunity –only two course dates left for 2012-13!

For full details visit: www.ccitoronto.org/membership/specialoffers


New Members

CCI-Toronto Welcomes the Following New Members

Individual Members

M. KingS. MathiG. BaziosM. MegardichianS. Davey

Corporate MembersDCC # 0080DCC # 0136MTCC # 0884MTCC # 0950MTCC # 1277PCC # 0377PSCC # 0889PSCC # 0939TSCC # 1591TSCC # 1608TSCC # 2231TSCC # 2238TSCC # 2243TSCC # 2253TSCC # 2254TSCC # 2258TSCC # 2264TSCC # 2266YCC # 0517

YCC # 0523YRCC # 0948YRCECC # 1210YRSCC # 1129YRSCC # 1192

Professional MembersMario CordinaBold Engineering

Marco FracassoPrompton Real Estate Services,Brokerage

Daniela IonConstruction Control Inc

Venu KalidossDel Property Management

Mo KilluGPM Property Management

Harold LeeMcDaniel Bushnell Lee Souter LLP

Craig McMillanMaple Ridge Community ManagementLtd.

Jeff PlantBrilliant Property Management Inc.

Greg SouterMcDaniel Bushnell Lee Souter LLP

New Sponsor (Trade) MembersCanada Pipe Lining Technologies Ltd.Gianpaul Callipo

CV EnergytechHenry Chu

Duca Financial Services Credit UnionLtd.Michael Rashotte

exp Services IncDomenico Iermieri

Highland Standard Inc.Rajendran Rajendra

LEaC Shield LtdJames D. Lorenzen

Nexus Protective Services Ltd.Jonathan Lamb

OFS Consulting Ltd.Ivars Teteris

Paragon Protection Ltd.Mike Fernandes

Soundproof Windows Canada Ltd.Mike Montecalvo

Stak Fitness Int'l Inc.Gloria Doherty

Strategic Property & AssetManagement Inc.Nora Rios

DONNASWANSONACCI, FRI

Real EstateBrokerage

For your Real Estate Needs call:416-515-2121

• Real Estate Broker of Record - specializing in Condominium Salessince 1982

• Current condominium Owner, Past President and Director • ACCI - An Associate of the Canadian Condominium Institute• Past Director of Toronto Chapter of CCI• FRI - Fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and pastDirector of Toronto Chapter of REIC

Email: [email protected]


Membership Committee:

Chair: Vic PersaudMembers: Henry Jansen, Murray Johnson , Doug King,

Lavonne McCumber-Eals and Mark Seenarine

The Committee is pleased to welcome a new Committeemember. Mark Seenarine from Purple Hearts Security joinedthe committee in early 2013 and fellow committee membersare looking forward to working with Mark and the fresh per-spectives he can bring.

The committee continues to focus on bringing the CCIMembership Benefit Presentation to Management firms andmost recently met with representatives from ComfieldProperty Management and Canlight Hall Management. Thecommittee would like to also begin identifying local condo-minium associations throughout the city to learn more abouttheir specific mandates and how CCI may assist them. If yourcorporation is a member of a local association, please contactour office at [email protected] or at (416)491-6216 to learn more about this initiative!

Communications Committees:

Chair: Lisa KayMembers: Sue Langlois, Andrea Lusk, Joy Mathews, Julian

McNabb, Sharon Vogel, Jason Rivait

The Communications Committee has welcomed several newcommittee members in 2013. New to the committee are JoyMathews from Fine and Deo and Sue Langlois from WowNetwork.

The committee is excited to announce that CCI Toronto isabout to embark on an exciting new re-launch of theCondoVoicemagazine with the aim to appeal to a wider audi-ence. This exciting new look with also incorporate someequally enticing content. While continuing to reach CondoBoard members, managers and other professionals, the newmagazine will also now feature articles targeted to condo-minium unit owners, so we encourage condo board membersto share this educational content with their unit owners. Alongwith the re-launch, we will be increasing our distributionmethod. In addition to a hard copy mailing and static postingon the CCI-T website, the magazine will also begin to be dis-tributed via broad-reaching email distribution in an easy toread flip-book format.

Education Committee:

Chair: John WarrenMembers: Pamela Boyce, Robert Buckler, Bob Girard,

Jeff Jeffcoatt, Michael Pascu, Donna Swanson,Bill Thompson and Sally Thompson

The CCI Toronto Education continues to be a very busy com-mittee which meets bi-monthly to discuss ongoing education-al opportunities to present to members. Due to the expectedincrease in committee work in the coming year, several newsub-committees have been identified and will begin work in thefollowing areas: Instructor Selection and Training, OngoingSeminar Development, Technology and GeographicalLocations for Course Offerings. Stay tuned for updates in theseareas as the year progresses. The project to update all coursematerials is well underway and draft material for all levels ofcourses has been received and is being edited. The roll out ofnew course material should begin by late Spring of 2013.

Government Relations andLegislative Committees:

Chair: Armand Conant

The main focus of these committees continues to revolvearound the Condo Act Review Process being undertaken bythe Ministry of Consumer Services. For a complete updateon the status of that process, please read the article by ArmandConant on page 30.

Conference Committee:

Chair: Brian HorlickMembers: Chris Antipas, Steve Christodoulou, Kim Coulter,

Mario Deo, Lisa Kay, Dean McCabe, SallyThompson and Robert Thackeray

The 2013 conference committee met for the first time inearly January and has held two monthly meetings since thattime. The committee has poured through dozens of respons-es to the Call for Topics released to members in mid-December and they are close to finalizing what will be afantastic line up of education content for Directors andManagers. Planning for the trade show is also on the com-mittee’s agenda and exhibitor and sponsorship opportuni-


ties are expected to become available by April. Mark yourcalendars now for the 2013 conference to take place at theToronto Congress Center on Friday November 15th andSaturday November 16th.

Volunteer ResourceCommittee:

Chair: Murray Johnson

In response to the growing number of volunteerscurrently giving their time and expertise to CCI Toronto,the Board of Directors has identified the need for a newcommittee to oversee these resources. Lead by ChairMurray Johnson from Brookfield Residential Services,this committee is currently sending surveys to CommitteeChairs to identify the strengths of their respective currentstructures and to assess future needs. Follow up surveysare also being sent to all volunteers to identify whattraining and/or support they feel they need in order to bestserve CCI and to fulfill their committee mandates. Thegoal of this committee is to provide better recruitment,selection, training and recognition of volunteers – asCCI-T volunteers are the organization’s most valuedasset. n


Recently a Treasurer questionedtheir condominium’s budgetingprocess; specifically she wanted

management to prepare several yearsof historical costs, whereas the manag-er’s position was that historical data hadlittle bearing on next year’s costs. TheTreasurer wanted to use the historicaldata to determine where costs could becut, while the manager wanted to focuson how the condominium needed tospend money in the budget year. Themanager largely has the right of it; incondominiums, dollars spent in the pasthave limited relevance to next year’scosts and cost cutting should not be thefirst objective when budgeting.

Likely the Treasurer’s budgeting expe-rience was acquired in for-profit organ-izations, where budgeting does indeedstart with detailed analyses of past rev-enues and past costs or in governmentwhere past costs are used to cut budg-ets; budget cutting it appears, being theonly objective of government thesedays. In the for-profit sector, past rev-enues are analyzed to determine wherethey can be increased and past costs areanalyzed to determine if they can bereduced without negatively affectingrevenues. These analyses provide theopportunity to make plans to furtherenhance profitable lines and to deter-mine if not so profitable lines can meet

profitability targets or alternately, deci-sions might be made to exit one or moreproduct lines altogether. Past selling,general and administrative costs areanalyzed to determine if there areunusual fluctuations over the years thatmight indicate a problem and whetherthe individual functions and the peoplewho perform them are necessary to sup-port budgeted revenues and, finally,whether compensation and overheadcosts are minimized.

In condominiums, that process is notterribly productive as there is no prof-itability to assess against. In condo-miniums budgeting decisions should be

evaluated only against their effect onthe quality of life of residents. Beforethinking about costs, Directors shouldask questions such as, is the buildingclean enough, do concierge personnelperform as expected, is the landscap-ing and overall “curb appeal” goodenough when compared to competitivecondominiums, are all maintenancefunctions for next year identified andso on. Only when all quality of lifeissues have been considered shouldthey look at ways to obtain the goodsand services necessary to meet theirquality objectives at minimum cost. Toillustrate, there are only 5 major costcategories in a condominium, the year-

BUDGETING - Focus on the FutureBYJOHN WARREN

ADAMS & MILES LLP, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS


ly allocation to the reserve fund, utili-ties, service contracts, repairs and main-tenance and administrative costs.

The yearly allocation to the reservefund comes from the reserve fundstudy. It is true that engineers use infor-

mation about major repair and replace-ment projects undertaken in the past sothat they can estimate the nature, extentand timing of future projects. However,engineers are not much interested in thecost of past repairs; it is their forecastsfor future labour and material costs thatshape the yearly allocations in thestudy.

Utility costs are primarily determinedby next year’s expected rates and annu-al consumption, with weather being thelargest influence. Electricity, gas andwater are typically budgeted, in theabsence of efficiency measures, byaveraging the last two or three yearsconsumption (to average out the effectof varying weather conditions) andpricing those averages at expectedrates. While it is impossible to forecast

the weather and actual utility costs inthe budget year (they will be what theywill be), there is no other reasonablebasis for budgeting than using con-sumption averages. Betting that nextyear’s weather will cooperate to reduceconsumption, as is done occasionally,

is wishful thinking - not budgeting.How much was paid in prior years perKWH of electricity, MCF of gas or gal-lon of water is not necessarily a goodindicator of how much will be paid inthe budget year. For example, gas costshave dropped substantially over thepast few years and using prior priceswould inflate the gas budget. Watercosts in Toronto are expected to rise byabout 10% annually to pay for renewalof the infrastructure and to ignore thatreality will result in under budgetingwater costs.

Service costs are largely comprised ofsalaries and benefits with materials,other overhead costs and profit round-ing out the prices quoted. Howeverthere is no free lunch, you must pay forthe quality you want. You can’t get

high quality personnel at the low qual-ity price because all service providershave to hire from the same talent pool.A skilled concierge or cleaner is indemand and no employer can pay themless than they are worth or providefewer benefits than the competition and

hope to retain them. The only way toreduce cleaning or concierge costs, orthe cost of any other service contract, inany meaningful amount is to acceptlesser skilled personnel who are paidless, which almost certainly will have anegative effect on the level of serviceresidents receive. Directors shouldevaluate quality before cost or qualitywill erode over time.

For repair and maintenance activities,materials are, on average, a larger com-ponent of cost than salaries and bene-fits. However, all the same considera-tions related to service contract salariesapply to the salary component ofrepairs and maintenance. You can’t geta master plumber or electrician for thesame cost as an apprentice. Directorsshould determine what level of skill is

“In condominiums, budgeting decisions should be evaluated onlyagainst their effect on the quality of life of residents.”


needed for each function, for examplestudent, handy person, journeypersonor master and should ensure that theycontract for the level of skill theyrequire. For materials, contractors offera range of quality and perhaps a goodexample is shingles which come, inascending order of cost, in 15, 20 and25 year grades. Directors should ensurethey contract for the quality of materi-als that the building warrants andshould not accept lesser quality just forthe sake of cheaper price. For instanceif they choose 15 year shingles justbecause they are cheapest, they areignoring the effect of replacing shin-gles twice in 30 years rather than oncein 25 years had they bought better qual-ity. This example is simplistic, thereare a number of other factors to consid-er for reroofing projects, but it illus-trates that low price should not be thesole determinant.

Further, past repair costs do not takeinto account that not every repair or

maintenance repeats annually. Forinstance cleaning the plumbing pipesthat service kitchens may only need tobe undertaken every four or five yearsand using one or two prior year costswould not take into account these costsif they are necessary in the budget year.

To use another plumbing example, ifthe corporation is experiencing pin holeleaks in their pipes, the number of thoseleaks tends to increase as time goes by,not decrease, and using prior costs willlikely result in budgeting less thanrequired

Last are administrative costs and hereprior year costs have more relevancefor the budget. If newsletters cost$2,000 last year it is likely that they willcost much the same next year whenadjusted for inflation. Much the sameholds true for office and meeting costs –adjust for inflation unless there arechanges.

There is a saying that Directors shouldkeep in the forefront of their thinkingwhen budgeting. There are three fac-tors to balance when purchasing justabout anything, price, quality and serv-ice, or as it was put to me the saying is“good, fast, cheap – at best you get onlytwo out of three”.

“Directors shouldbe very wary thatthey do not pursuethe cheapest pricewithout regard to

the effect on qualityand service.”



If product and installation quality aregood and the service is fast, the priceis never the cheapest. If product andinstallation quality are good and theprice is cheap, it likely won’t be deliv-ered quickly and finally. If the serviceis fast and the price is cheap, productand installation quality will likely suf-fer.

For example if a window is broken andis replaced on an emergency basis withthe best materials by the best companyin the business, the price will be expen-sive. If, however, the window can betaped up or otherwise made weatherproof and the same materials andexpertise are contracted in the normalcourse, the price will almost certainlybe less and finally, if it is taped up andthe company doing the repair submitteda bid that was significantly cheaper thanthe others, then the quality of glassand/or installation and/or timing is like-ly to be suspect.

While not universal in its application,there is much truth to this saying andDirectors should be very wary that theydo not pursue the cheapest price with-out regard to the effect on quality andservice.

The Condominium Act is quite clear;the Director’s responsibility is to prop-erly fund the reserve for major repairsand replacements and to maintain thebuilding. To properly fund the reservethey need only follow the reserve fundstudy recommendations. To maintainthe building, Directors need to ensurethey purchase products and services ofa quality similar to the original, adjust-ed for current standards. Directors needsome data from the past to budget, butthey must view that information in thecontext of what is required to maintainthe quality of the building and the qual-ity of life in the condominium.

Only when quality has been assessedand the expectations of owners and res-idents have been considered, shouldDirectors turn their attention to thequestion of whether the best price hasbeen obtained. n

CCI invites all corporations to enter theCondo of the Year contest.

Quarterly finalists will be selected by the CCI-Toronto MembershipCommittee and the winner of each quarter will be featured in an upcomingquarterly issue of the CCI CondoVoice magazine.

The Grand Prize winner will be selected by the Public RelationsCommittee from the four quarterly finalists and will be announced at the2013 Annual General Meeting. The grand prize winner will also receive aprize worth up to $5,000 including a street entry sign for their corporation.

Share your successes with the condo community!

Toronto and Area Chapter

Visit ccitoronto.org for details

CCI-Toronto and Area Chapter2175 Sheppard Ave. East, Suite 310

Toronto, ON M2J 1W8

or email to [email protected]

To view submissions from past quarter finalist winners visithttp://www.ccitoronto.org/News/Condooftheyearaward-PastWinners.asp

DEADLINE DATES FOR 2012-2013: February 1st, 2013 • May 1st, 2013

YOU MUST BE A CURRENT CCI TORONTO CONDOMINIUM CORPORATION MEMBER TO ENTER.

Condo ofthe YearContest

If you feel that yourcondominium is a greatplace to live, thenconsider entering theCCI-Toronto Chapter

Condo ofthe YearContestTell us what makesyour condominium agreat place to live...] Community Spirit?

] Special projects orinitiatives?

] Overcoming financialissues?

] Unique features?

We will send a writer to interview you, takephotos of your condocorporation and write anarticle about why youshould be the ‘Condo ofthe Year’.


Solar Panels Capturing the Best of the Sun’s Ample Energy

BY CHRISTINE LEPAGENEWTON-TRELAWNEY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Liberty @ Discovery Place residentsare enjoying the benefits of solarenergy and the President of the

Board of Directors, Michele Kerkos,(who has been on the board since thebeginning and was part of the decisionmaking to install solar panels years ago)states that she is surprised, that with thewhole focus on being green in society,Liberty @ Discovery Place is the onlyhigh-rise Condo in Durham with solarpanels. Michele states that the monetarysavings really helps to reduce budgetincreases annually. A win win to all whoreside in Liberty!

According to some scientists whobelieve that in 30 some odd years fromnow, as the last drop of petrol and thelast lump of coal will come out of thebowels of Earth, the human race willhave to find a sustainable and steadyenergy solution. And that solution willbe natural energy, supplied by the boun-teous sun, wind, waves and rivers. Thisis something I believe that developersmust take into consideration; going for-ward with new building constructionand given the fact that homeownerstoday are more conscientious andknowledgeable and are demanding thatthey reside in a healthier energy greenenvironment.

The world no longer can support thevery expensive, hazardous and toxic-

sp ewing fossil fuels like petroleum,coal and nuclear. This tri-source of en -ergy was very convenient at the begin-ning but has proved envi ron me ntallyhazardous and very expensive. It is esti-mated that the world will spend some$1 trillion dollars to subsidize fossilenergy in 2012. With this much moneythe world could have banished half ofEarth’s poverty forever!

According to the World Watch Institute,an environmental think tank inWashington D.C., they estimate thatmore than 30 million households inChina use low tech solar thermal sys-tems to heat their hot water. The sys-tems are now so common that manyChinese view them as a standard appli-ance, no different from a dishwasher orrefrigerator. Recently Spain implement-ed a bylaw that new or renovated build-ings cover 30 to 70 per cent of their hotwater needs using solar energy.

So it isn’t any wonder why the OntarioGovernment is looking at establishingprograms that would pay a premium foroff-setting their use of natural gas orelectricity with solar thermal. Solarthermal could have a significant impacton the electricity system by displacingconventional energy loads. If you candisplace a kilowatt- hour of energy,isn’t it as just as good as good as pro-ducing it?

Those are some of the reasons whyLiberty @ Discovery Place, featuringan 11 storey- 220 unit luxury high-riseCondo in Pickering, built in 2005, tookenergy into consideration when theybegan to build.

After careful consideration RudydeVries, former President of theLiberty, in conjunction with the devel-opers at the time; chose to go forwardwith the installation of solar panels ontheir rooftop that would virtually takeenergy from the sun and heat their hotwater.

The 76 Solar panels were installed onthe flat roof top of the building and thebalance of the equipment is in themechanical room. The project cost wasapproximately $217,381 and with arebate from the Ministry of Energy ofapproximately 25% of the project, anda payback period of 6.5 years, it clear-ly was a no brainer to all concerned thatsolar thermal was the best and mosteconomical way of offsetting use ofnatural gas for water heating.

Consider that roughly a fifth of homesenergy consumption can be attributedto heating up water for showers, dish-washers, and washing machines and ifyou happen to have a pool, just keepingit warm, that percentage can rise sig-nificantly. If you incorporate this into


a condominium with hundreds of show-ers, washing machines and dishwash-ers imagine the savings you wouldhave. A solar thermal system could pro-vide more than 75 percent of a house-hold’s hot water in the summer androughly 25 percent in the winter.Blended over four seasons, the sun cansupply 35-55 percent of a household’shot water, meaning less money spenton gas.

The Solar System is tied to the build-ing’s Domestic Hot Water. The Solarpanels are designed to capture the sun’sheat. The panels are an economical wayto offset our use of natural gas and elec-tricity for water heating.

The solar panels basically absorb heatfrom the sun and transfer it to a glycol-based fluid flowing behind the solarpanels. The pipes then collect the heat-ed fluid and carry it into the building,where it gets stored and circulated insidelarge plastic tanks. Within each tank sitsa coil of copper piping that carries water

for residential consumption. As coldmunicipal water moves though the coilsit absorbs the heat stored in the tanksand begins to warm up. A convention-al hot water boiler is still necessary – itjust doesn’t have to work as hard. Thesolar thermal system acts as a compli-ment by pre-heating what would other-wise be cold water before it goes to theboiler, thereby using less gas.

In the winter months and/or withcloudy weather, the system will beheavily dependant on natural gas but inthe summer months and/or sunshinehardly any natural gas will be needed.

Solar water heating systems basicallyuse the energy provided by the sun topre-heat water. Although the concept issimple, the correct operation of the sys-tem is important to assure system per-formance and durability. Most of theoperations of our solar panels are per-formed automatically but it is importantto us that our staff must know the basicprinciples of how the system works.

The installation of our solar system iscomprised of five main components;the solar collectors, the hot water stor-age (or pre-heat tanks), the connectingpiping pumps, the heat exchanger andthe control system.

As mentioned, the type of our system isa closed-loop glycol system. Figure 1shows a general schematic of such sys-tem. The pumps, heat exchanger andcontrol system are grouped in a singleunit, called Solar Energy Unit (SEU). The system has two hydraulic circuits(or loops): one filled with a Propylene

Fig 1 - Schematics of a solar water pre-heating sysem


Glycol solution and another one withportable water. The solar circuit pumpsmoves the hot glycol liquid from thesolar collectors to the mechanical room.Heat is transferred from the collector/glycol circuit to the portable waterthrough a heat exchanger. A portablewater pump circulates the waterbetween the pre-heated tanks and theheat exchanger. The heat generated dur-ing the day is stored in the solar pre-heated tanks that are connected to thedomestic hot water tanks that supplythe building hot water circuit.

The pumps are activated by the controlsystem based on the temperature differ-ential between the collectors and thewater in the pre-heated tanks. Whenthe collector temperature exceeds thewater temperature by a certain pre-setvalue (usually 20F or 11C) the SEU(Solar Energy Unit) pumps start. Thepumps are turned off when the collec-tor temperature drops to less than threepre-set “off temperature” above thewater (usually 5F or 3C).

The solar energy unit (Figure 2) is acomplete unit able to handle from 40 to300 kWth (136.5 thousand to 1 millionBtu/hr) depending on the size of appli-cation. This means that the SEU can beconnected to anywhere from 20 to 150solar collectors. The unit installed atLiberty is 160 kW unit. The solar con-nectors have no moving parts and are

expected to last more than 25 years.The main concerns with collectors ingeneral are exposure to UV, moisture,heat/cold cycles as well as extremetemperatures and outdoor corrosion. (Astrong recommendation would be toensure that you enter into a full com-prehensive maintenance contract toensure longevity of your system). The

SEU is not only a programmable con-trol unit, it also contains the pumps andvalves necessary to turn on and shut offthe charging of the hot water supply.Broadly, it handles the incoming hotglycol solution from the solar collec-tors and transfers the heat to theportable water in the building, some-what similar to conventional boiler.

On the water side, all components aresafe for potable water. There is no directcontact between the glycol and thepotable water and for additional safe-ty; the heat exchanger is of double- wallconstruction.

Figure 3 shows the 160kw SEU withits components. The flow settlers

Fig 2 - SEU (Solar Energy Unit)

Fig 3 - 160 kW SEU with its internal components


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shown in Figure 3 allow for accuratecontrol of the flow rates through thecollector and potable water loops. Theywere regulated during the installationprocess and we have not altered them.Besides controlling the pumps, the SEUalso actively controls a set of vales fortwo additional features: the collectorcold start by-pass and the back-flush.

The collector loop cold start by-pass isused during the few initial seconds ofoperation of the pumps, causing glycolto by-pass the heat exchanger. Thisway, it prevents cold glycol in the con-necting piping from removing heatfrom the potable water circuit.

It takes between 10 and 60 seconds forthe hot glycol from collectors to reachthe exchanger; the bypass also allowsthe pump to start with a lighter load,since most of the pressure drop is in theexchanger; sub-freezing glycol mayfreeze the water that’s in the exchang-er’s water channels.

The second additional feature is theback-flush. This function is used toreverse the flow direction of potablewater through the heat exchanger,flushing potential debris/impurities andreducing scaling of the heat exchang-er. The impurities are pushed back andsettle on the bottom of the storage tank.Yearly purging maintenance of the tankis recommended by the tank manufac-tures. Two automatic valves are usedfor back-flush in this arrangement.

If there are incentives from theGovernment to take on an energy proj-ect, especially one that could potential-ly have huge savings and the paybackin under 8 years; then the property man-ager should be presenting this to theirboards in order that the board of direc-tors can, with due diligence make greatdecisions that benefit all residents. n


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17th AnnuAl CCI-t/ACMO COndOMInIuM COnferenCe

on Friday, November 15th & Saturday, November 16th, 2013

at theToronto Congress Center650 Dixon Road, Toronto


issues. Boards and managers are nomatch for them. Developers’ CDTexperts know the environment back-wards and forwards – and who canblame them – condominium corpora-tions deserve the same, but are not hir-ing the help. Sure it costs money, butthink about what is potentially beinggiven up in correction of issues andrights.

In order to satisfy their standard of care,boards need a hired gun – a “manager”that does nothing else but CDT manage-ment – to be clear, not an engineer or alawyer or even a management companythat manages condominium corpora-tions, but a professional administratorwho only does this job, knows the rulesand has the time; someone who coulduse the corporation’s lawyer and engi-neer to advance the proper claims of thecondominium corporation.

At present, many condominium corpo-rations, in their quest for lower mainte-nance fees, are not utilizing their legaladvice for the important phases of CDTissues and I have seen important claimsexpire, or not be dealt with properly, inthe name of saving legal fees. The CDTmanager will not only save legal fees,but will know when to utilize counsel tomaximize the condominium corpora-tion’s rights. Such a hire will also elim-inate the constant worry of manyboards that the manager they have washired by the developer and, therefore,has a conflict of interest (which con-flict is handled professionally by everygood manager — but remember — nota cent extra is paid for CDT work).

The CDT manager/consultant wouldnot have to be full time, and my esti-mate is that the cost would be one quar-ter or less than the actual management

fee for the time that there are any CDTissues. So it’s not a forever yearly cost.

Do the numbers. Assume that everynew condominium unit today is worthan average $300,000 to $400,000.Multiply that by the number of units inyour condo. A modest 200 unit condo-minium corporation is 60 to 80 milliondollars in asset value! Developers ded-icate a highly specialized person for thejob. Condominium corporations neverdo. That’s crazy. There’s just no otherway to put it.

Mario Deo, BA, LL.B. n

From the Editor cont’d from page 6


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List of Advertisers360 Community Management Ltd. ....................................................................12A.R. Consulting......................................................................................................50ACMO ....................................................................................................................11Adams & Miles LLP..............................................................................................60AME Materials Engineering ..............................................................................40Affable Property Management Corp.................................................................60Apple Restoration Inc. ........................................................................................60Atrens Management Group Inc. ......................................................................57Atrens Counsel Insurance Brokers Inc. ..........................................................61Baird Roofing Services........................................................................................60Bold Engineering Inc. ..........................................................................................59Brady & Seidner Associates Ltd. ......................................................................22Brookfield Residential Services Ltd. ................................................................28Brown & Beattie Building Science Engineering ............................................22Bye Bye Birdie Goose Control Services Ltd. ..................................................59CPL (Canada Pipe Lining Technologies Ltd.) ..................................................19Carma Industries Ltd. ..........................................................................................45ComField Property Management Services ......................................................14Condomediators ..................................................................................................45Construction Control Inc. ....................................................................................64Coulter Building Consultants Ltd ......................................................................34Davroc Consulting Engineers ......................................................................37, 60Donna Swanson Real Estate Brokerage ..........................................................43Eagle Audit Advantage Inc. ................................................................................42Elia Associates Barristers and Solicitors ........................................................48Elite Detection Dogs ............................................................................................22EnerCare Connections ........................................................................................54Enerplan Building Consultants ..........................................................................22Fine & Deo Barristers & Solicitors ......................................................................2Firenza Plumbing & Heating Ltd.........................................................................59Fogler Rubinoff Condominium Law Group........................................................62G. Edick & Sons Landscape Contractors ........................................................60Gardiner Miller Arnold LLP ..................................................................................7Genivar ..................................................................................................................24Green Leaf Landscaping and Maintenance Ltd. ............................................60GRG Building Consultants Inc. ..........................................................................38GSA Property Management Specialists Inc. ..................................................38Halsall ....................................................................................................................57Heenan Blaikie LLP ..............................................................................................21Horlick Levitt Di Lella LLP....................................................................................25ICC Property Management ................................................................................58Interior Concrete Coatings ................................................................................49JCO + Associates ................................................................................................50Larlyn Property Management Ltd. ....................................................................17Maple Ridge Community Management ............................................................31Mediate.ca Resolution Services (Colm Brannigan) ......................................59Meticulous Inspections ......................................................................................59Morrison Financial Services Limited ................................................................13Morrison Hershfield ............................................................................................24Nadlan-Harris Property Management Inc. ......................................................14Percel Professional Property Management ....................................................36Personal Touch Landscaping ............................................................................59Pro-House Management Ltd. ............................................................................10Provident Energy ..................................................................................................51RIKOS ..............................................................................................................24, 50Shibley Righton LLP ............................................................................................35Shift ..........................................................................................................................8Soundproof Windows..........................................................................................14STAK Fitness ........................................................................................................59Summa Property Management Inc. ..................................................................14Suncorp Valuations Ltd. ......................................................................................60Superior Air Duct Cleaning ................................................................................56Sure General Contractors Inc. ..........................................................................55Tator Rose & Leong..............................................................................................51Toronto Hydro........................................................................................................23V-CAL......................................................................................................................38Whiterose Janitorial Service Ltd.......................................................................46Wilkinson Chutes Canada ..................................................................................24Wilson Blanchard Management Inc.................................................................63YARDI................................................................................................................32, 33

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