Condo

An emergency consists of fire, water infiltration/ flood, building security and resident safety.

For afterhours emergencies, please call 204.956.2739 and press 5 for the Condominium department to reach the Property Manager on call.

If your issue is not urgent, you can send a message or a maintenance request using your portal account, or reach out to your Property Manager during regular hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Common Element Fees consist of all costs incurred by a Corporation in performing its duties. These would include snow clearing, landscaping, building maintenance and repair, utilities to the common areas, insurance premiums and the cost of administration.

The Declaration details what types of expenses are to be shared and in what proportions the unit owners are to pay.

Common expenses are paid on a monthly basis and are determined by the Corporation’s annual budget. The contributions are distributed either by unit percentage or equal sharing rights as detailed in the Declaration.

You can pay your fees by one of the following methods:

• Pre-Authorized Debit
• Online on the Owner Portal. You can make one-time payments or set up recurring payments using your bank account information.
• Cheque or debit at our head office

Should you not be able to create your account on the Portal, please contact info@towersrealty.ca.

Please visit our website for a complete listing of documents available at https://towersrealty.ca/condo/request-documents/

The Condominium Corporation obtains insurance for the common elements and units.

This means your basic unit is covered to the original unit standard. The Corporation will not insure any improvements and betterments. It is recommended that you obtain insurance to cover the contents within your unit, including any improvements and betterments, additional living expenses and obtain liability insurance.

In some Bare Land Corporations, the owners are solely responsible for insuring the structures on the bare land units.

Unit owners can be held responsible for part of the cost of damage arising in the individual units, such as insurance deductibles, by way of negligence, error or omission.  Unit owners may wish to have their Broker review the Certificate of Insurance provided by the Corporation to obtain coverage for all corporation deductibles. Please review corporation deductibles annually as they may change.

The Property Manager manages the day-to-day operations of a Condominium Corporation, such as:

• collection of common element fees, parking rentals and other receivables;
• maintenance of account receivable records and collection of overdue receivables;
• authorization of maintenance and receipt of services to maintain the Common Elements including preventative maintenance and engineering services if required;
• payment of invoices;
• safeguarding the cash assets of the Corporation;
• recruitment, training and supervision personnel to provide for the day-to-day maintenance (if applicable);
• obtaining insurance for the Corporation;
• keeping the records of the Corporation including meeting minutes, corporate registers, accounting and maintenance records, etc.; and
• the preparation of notices, proxies, and agendas for the Annual General Meeting, any Special General Meeting and Board Meetings, assisting in the meeting, as required, and keeping minutes.

The responsibilities of the Property Manager are established by the management contract. As in any service industry, there is a correlation between the number and types of services which are included in a contract and the contract price.

The Condominium Property Manager does not usually become involved with maintenance or repair duties in connection with individual units which are set out in the Declaration to be the unit.

A Board of Directors manages the business of the Condominium Corporation and is elected by the unit owners, usually at the Annual General Meeting of Unit Owners.

The number of directors as well as the terms and positions are detailed in the Declaration or By-laws.

The Board of Directors shall perform the following duties:

• manage the property of the owners and the assets of the corporation;
• control, manage and administer the common elements;
• enforce the declaration and by-laws; and
• keep adequate records.

The Board of Directors shall hold meetings, perform functions, elect officers and carry out the above duties and any additional duties which may be established in the Declaration and By-Laws.

The actual jobs which are assumed by individual directors will depend upon a number of factors including:

• whether the corporation is professionally managed or self-managed;
• the nature and extent of services provided under the management contract;
• the division of duties among the directors; and
• the nature and extent of any special project (i.e., refurbishment of common areas, major repair program etc.) which is contemplated by the corporation for the upcoming year.

Elections are held at your Condominium Corporation’s Annual General Meeting or at a Special Meeting of Unit Owners. A form of nomination will be included in the meeting package; the form must be completed prior to the meeting.

Please contact your Property Manager as they are responsible for facilitating all communication between owners and the Board.

Renovation requests are required to be sent to the Property Manager. All requests must include the scope of work, names of the trades being used (plumbers, electricians, engineers etc.), the trades liability and certificate of insurance. Further information may be required.

There may be restrictions about when work can be done and to what standards the renovations must conform.

No work can be completed prior to the receipt of the renovation approval from the Property Manager.

Unit owners may be required to complete and provide a Lease Agreement signed by the tenants to Management for the Corporation’s records.

Until the Corporation is in receipt of the documents duly completed and executed the Corporation shall be under no obligation whatsoever to permit or to provide access to the Unit and the Common Elements to the tenant.

Some Condominium Corporations have the requirement of a Leasing Levy. Details regarding the Leasing Levy requirements and the amount to be paid to the Corporation can be found in the Corporation’s Declaration and By-laws. This money is refundable at the end of a tenancy (with interest if provided for in the By-laws) unless the Condominium Corporation has an allowable claim against it.

Note: The maximum leasing levy allowed under The Condominium Act is $1,500.

The Declaration and Plan details what part of the common elements will be for the exclusive use of one or more than one unit owner.

For example, individual parking stalls, might be designated for the sole use of specific unit owners or exclusive us common elements. Balconies or patios are also frequently exclusive use common elements.

The Declaration is the document filed in the Land Titles Office, and contains very fundamental information about the Condominium Corporation, including the percentages allocated to the units for a share in the Common Elements, contribution to the common expenses and for voting. The declaration might also set out a specification of the common expenses, any parts of the common elements that are not to be used by all of the owners, any restrictions relating the occupation and use of the units, provisions relating to the collection of contributions toward the common expenses and many other matters.

The By-laws will detail the policies and procedures by which the Corporation will be run such as:

• how meetings of the unit owners are to be called and conducted
• how the Board of Directors is to be elected and how it is to run its affairs
• how the Corporation’s records are to be maintained
• how additional rules and regulations are to be passed

The Board of Directors can make Rules for the purpose of regulating the use of the Common Elements and units, so long as the purpose of these Rules is to:

1. 1. promote the safety, security or welfare of the unit owners, tenants and other occupants;
   2. promote the security of the common elements, units and common assets;
   3. prevent unreasonable interference with the use of the common elements, units or common assets;
   4. maintain the aesthetic appeal of the property; and
   5. promote the fair distribution of services and amenities and the use of facilities.

Rules are not required to be registered in the Land Titles Office.

Rules can be made or amended by the Board of Directors. Once a Rule has been agreed on by the Board, a written notice of the Rule must be given to all unit owners along with the information about how the owners can, within 30 days of receipt of the notice and 25% of unit owners disagreeing, call for a special meeting to vote on the Rule if they do not agree with the rule. If no meeting is called, the Rule comes into effect 31 days after notice was given.

A Condominium Corporation is the Corporation created upon registration of the Declaration, By Laws  and Plan.

The purpose of the Corporation is to manage the property of the owners and any assets of the Corporation. It is responsible for the control, management and administration of the Common Elements and is to be regulated in accordance with the Declaration and By-laws. Each Condominium project has its own Condominium Corporation.

A Reserve Fund is the fund of money maintained by a Condominium Corporation which is to be used for any unforeseen common expenses or any major repair or replacement of the Common Elements. Contributions to a Reserve Fund are determined by the Board of Directors and based on the recommendations of the Reserve Fund Study.

When a unit is sold, Reserve Fund contributions made by the selling unit owner will stay with the Condominium Corporation as these funds are not refundable.

A Reserve Fund Study is a tool to help the Condominium Corporation decide how much it needs to put into its Reserve Fund. As of 2015, it is required that every Condominium Corporation obtain an updated Reserve Fund Study every 5 years.

The Reserve Fund Study is generally prepared by engineers and must contain the following:

• an inventory listing all parts of the condominium common elements or units which the corporation is required to maintain and repair;
• a physical analysis of the current state or repair and anticipated date for replacement;
• a financial analysis;
• a summary of the study;
• a description of the qualifications and experience of the reserve fund study preparer.

An Annual General Meeting is when the unit owners of a Condominium Corporation meet to discuss and review the following items:

• report of the outgoing Board of Directors;
• review of the financial statements;
• appointment of auditors for the current fiscal year (if applicable);
• report on the insurance coverage held by the Corporation
• approval of proposed improvements, alterations, additions or renovations (if applicable);
• election of directors for the ensuing year;
• other business, if specified in the Notice of Meeting;

Other business may include resolutions for changing the By-laws or Rules if proper notice has been provided.

The Condominium Act states that the Corporation, by a vote of 75% of the voting rights exercised at a meeting, may amend the By-laws so long as the rules relating to the circumstances of calling and conducting the meeting are followed. A notice of the meeting must have been provided at least 30 days before the meeting and a majority of the voting rights in the Corporation must be present at the meeting.

The requirement for calling a unit owner meeting is detailed in the By-laws. Additionally, the Board of Directors may call a meeting at any time after providing notice in accordance with the By-laws and The Condominium Act.

More than 50% of the unit owners are required to attend the meeting in person or by proxy. 75% of those who do attend, in person or by Proxy, must vote in favour of the proposed By-law Amendment in order for it to pass. The Amendment will only be effective upon registration in the Land Titles Office.

The Condominium Act states that a Declaration can be amended with the written consent of persons holding 80% of the voting rights of the Condominium Corporation, unless the Declaration states that a higher percentage is needed. A formal meeting of unit owners must be held to discuss the Amendment.

Once the owners’ meeting has been held, the Corporation has 180 days in which to obtain the necessary 80% consents. The Amendment will only become effective upon registration in the Land Titles Office.