A review of major changes to condominium governance in Ontario’s Bill 106

As noted in a previous blog post, Ontario passed major amendments to its Condominium Act, 1998 late last year. Bill 106 (PDF)—the Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015—will see sweeping changes to Ontario’s condominium law in the areas of dispute resolution, consumer protection, condominium-management regulation, and condominium finances. Some of the most interesting changes in Bill 106 concern condominium governance. This blog post highlights governance changes that introduce new ideas into Ontario law, which—when they come into Read more…

BCLI welcomes bill to implement its Report on Unnecessary Requirements for Sworn Statements

The British Columbia Law Institute is pleased by the introduction of Bill 5, the Miscellaneous Statutes (Signed Statements) Amendment Act, 2016, into the legislative assembly. Once enacted, Bill 5 will substantially implement the recommendations of BCLI’s Report on Unnecessary Requirements for Sworn Statements (2006). “On behalf of BCLI,” noted board of directors chair Prof. Joost Blom, QC, “I am grateful to see the legislature take up the reforms proposed in BCLI’s report. Their adoption will Read more…

Financing Litigation Legal Research Project Update

“Access to justice” continues to be a hot-button issue across Canada. It is a high-priority topic not only for the Canadian Bar Association, provincial Law Societies, and Law Foundations – but for everyday people who find themselves faced with a legal system that often appears unapproachable. With funding from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, BCLI has started a project devoted to examining the different ways individuals can hire lawyers. As research by University of Read more…

Strata corporation’s handling of smoking complaint found not to be significantly unfair

The BC Supreme Court has issued its third judgment in one month on a strata-property smoking dispute. After considering a blanket no-smoking bylaw and an order that a strata-lot owner cease and desist from smoking in his unit, in Chorney v The Owners, Strata Plan VIS770, 2016 BCSC 148, the court considered a strata corporation’s application of the procedure for handling alleged bylaw infractions set out in section 135 of the Strata Property Act to a complaint Read more…

Major changes coming to Ontario condominium law

2015 was something of a high-water mark for reforms to strata-property law. Both British Columbia and New South Wales passed major amendments to their governing legislation. Ontario, too, passed a landmark amending act late last year. On 3 December 2015, the Protecting Condominium Owners Act, 2015 received royal assent. The act had its genesis in a three-stage research and consultation project sponsored by Ontario’s Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and carried out by Canada’s Public Policy Forum. Its Read more…