Exemptions Announced for Condo Manager Licensing

For the past few years, Alberta has been moving toward requiring condominium managers to obtain education and maintain provincial licenses. The Government of Alberta, through the Ministry of Service Alberta, selected the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) to define and regulate a condominium management industry, separate and apart from other industries RECA oversees such […] Read More
November 14, 2021

Legal Costs for Condominium Corporations: A Refresher

The law relating to legal expenses in litigation involving Alberta condominium corporations is evolving, but remains far from settled. In several recent decisions of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (Toronto-Dominion Bank v Bachand, 2021 ABQB 271, Tutt v The Owners: Condominium Plan No. 7822572, 2020 ABQB 213), the Court concluded that legal fees incurred by a […] Read More
July 22, 2021

Saskatchewan Condominium Invests in Bitcoin

I’ve recently learned that a condominium corporation in Saskatchewan has invested some of the corporation’s funds in the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin. The corporation purchased 0.4 bitcoin at a price of $25,000, and according to media on the story, it intends to make continuing monthly investments. In Alberta, such investments are regulated by the provisions […] Read More
April 16, 2021

Condo Update: Electronic Meetings Now Authorized

Bill 53, Service Alberta Statutes (Virtual Meetings) Amendment Act, 2021, is now in force. Section 5, relating to the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, 2020 came into force today by Royal Assent on March 26, 2021. The remainder of the Act (including those provisions that amended the Condominium Property Act) was declared to come into […] Read More
March 26, 2021

Coming Soon? Virtual Meetings for Condominiums

I was recently pleased to learn about the tabling of Bill 53 – Service Alberta Statutes (Virtual Meeting) Amendment Act. The Bill is scheduled for a continuation of Second Reading and debate during today’s legislative session. If passed, the Condominium Property Act, RSA 2000 c C-22 (the “Act”) would be amended so as to expressly permit condominiums […] Read More
March 18, 2021

Understanding Board Member Duties: When Condo Boards Fail

Boards of directors for condominium corporations are typically comprised of volunteers. Depending on the eligibility requirements in the corporation’s bylaws, these are more often than not members of the corporation, that is, unit owners. For residential condominiums, this means that the directors are also often lay people, with no particular specialized skills or professional knowledge. […] Read More
February 26, 2021

Amending Bylaws by Ordinary Resolution: When is a Conflict a Conflict?

I have been contacted by several condominium corporations regarding amending their bylaws to bring them into compliance with recent changes to Alberta’s condominium legislation. Along with the changes introduced in 2019 and 2020, the Legislature provided condominium corporations with the ability to amend bylaws that conflict with the revised legislation by way of an ordinary […] Read More
November 18, 2020

The Importance of Notice

Has your condominium corporation convened an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2020? If you’re not a member of your Board of Directors and you answered ‘no’ to that question, you may want to find out for sure after reading this. I recently attended my own AGM. It’s a small condominium property with fewer than 40 […] Read More
November 18, 2020

UPDATE – Ministerial Order 009/2020 Expired: Condos Once More Required to Convene AGMs

UPDATE – Service Alberta has released a new publication, General Meetings During Relaunch, in an effort to clarify the effect of the Ministerial Order’s expiry. Among other things, this publication confirms that condominium corporations are not expressly authorized to allow electronic participation in general meetings of the corporation, especially if the bylaws are silent in […] Read More
October 15, 2020

Asserting Privilege in the Condominium Context

The issue of asserting solicitor-client privilege in the condominium context is an interesting one, especially as between the condominium corporation and the individual unit owners. There are no simple answers or bright line rules when it comes to requests by unit owners for access to documents belonging to the corporation, other than what is expressly […] Read More
October 9, 2020