Should Condos Consider Pandemic Rules? The pandemic has, undeniably, had a signif icant impact on condominium life. To say the past
BY JAMES DAVIDSON AND NANCY HOULE
few months have been a transition for condo corporations and their residents, and an effort for boards and managers, would be an understatement. From implementing virtual meeting and electronic voting procedures, to finding the safest way to gradually reopen temporarily closed amenities, the list of impacts seems endless. As areas of the province reopen in the midst of an ongoing outbreak, condos may be asking if a specific set of rules, applicable during this sort of health crisis, is helpful. Since the board already has the authority to make decisions during a health crisis, such rules aren’t legally necessary. This authority flows from Sections 17 and 26 of Ontario’s Condominium Act which state: the board is responsible to fulfill the obligations of the
condominium corporation. A condominium corporation “has a duty to control, manage and administer the common elements and the assets of the corporation” (per Section 17). A condominium corporation is also responsible, as occupier, to keep the common elements reasonably safe (per Section 26). These sections, read together, give the board the authority and responsibility to
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decide how the common elements are to be used during a health crisis. For instance, it is up to the board to decide how to keep the common elements safe and, more generally, how the common elements are to be used and managed so as to comply with directives from public health officials. A condo board can take steps without the need for any rule to authorize such, and could certainly decide to publish one or more
