Another draft regulation has been released by the government for comment. This new draft regulation deals with the areas of the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 ("CMSA") that were not addressed by earlier regulations, such as complaints, requirements for holding a licence, discipline, and appeals. The government intends to roll these changes out on February 1, 2018.
Complaints, Insurance & Other Requirements
The regulation describes procedures and requirements for:
- making complaints about licensed managers,
- insurance to be maintained by management companies,
- disclosures required by managers to prospective clients,
- a duty to ensure records of clients are secure, available for review, and transferred when requested (i.e. change in management).
Many of these prescribed requirements are similar to those imposed on other professionals in the province, like lawyers, engineers, and accountants.
For complaints, the registrar will be authorized to:
- mediate or resolve the complaint,
- give warnings to the manager,
- require the manager to take further educational courses,
- refer the matter to the discipline committee,
- suspend, revoke or add conditions to the licence,
- refuse to renew a licence; or
- take further action as is appropriate.
Notice of the action taken by the registrar must be given to the manager and the principal condominium manager (i.e. employer) or board of directors (if employed directly by a condominium).
Like other professionals, managers must have certain types of insurance. The regulation requires every condo management company to maintain errors and omissions insurance and fidelity insurance that protects against losses from dishonesty by the manager or other employees. Information about the insurance must be provided to the company's clients upon any change or cancellation in the policies and the registrar (if requested).
Before entering into a management contract every manager must disclose, in writing, to the prospective client the following:
- a needs assessment (i.e. services that would reasonably meet the needs of the client),
- other services (i.e. other services that may be more appropriate to serve the needs of the client),
- services and costs to be provided,
- any bundled services,
- any material interest in other business that could offer services to the condo, and
- any financial benefit the manager or an interested person may receive in connection with the contract.
Code of Ethics
The regulation describes a code of ethics to be followed by managers. The code of ethics is designed to promote professionalism, reliability, and quality of services. Some of the general obligations are: acting with fairness, honesty and integrity; not discriminating or harassing people; providing conscientious, courtesous and responsive service; demonstrating skill and competence; and not engaging in any act or omission that "could reasonably be regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional or unbecoming" of a manager. Other parts are designed to protect the interests of condo clients, like the duty to maintain confidentiality and promote the best interests of their clients.
Discipline & Appeals
The draft regulation also describes the discipline process, the discipline committee to be created to hear discipline matters, and the appeal committee that will be created to hear appeals of decisions of the discipline committee. All complaints must be referred to the discipline committee within two years of the registrar becoming aware of the complaint. An appeal may be made within 30 days after the discipline committee sends notice of the order made.
The government is receiving comments on the proposed regulation until October 15, 2017. Copies of the plain language summary and other documents are available at www.ontariocanada/com. Search for proposal 17-MGCS018 or type in "condo" to find it.
