Buying or Selling a Condo in Ontario: Purchases, Sales and Status Certificate Review

Buying a condominium means buying a unit and a share in a building that is run by a corporation of its owners. The state of that corporation’s finances, rules and repairs matters as much as the unit itself. A condominium lawyer at Law Wise reviews the status certificate and handles condo purchases and sales across the entire GTA and Ontario, from its office in Mississauga.

What you own when you buy a condominium

You own your unit, and you share ownership of the common elements, such as the lobby, hallways, elevators, roof and grounds, with the other owners. Some common elements are set aside for one owner’s use, which is often the case for a balcony and sometimes for a parking space or locker. Whether you own your parking space and locker outright or only have the exclusive right to use them is something the title search and the declaration answer.

The condominium corporation manages the property on behalf of the owners. The owners elect a board of directors, and the board makes the corporation’s decisions, including its financial ones. Three documents govern the building: the declaration, the by-laws and the rules. Ontario has several kinds of condominium, including standard, phased, vacant land, common elements and leasehold condominiums, and the kind affects what you are buying.

The status certificate

A status certificate is a package the condominium corporation issues about a particular unit and about the corporation as a whole. It is the main tool for checking a resale condominium, and a status certificate review by a lawyer is the reason most offers on condos are made conditional. Among other things it contains:

• the common expenses for the unit and whether the current owner is behind on them
• any increase in common expenses or special assessment the board has declared since the current budget
• the declaration, by-laws and rules
• the current budget, the last audited financial statements and the auditor’s report
• the most recent reserve fund study, the amount in the reserve fund and any plan to increase contributions
• outstanding judgments against the corporation and the status of lawsuits it is involved in
• the corporation’s insurance and the number of units that are leased

A certificate is a snapshot on the day it is issued. It does not predict what a board will decide next year, which is why the reserve fund study, the budget and the financial statements deserve a careful read and not only the first page.

Common expenses, the reserve fund and special assessments

Each owner pays common expenses, often called condo fees or maintenance fees, in the proportion set out in the declaration. They pay for cleaning, repairs, snow removal, landscaping, management, building services and contributions to the reserve fund. An owner cannot avoid them by not using the common elements.

Every corporation must keep a reserve fund, which may be used only for major repair and replacement of the common elements and the corporation’s assets, and must carry out reserve fund studies from time to time to check that the fund is adequate. If the fund falls short, or an unexpected cost arrives, the board can charge owners an extra amount known as a special assessment. A special assessment is paid by whoever owns the unit when it is levied.

Unpaid common expenses give the corporation a lien on the unit. The lien lapses three months after the default unless the corporation registers a certificate of lien, and a registered lien generally ranks ahead of a mortgage. Lenders therefore take arrears seriously.

Rules that affect how you live

Condominium rules can limit pets, smoking, barbecues, the kinds of vehicles that may be parked, renovations and short-term rentals. Tell your agent and your lawyer early if one of these matters to you, so that the documents can be checked for it before the offer becomes firm.

Buying an almost-new unit

When a building is new, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation may not yet have assessed each unit separately. A supplementary or omitted property tax bill can then arrive after you move in. We check whether the unit has its own assessment and, where it does not, ask for terms that keep you from paying tax for the time before you owned the unit. Buying directly from a builder raises further points, including the 10-day cooling-off period and interim occupancy: see new construction purchases.

Selling a condominium

In Ontario a buyer is generally expected to inspect what they are buying. A seller must still disclose hidden defects the seller knows about that make the unit unfit to live in or dangerous, and must not conceal or misrepresent a defect. Known problems with the common elements and any special assessment that has been declared, or that you know is coming, should be disclosed as well.

On a sale we prepare the transfer, answer the buyer’s lawyer’s title questions, adjust common expenses and property taxes to the closing date, pay out and discharge your mortgage, and report to you. Giving the buyer accurate information at the start reduces the risk of a claim later.

How Law Wise helps

• reviews the status certificate and its attachments and reports to you in plain language before your condition expires
• checks title to the unit, the parking space and the locker
• explains the declaration, by-laws and rules that affect your plans for the unit
• acts on the purchase, the mortgage and the closing, or on your sale
• acts on purchases from builders, including interim occupancy closings

Your file is handled by a Law Wise lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. Service is available in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, and, if you retain the firm, fees are explained and confirmed in writing before work starts.

Common questions about buying a condo in Ontario

This page is general legal information for Ontario, current as of 10 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice about your situation, please speak with a lawyer.