The Ontario government is amending a regulation under the Condo Act, which will allow the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) to exclusively handle more types of disputes that currently go through mediation, arbitration or the courts.

Beginning October 1, 2020, the CAT will accept applications for certain disputes about provisions in a condo corporation’s governing documents that deal with pets or other animals, vehicles, parking and storage, or related indemnification/compensation provisions.

For example, disputes about compliance with provisions can be filed. A condo corporation will be able to file an application against one or more owners because they have not complied with the governing documents. And an owner will be able to file an application directly against one or more owners and/or occupants for failing to comply with the corporation’s governing documents.

Other examples include disputes related to consistency and/or reasonableness of those provisions and disputes about the applicability of provisions.

The Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO), which manages tribunal operations, will be releasing new information in the coming weeks, including: updates to the CAO’s Guided Steps to Common Issues, with guidance to owners and condo corporations on how they can resolve these issues proactively; revised templates for owners and condo corporations to communicate about these issues; and interactive checklists to help people file applications with the CAT.