Condo corporations that do not register with the Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO) and pay their first assessment by Feb. 28, 2018, may face late charges. But the CAO has pushed back the original deadline it set, Dec. 31, 2017, with the goal of getting the 4,000 condo corporations that have yet to do so registered before then.

“Late charges may apply, but we are hoping that we can reach all condo corporations so that they can register by Feb. 28,” Robin Dafoe, executive director and registrar of the CAO, said via email.

If applied, the late charges would take the form of interest accrued on the assessments owed by condo corporations.

In slightly less than four months in operation, the CAO has managed to get 7,000 condo corporations registered, which it said represents more than 60 per cent of the condo corporations in the province.

“The CAO thanks these corporations and recognizes that some corporations may still not be aware of this requirement,” said Dafoe.

The requirement for condo corporations to register with the CAO and pay assessments comes from recent changes to Ontario’s condo laws aimed at improving consumer protection in the sector. The CAO was created to implement some of these changes, including developing mandatory education for condo board directors and establishing a tribunal to help resolve common condo disputes. The assessments, which work out to roughly $1 per unit per month, will help support the CAO’s operations. The first assessment covers from Sept. 1, 2017, day one of the CAO’s operations, through to March 31, 2018.

The CAO’s research suggests that smaller condo corporations in parts of northern and southern Ontario account for some of the corporations that remain unregistered. In areas where registration has been lower, the CAO is putting out the call using ads, direct mail and social media, as well as through partner associations.

“We understand that many of these smaller condo corporations have fewer resources, so we want to take a bit more time to try to reach them, which is another reason we are extending the deadline,” said Dafoe.

Condo corporations that did not receive the unique invitation code required to register with the CAO can obtain one by emailing info@condoauthorityontario.ca.

Condo corporations created before 2018 will also want to mark March 31, 2018, on their calendars, because that’s the deadline for filing one-time transitional returns, which capture a lot of the same information as the registration process. As of March 1, 2018, condo corporations will have access to an online filing system for condo returns, designed based on feedback received during the registration process to make complying with this requirement easy.