Owner records requests in Ontario: what must the board do?

When an Ontario owner asks for the corporation's records on the prescribed form, the board has 30 days to answer on the Condominium Authority of Ontario's board response form (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.3 (3) and (6)). Core records, such as the declaration, the budget and recent minutes, must be given free when they are delivered in electronic form (s. 13.3 (8), para. 4). A refusal without reasonable excuse can cost the corporation a penalty of up to $5,000 at the Condominium Authority Tribunal (Condominium Act, 1998, s. 1.44 (3)).

On a small board, a records request usually goes wrong because a deadline slips, not because anyone meant to refuse. This article goes through the request in the order the board handles it.

Who can ask, and for what

The corporation "shall permit an owner, a purchaser or a mortgagee of a unit or an agent of one of them duly authorized in writing, to examine or obtain copies of the records of the corporation in accordance with the regulations" (s. 55 (3)). The request must be "solely related to that person's interests as an owner, a purchaser or a mortgagee of a unit, as the case may be, having regard to the purposes of the Act" (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.3 (1)), but the requester does not have to state a purpose (s. 13.3 (2)).

The records the corporation keeps are listed in s. 55 (1) of the Act and s. 13.1 (1) of the regulation: the financial records, the minute book, the declaration, by-laws and rules, the reserve fund studies and plans, the corporation's agreements, the ballots and proxies of owners' meetings, and more.

Step 1: the request arrives on the CAO's form

A request "shall be in a form specified in the Table to section 16.1" (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.3 (3)): the CAO's Request for Records. It is delivered by mail, courier or the mail box at the address for service of the corporation or of its manager, or at an address the board has set by resolution (s. 13.3 (4) (a) to (c)). Email or another electronic method counts only if the board has chosen it by resolution (s. 13.3 (4) (d)), so a board that wants requests by email should pass that resolution and say which inbox starts the 30 days.

Step 2: the board's response, within 30 days

"The board shall determine whether the corporation will allow the requester to examine or obtain a copy of the record that the requester has requested and shall respond to the requester within 30 days" on the CAO's form (s. 13.3 (6)).

The response sets out an index of the records requested and, for each one (s. 13.3 (7)):

1. a description of the record;
2. whether it is a core record;
3. the board's decision;
4. if the record will be provided, the fee, if any;
5. if it will not, the board's reason in writing and the provision of s. 55 or the regulation it relies on;
6. where a paper copy can be examined or picked up.

Core records

The regulation names the core records (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 1 (1)), among them:

• the declaration, by-laws and rules;
• the budget for the current fiscal year and its amendments;
• the most recent financial statements the board approved and the most recent auditor's report;
• the board's current plan for the future funding of the reserve fund;
• the record of owners and mortgagees, and the record of leased units;
• the periodic information certificates sent in the last 12 months;
• the minutes of owners' and board meetings held in the last 12 months.

A by-law can add more. Core records move fast: if the corporation keeps the record in electronic form and the requester agreed in the request to receive it electronically, the copy goes out within the same 30 days as the response (ss. 13.4 (1) and 13.6 (1)). If the requester asked for an electronic copy but the corporation keeps the record only on paper, the paper copy goes out within the same 30 days (s. 13.6 (3)). Otherwise, a paper copy is made available or delivered within seven days after the requester returns the completed response with any fee (ss. 13.3 (11), 13.4 (2) and (3), 13.6 (2) and (4)).

For a record that is not a core record, the corporation provides it within 30 days after the requester returns the response with the fee (ss. 13.5 and 13.7).

The fee

The fee must be "a reasonable estimate of the amount required to reimburse the corporation for the actual labour and delivery costs" and must itself be reasonable (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.3 (8), paras. 1 and 2). Printing and photocopying cost no more than 20 cents a page (para. 3). A core record delivered in electronic form is free (para. 4).

With the record, the corporation states its actual cost in writing and refunds the difference if the fee paid was higher (s. 13.8 (1) (c) and (d)). If the actual cost was higher, the requester pays, within 30 days, the least of the difference, 10 per cent of the fee payable for the request and 10 per cent of the fee paid (s. 13.8 (2)).

What the board can refuse

The right to examine or copy records does not apply to (s. 55 (4)):

• records about employees, except their employment contracts;
• records about actual or contemplated litigation, or insurance investigations involving the corporation;
• records about specific units or owners, though an owner, purchaser or mortgagee can see the records about their own unit, and an owner the records about themselves (s. 55 (5));
• other prescribed records: an owner's or mortgagee's electronic communication address, a lawyer's or paralegal's report or opinion about specific units or owners, and the parts of ballots and proxies that identify units or owners unless a by-law says otherwise (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.11 (2)).

The record of owners and mortgagees itself stays open to every owner, purchaser and mortgagee (s. 55 (5) (c)), and records about directors or officers in that capacity are not "records relating to specific units or owners" (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.11 (1)). When the board removes part of a record, it says why and names the provision it relies on (s. 13.8 (1) (b)).

If the requester does not follow up

A request is deemed abandoned if, within 60 days of the board's response, the requester neither returns the response with the fee nor applies to the Tribunal (O. Reg. 48/01, s. 13.10 (1)).

The Tribunal and the penalty

The Condominium Authority Tribunal hears disputes about the records provisions of s. 55 of the Act (subsections (1) to (6) and (8)) and ss. 13.1 to 13.11 of the regulation (O. Reg. 179/17, s. 1 (1) (a) and (c)). If the Tribunal considers that the corporation "has without reasonable excuse refused to permit the person to examine or obtain copies", it can order a penalty paid to that person (Condominium Act, 1998, s. 1.44 (1), para. 6), of not more than $5,000 (s. 1.44 (3)). It can also order the corporation to comply, pay costs, and pay compensation for damages (s. 1.44 (1), paras. 1 to 5).

A board's routine for a request

1. Note the day the request arrived at the address or method the board set. The 30 days run from there.
2. List each record requested, mark which are core records, and check each one against the exceptions in s. 55 (4) and s. 13.11.
3. Send the board's response on the CAO's form before day 30, with the fee and the location for each record.
4. Send electronic core records with the response, and the rest within the seven or 30 days that follow the requester's return.
5. Keep the request, the response and the delivery note together with the corporation's records.

The same records feed the status certificate and the papers sent with the AGM notice.

Sources

• Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19, ss. 1.44 and 55.
• O. Reg. 48/01 (General), ss. 1 (1) ("core record") and 13.1 to 13.11.
• O. Reg. 179/17 (Condominium Authority Tribunal), s. 1.

This article summarizes the Condominium Act, 1998 and its regulations as of October 21, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. For a decision about your corporation, consult an Ontario condominium lawyer.