CON D O L A W . T O

everyone’s interest to increase the value of the assets they hold.”

As well, prior to purchasing their units, buyers might not consider how poor management of the condo’s reserve funds can negatively affect insurance availability and the cost of the premium the corporation is required to pay when it comes to unforeseen events, some of which have led to special assessments for owners.

“That’s coming from inadequate knowledge of what insurance contract is in place for that condo,” says Chio. “I think the boards have the responsibility to make sure the insurance contracts they have are adequate and within the appetite of what they want to maintain with the building and also owners.

“One is the overall coverage they want to include in the contract and the other is the deductible. These are things not everyone talks about, but impact condo owners when an insured event happens. By having this conversation, owners will be better equipped to understand what is coming down the pipeline in terms of the expected costs they would need to pay in an event.”

Climate change is another emerging risk. If maintenance budgets are determined by the current climate, with no “margin for adverse deviation,” a property could face higher costs if the common elements degrade faster than expected due to weather-related events like floods and rising temperatures.

“This will probably result first in special assessments and then in higher condo fees to compensate for any underfunding patterns based on inaccurate projections of climate-based deterioration,” the report warns.

Extreme conditions can speed the aging of infrastructure. To better determine the future costs that come with maintaining their condos, Chio encourages boards and owners to examine the components of their reserve fund studies and conduct some form of assessment— looking at the expected repairs and maintenance versus the actuals they performed.

“Do some comparison in the last one or two years because we’ve seen some drastic inflation in the interest rate environment,” he suggests. “That will give you a sense of how well the reserve fund study was carried out in the past. If there are any areas that need to be strengthened, then get a second option on those figures; that’s always good to do earlier than later.” 1

The full CIA Insight Statement on the Longevity of Condo Infrastructure can be accessed at: https://www.cia-ica.ca/publications/publicationdetails/223073

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• Mechanical Room Retrofits

• Snowmelt Ramps

• Backflow Preventor Installation & Service

• Watermains Replacement & Repairs

• Water Booster Pumps

• Water Treatment

• Rooftop Heating/Air Conditioning

• Cooling Towers

• Chillers

• Make Up Air Units

• Radiant Floors tell us maybe this is not the best way to actually invest that money.”

Smetanin also noted the lack of attractive alternatives available to baby boomers who might otherwise downsize from detached homes. What’s conspicuously absent on the market is what has come to be known as the ‘missing middle.’

“One part of the community is rat, pack and stack, and the other part of the community is very flat,” he said.

The CANCEA report cites zoning as a contributing factor, with vast swaths of

• Powerflushing

• Domestic Hot Water Systems

Smetanin. “This is about changing what we build, and starting to look at the productivity of land being used.”

Gentle-density options, somewhere between single-family home and skyscraping condo, would give households an opportunity to ‘right-size’ their home based on their needs, he explained. As it stands, a similar scenario is playing out in communities across the GTHA, where empty nesters tend to be sitting on extra bedrooms while households of five or more tend to be short on bedrooms.

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• Scheduled Maintenance Service Agreements

This finding was eye-opening for city councillor Ana Bailao, who chairs Toronto’s affordable housing committee and represents Ward 18 Davenport. It suggested that a provincially and federally supported city program designed to help seniors age in place might be less than constructive with respect to housing affordability.

58 Rosemount Avenue, Toronto, Ontario

“We’re actually incentivizing people to stay longer in their homes, paying for renovations and so on,” said Bailao, speaking on a panel following the release of CANCEA’s report. “So now we have all this data in front of us that should

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