The collapse of the Champlain Towers condo in south Florida highlights the critical role of condominium corporation (CC) directors in maintaining a safe and healthy environment for their fellow residents. Startling before and after images highlight the scope of the damage, from which you can easily see why there are so many dead and missing https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/interactive-see-after-photos-florida-condo-building-collapse-n1272299.

In this article, we want to explore a condominium solar panel project.  To that end, we found Bruce Mackenzie, who in 2015 was the Central Park Condominium President in Victoria, BC.  As a self-professed “energy geek”, he decided the time was right to explore solar panels for his Victoria, BC condominium.  ¹

Planning on hosting or attending a Grey Cup Party this year? Here are a few favourite recipes from some of our members. If you’d like to contribute your favourite recipes regardless of the occasion, just send us an email ccimanitoba@cci.ca.

• Slow Cooke Baked Beans
• Caesar Dressing
• Spinach Dip
• Quick Rum Cake

This was a re-publication of an article from CondoBusiness from the REMI Network

The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is applicable to the insurance market. If you want to reduce the pressure on ever-increasing insurance premiums, look for ways to prevent having to make claims and look to mitigate the various risks to persons and property. Consider putting together a risk mitigation plan for your condo corporation and show it to your insurance broker and ask for their feedback. They will be happy to help you because lowering your claims risk is a win-win situation for both parties.

So you joined the Board of your Condominium Corporation (CC) and ended up as Treasurer even though you are not an accountant. Do you sometimes feel lost, overwhelmed, or unsure how to provide value to your CC and the owners? Here are some lessons learned from someone in the same situation.³

There was a meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development, Heritage, and Downtown Development (SPC-PDHDD) on Oct 23, 2021. The presentation compares and contrasts the options for regulating short term rentals (STRs) versus short term rental platforms, such as AirBnB and Vrbo. 

In our Fall 2021 Newsletter, we raised the issue of waste diversion fees being applied to condo unit owners for corporations with more than seven units in the City of Winnipeg. The good news is that the proposal has been dropped for the 2022 budget. But this is also bad news because the program doesn’t have sustainable funding so that means property tax funding will continue to be used.

In our Summer 2021 Newsletter edition, we had a short article about the collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside Florida. This article continues the thought process by trying to put yourself in the mind of a director for that doomed condominium corporation. Hopefully doing so will lead to more thoughtful action at your condo corporation.