GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

CCI Manitoba Government Relations Committee Report Over the last year, our focus has been on examining The Condominium Act, re-enacted and proclaimed effective February1, 2015. We have sought member input as to what works and what does not. The good news is that we have received very little negative input. By and large, the new act seems to be working well. Some of the areas where we thought there would be pushback, such as mandatory reserve fund studies, have actually met with general acceptance and, indeed, approval. We have seen many corporations ramping up reserve fund savings and , while many corporations' funds are still far below their ideal balance as set out in the reserve fund study, some are approaching the ideal balance and many corporations are now confident that they will be able to manage capital replacement projects without the need for special assessments. One area where there appears to be the need for change relates to audited financial statements. Currently, the exemption from the need for audited statements focuses around size, as measured by the number of units. Corporations having fewer thatn 10 units can, if all owners consent, dispense with audited financials. While this exemption is good, there may also be a need for an exemption based on another criterion of size, namely amount of the corporation's budget. Some corporations, which because of their nature, provide very few services and have limited budgets, find themselves paying 10% or more of their annual expenditures on obtaining an audit. It may be that a further exemption, based on an annual budget of $100,000.00 or less, would be appropriate. On the topic of audits as well, while most lawyers and CPAs agree that a "review engagement" financial statement would satisfy the requirement for an audit, this matter is not entirely clear and clarification in the legislation would be helpful. Another area where we have received feedback is the requirement that an annual general meeting must be held within 6 months of a corporation's fiscal year end. While timely reporting to owners is, of course, always a good goal, some corporations are having difficulty getting their audited financial statements in time. Perhaps 9 months would be a better deadline. Another issue that continues to worry some CCI members is dispute resolution. Some members are concerned that the only way to achieve certainty around some issues appears to be application to the Court, a process that is expensive and time consuming. A number of members have expressed the wish that there were an authority that could resolve disputes between corporations and their members or between condominium neighbours without the need forCourt action. Both Ontario and British Columbia have recently enacted legislation that sets up condominium authorities that can settle disputes at a low cost and without the need to involve lawyers. While Manitoba is a much smaller jurisdiction than either Ontario or British Columbia and our government has not yet signalled that it is willing to deploy resources toward establishing the infrastructure needed to support such an authority, perhaps it is time to signal to government that this should be a priority. CCI Manitoba welcomes further input from its members. If you have any concerns about how The Condominium Act works, please let us know.

ROB GIESBRECHT, Chair Government Relations Committee