Condominium Plans in Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton

Condominium Plans must be prepared by a licensed Ontario Land Surveyor.

A Condominium Plan is also a plan of subdivision, which creates new parcels of land called Units. The major difference is that, except in the case of a vacant land condominium, the units are three-dimensional, with the boundaries being the physical surfaces of the buildings themselves. Since units may be located above and below each other, the legal description of the parcel must specify the Unit Number, Level Number, and Plan Number. Unit owners share the ownership and the cost of maintaining the parts of the condominium that are not units.

Types of condominium

• Freehold condominium corporation

• Common elements condominium corporation

• Phased condominium corporation

• Vacant land condominium corporation

• Standard condominium corporation

• Leasehold condominium corporation

Common Element Condominium Corporations. No residential units are created; the developer can sell shares in a recreational facility to owners of properties within the same land registry division in which the condominium is registered. The most common model currently is a freehold townhouse project with the internal roadways and walkways (including their maintenance and outdoor lighting) as well as any recreational facilities being condominiumized.

Phased Condominium Corporations. Instead of a different condo corporation being created in a three-tower (3 phased) condo project (for each condo tower as it is being built), the developer can establish a condo corporation, which has the ability to add each phase to the originally registered condominium corporation as each phase is completed. The benefits will be to avoid a lot of unnecessary expense flowing from creating different corporations for each phase of the same project with different management companies, reciprocal agreements, easements, etc. In order to take advantage of this concept, all phases must be completed within a 10 year period.

Vacant Land Condominium Corporations. The units will be vacant lots although common elements can be (for example) a clubhouse, golf course, or recreational facilities. The builder can establish restrictions regulating the type of housing to be built on the lots.

Leasehold Condominium Corporations. An institution (for example) with excess land can establish a lease term of between 40 and 99 years (must be the same term for all units being built in the project) so that unit owners will own a leasehold right for a certain period with such leasehold right being capable of mortgaging, selling, etc. At least five years before the lease term expires, there must be a written notice by the lessor regarding a lease renewal; a lease renewal must be for a minimum of ten years.

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