Fifteen due diligence items every Ontario condo buyer should complete before going firm on a purchase. What each one is and why it matters.
This checklist covers the key steps from financing through to closing. Work through it with your agent and lawyer. Items 2 through 10 all come from reviewing the status certificate and the governing documents. Don't waive that condition until you've addressed them all.
A mortgage pre-approval based on accurate numbers gives you a real price ceiling before you start looking. Make sure your broker knows the monthly maintenance fee range for the type of building you're targeting, because lenders add 50% of the maintenance fee to your carrying costs when calculating debt service ratios. A unit with a high fee can qualify for significantly less financing than the purchase price alone suggests. Get this locked in before you make any offer.
Under section 76 of the Ontario Condominium Act 1998, the corporation has 10 calendar days to deliver the status certificate after a request, and may charge no more than $100. Order it as early as possible, ideally before you make an offer, so you control the timeline. The certificate covers the unit's current maintenance fee, arrears, reserve fund balance, insurance, litigation, and approved assessments. Your lawyer needs the full package, including all attachments, to review it properly.
The reserve fund is the building's savings account for major repairs: elevators, roof, garage membrane, windows, mechanical systems. Look at the current balance and compare it to what the most recent reserve fund study projects is needed at this point in the building's lifecycle. A balance below 70% of the study's target is a warning sign. It means either a special assessment is coming or future fees will increase sharply. A building with a well-funded reserve and a recent Class 1 study in good condition is materially lower risk than one with a depleted reserve and deferred repairs. The CAO reserve funds guide explains what to look for.
The status certificate must disclose any current or threatened legal proceedings involving the corporation. Developer deficiency claims for construction defects are common in newer buildings and aren't necessarily alarming on their own. What matters more is the nature and potential cost of the litigation. A lawsuit against the management company, a human rights application, or a proceeding before the Condominium Authority Tribunal involving repeated governance failures is a different category of concern. Ask your lawyer to assess the likely financial exposure and whether it could result in a special assessment.
A special assessment is a one-time charge on unit owners for costs the reserve fund can't cover. Under section 84 of the Condominium Act, the board can levy one without owner approval in most cases. The status certificate must disclose any assessment that has been approved or is being contemplated. The highest-risk scenario is an assessment that has been approved but for which levy notices haven't been issued yet. Whoever owns the unit when the notice goes out pays it, not the seller. Your lawyer must identify this and ensure it's addressed in the agreement before closing.
Arrears are unpaid common expenses owed by the current owner. Under the Condominium Act, arrears are attached to the unit, not the person who incurred them. If you close without addressing arrears, you inherit them. The corporation can register a lien against the unit within 3 months of a default under section 85, and that lien has priority over most other encumbrances including a mortgage. Your lawyer needs to confirm the arrears status before closing and ensure any outstanding amount is either cleared or deducted from the seller's proceeds.
The declaration, bylaws, and rules attached to the status certificate govern what you can do with the unit. If you plan to have a dog, confirm pets are permitted and check for any weight or breed restrictions. If you plan to rent the unit out, check whether the building imposes any conditions on long-term leasing. Boards cannot prohibit long-term rentals outright under Ontario law, but they can impose administrative requirements. If you want to use the unit for Airbnb, confirm explicitly: many buildings have adopted short-term rental prohibitions under section 58(1) of the Act, and Toronto's municipal bylaw adds a separate principal residence requirement.
Parking and lockers can be owned in two different ways in Ontario condos. They may be owned as separate titled units appurtenant to the main unit, in which case they convey with the sale as property. Or they may be licensed to the owner by the corporation, in which case they're not property and the arrangement may not automatically transfer. Confirm exactly how parking and any locker are held, what the status certificate says about them, and ensure the agreement clearly reflects what's included in the sale. Buyers who assumed parking was included and found otherwise at closing have a difficult and expensive problem.
A fee that's been flat for several years while building costs have risen is more concerning than one that increases 3-4% annually. Boards that suppress fee increases to avoid owner complaints are deferring cost to a future date, either through a catch-up increase or a special assessment. Ask your agent to pull fee history for the building over the past five years. Increases consistently above inflation suggest the board is correcting an underfunded period. CondosReview.com tracks fee history for Toronto buildings and makes this comparison easy.
Beyond the rules and bylaws, the declaration itself may contain use restrictions. Some declarations limit occupancy to residential use, which affects home-based businesses. Others contain provisions about the number of occupants per unit. If you plan to operate any kind of business from the unit, or if you have an unusual living arrangement, read the declaration's use and occupancy provisions carefully. A restriction in the declaration is harder to change than one in the rules, requiring an owner vote with a significant majority rather than a simple board decision.
A building that presents well on a Tuesday morning at 10am may tell a different story on a Friday evening or a Saturday afternoon. Visit at least twice before you firm up: once during the day to assess light, noise from common areas, and how the lobby and amenities are maintained, and once in the evening to get a sense of the resident mix and how the building is actually used. Take the elevator, walk the parking garage, look at the hallways. The condition of the common elements tells you a lot about how the building is managed day to day.
The status certificate confirms that the corporation's insurance is current. Your lawyer checks this as part of the review. Beyond confirming coverage exists, understand what the corporation's policy covers versus what you need your own unit insurance to cover. The corporation insures the building structure and common elements. Your unit policy covers your contents, your improvements to the unit, and your liability. Some buildings have a "bare walls in" policy that covers less of the unit than others. Know the boundary so your own policy is adequate and there's no gap.
A real estate lawyer who handles condos regularly is not the same as one who does occasional condo work. A condo-specialist lawyer knows what to look for in the reserve fund study, how to read the disclosure requirements around pending assessments, which litigation disclosures are routine and which are genuinely concerning, and how to flag provisions in the declaration that could affect your use of the unit. The legal fees for a condo purchase are similar regardless of the lawyer's experience. The value of getting someone who knows this area thoroughly is significant. CondosAgent.com can refer you to lawyers who work specifically with condo transactions.
Closing on a condo purchase has a few moving parts that a freehold purchase doesn't. The status certificate condition needs to be waived or exercised before the deal goes firm. Once firm, your lawyer handles the title search, the discharge of any lien, and the transfer of funds through Ontario's electronic land registration system. Allow 45-60 days between the firm deal and closing as a practical minimum. If you're selling another property to fund this one, align the closing dates carefully. Maintenance fees begin the day you take title, so any adjustment for prepaid fees is settled at closing through the statement of adjustments.
The property management company affects your daily experience as an owner. A well-managed building maintains its common elements, responds to maintenance requests promptly, keeps the budget under control, and maintains clear communication with owners. A poorly managed one defers repairs, mishandles reserve fund contributions, and generates governance conflicts that show up in the meeting minutes. Check whether the building's management company has a track record of complaints registered with the Condominium Authority of Ontario. Read the board meeting minutes attached to the status certificate for any patterns of conflict, deferred decisions, or financial irregularities. These are early signals that are easy to miss and expensive to discover after you've already closed.
The checklist above works alongside our complete step-by-step guide to buying a condo in Ontario.
Full Buyer's Guide