Alberta bill lays groundwork for creation of condo dispute tribunal

Proposed legislation introduced by the Alberta government Monday would set the stage for the development of a provincial tribunal dedicated to helping condominium owners and corporations resolve disputes. 

Bill 30, tabled Monday, includes a series of changes to the regulations for both the condo and construction sectors. 

If passed, Bill 30 would establish a legal framework for a quasi-judicial condo dispute resolution tribunal that would hear cases, adjudicate, and help mediate common legal conflicts and compliance issues within Alberta's condo buildings. 

The province says the tribunal would streamline the dispute resolution process and help owners and corporations avoid costly legal battles.

'Easy access' dispute resolution

Dale Nally, minister for Service Alberta, said the changes were informed by months of community consultation. 

An "easy access" dispute resolution process is urgently needed, Nally said during a news conference Monday. 

"There's an urgent need to improve the governance of condominium communities," he said.

"This would improve access to justice for all condominium communities." 

The tribunal's mandate and enforcement powers would be set out in regulations to be developed once the proposed changes to the Condominium Property Act are passed. 

"Shortly after the regulations are written, we'll look at getting it out," Nally said. 

"But I have made it clear to the department that this is a top priority to get it out there as fast as possible, just because Albertans have been asking for it."

Nally said the province has earmarked $8 million for the establishment of the tribunal, to be spent over the first three years of its operation.

After three years, the tribunal will be paid for by condominium owners, Nally said.

"It's going to be determined in regulation what that cost is," he said. "We're estimating about a dollar per unit, per door." 

The bill also proposes changes to regulations around chargebacks — ensuring that individual owners are held liable for damages they have caused to a condo. 

If passed, the legislation would establish that chargebacks issued to owners for damages they have caused are treated as contributions.

If a chargeback goes unpaid, the condominium corporation could collect what is due by registering a lien against the owner's condo unit. The liens could cover the amount owing, plus interest fees and associated legal costs. 

Currently, condominium corporations often end up in court to recover costs or are forced to issue special assessments.

Changing the legislation would ensure that these damage repair costs are not passed along to all owners in a given building, Nally said. 

"This means costs would be collected directly from those who incur costs, protecting owners from increasing condominium fees that would otherwise be required to cover the costs."

Other amendments include the creation of a simple form of voting for condo boards and new technical requirements to protect consumers against structural defects in the construction of condominiums.

The legislation would require that all newly constructed condo buildings undergo a technical analysis.

The bill also sets out new rules for the construction industry would result in all projects following the same set of prompt payment rules, which were established in legislation in 2021. 

Before now,  the rules only applied to private-sector projects.

The changes would also would clarify when final payments are due under a contract or subcontract and make adjudication available for 30 days after that date.