With changes to Alberta’s Condominium Property Act on the horizon, a new non-profit provincial organization supporting condominium owners has been formed – Condominium Owners Forum Society of Alberta (COF). In Cochrane, where the construction of condos are soaring – 136 condo units started construction last year and 11 broke ground in 2016 – understanding condo owners rights and responsibilities is crucial, said Bob Macleod who represents the town for COF. Throughout Alberta, condo living is the fastest growing part of the Alberta housing stock and makes up 25 per cent of it. There are approximately 8,800 individual condo corporations in the province, according to COF, representing more than 440,000 individual condo units. Some of the changes to Alberta’s condo property act include modernizing and enhancing regulations as well as the potential implementation of an Alternative Dispute Tribunal. “Our focus is on the owners, what the owners need to know, how to demystify the bylaws and the rules around condos and, what to expect of their boards,” Macleod said. “We also train board members as to what their duties really are and (to be) more than just the cops of bylaws, that they’re actually managing the corporation well and to encourage them to develop things like a governance manual.” Macleod said the forum will act as an education process for all parties of condo ownership. “It’s quite different than home ownership because there are so many rules around the corporation,” he said, comparing condos to living in a condensed town. The forum will offer opportunities for owners to raise their questions. “No question is silly or dumb. If a condo owner has a question they’re obviously asking for a reason,” Macleod said. Macleod said there can be many challenges within condos and board members. Some problems can arise when bylaws are needed to be made or updated but which some owners take issue with. “There’s usually one or two bylaws that are problematic for some owners and they have to be debated,” he said. “The boards of course are democratically new and elected every year so that’s another process.” Another challenge for boards and corporations is to make board participation relatively painless. “Remember, all these boards are volunteers, no one is paid for this. But if there’s a governance manual, it helps a great deal.” Macleod said the forum will also educate condo owners on the possible tiers of management within a building’s corporation. “Some condo associations hire property managers to take care of things like paying the bills, manage the books, do the condo documents, things like that,” he said. “But quite a few are self-managed.” COF held its first meeting in September in Calgary. Educational workshops will be held throughout the province in condo buildings in the coming months. The next COF workshop, themed around rules, roles and responsibilities of owners will be held in Calgary at the Amica Aspen Woods condos at 10 Aspenshire Drive on Nov. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. General memberships to COF are available at $25/year. Other membership options are identified on the COF website. For more info visit www.cofsab.ca.
