Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Charter – Fundamental justice – Right to security of person – Property law – Real property – Condominiums – Voting rights – Condominium fees – Condominium corporation seeking recovery of unpaid condominium fees from majority owners – Trial court awarding judgment in favour of corporation – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that doctrine of collateral attack prohibited challenge of the return of an application converted into an action – Whether s. 7 of Charter protects statutory voting rights of condominium owners – Whether breach of s. 7 triggers relief measures under s. 24(1) of Charter – Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 7, 24(1) – Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19.

The applicants jointly own 23 of 33 condominium units in Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 396 (“CCC 396”), and thus constitute the “majority owners” of the building. Following disputes over the voting rights of 18 basement units in the building, the majority owners did not pay their condominium fees for a number of years. CCC 396 then registered liens and issued several notices of sale. In 2009, the administrator for CCC 396 commenced an action to recover the unpaid condominium fees from the majority owners and obtain vacant possession of their units. CCC 396 obtained partial summary judgment against the majority owners in 2011, with an order for payment of over $109,000 in unpaid condominium fees. A trial was ordered for specified issues with respect to the remaining indebtedness claimed by CCC 396.

The trial judge awarded CCC 396 a further $380,970 in unpaid condominium fees and other expenses, and concluded that the various liens and notices of sale relating to several of the majority owners’ units were valid. The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the majority owners’ appeal, finding that: the rule against collateral attack prevented the majority owners from challenging prior court orders or judgments; the condominium corporation is not without remedy and may sue to recover unpaid condominium fees; and the trial judge’s conclusions here were reasonably open to him, based on the available evidence, and there was no error in his decision.