Case information

Property — Servitudes — Real servitudes — Accessories to real servitudes — Personal obligations of successive performance — Whether the service obligations provided for in the deed regarding the supply of chilled water, condenser water, heating water and domestic cold water are (i) imposed by real servitudes, or (ii) accessory to real servitudes, or (iii) create personal obligations of successive performance which can be resiliated by reasonable notice.

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.

The dispute between the parties stems from the occupation and operation of a multi-use building in Montreal known as Les Cours Mont Royal. Soltron Realty GP Inc. (“Soltron”), applicant, owns the retail portion of the building as well as the garage. The respondents represent the building’s condominium residents. A 1988 master deed sets out a complex network of servitudes governing the immovable. In 2016, the Superior Court made certain declarations and injunctions in respect of the obligations set out in the deed. The obligations pertained to the supply of water, snow clearance, exterior maintenance, landscaping and garbage removal. Essentially, the residents argued that those services were the objects of real servitudes that required Soltron to provide them in perpetuity. Soltron argued that none of the services were imposed by servitude and as a result, it had the right to cease providing them as long as it gave reasonable notice. The Superior Court declared some of the services to be imposed by servitude, but found others were not. Both sides appealed. The Court of Appeal allowed the residents’ appeal in part and dismissed Solton’s.