Condo Records Requests in Ontario: What Boards Must Provide
(From a Condominium Management Expert)
Practical Guidance for Smarter Governance in London & Sarnia, Ontario
An owner emails the board asking to see the corporation's financial statements, then follows up with a formal request for two years of meeting minutes and a current service contract. Suddenly the board is on a legal clock, and the wrong move can cost the corporation real money. A condo records request in Ontario is one of the most common, and most misunderstood, obligations a board faces.
The good news is that the process is clearly defined, and once your board understands the rules it becomes routine. This guide walks London and Sarnia boards through exactly what owners are entitled to, the deadlines that apply, the fees you can and cannot charge, and what happens when a request lands on a desk where no one is sure what to do with it.
Who Can Ask, and What the Law Requires
Under Ontario's Condominium Act, owners, purchasers, and mortgagees, or someone they authorize in writing, have a legal right to examine and obtain copies of most of the corporation's records. This right sits in Section 55 of the Condominium Act, 1998, and it is not discretionary. This is not legal advice, but generally speaking under Ontario law, a board that ignores a properly submitted request is exposing the corporation to financial penalties, not just an awkward conversation at the next meeting.
One distinction trips up boards more than any other: owners are entitled to records, but not to explanations or justifications for board decisions. A demand to know why the board approved a contract is not a records request. A request for the contract itself is. Across condominium management in London Ontario and Sarnia, the most frequent records mistake we see is a board arguing the merits of a decision when all it needs to do is hand over a document.
Core Records vs Non-Core Records: Know the Difference
The Act splits records into two buckets, and the bucket determines the cost and the timeline. Core records are the documents owners are most likely to need and are entitled to receive quickly, usually at no charge in electronic form. Non-core records are everything else, and they can carry a reasonable fee.
Core records generally include:
• The current declaration, by-laws, and rules, which are your governing documents
• The budget for the current fiscal year
• The most recent approved financial statements and the auditor's report
• The record of owners and mortgagees, including addresses for service
• The current plan for the future funding of the reserve fund
• Recent periodic information certificates
• Board and owners' meeting minutes from the past 12 months
Non-core records typically include:
• Meeting minutes older than 12 months
• Financial statements and budgets for prior fiscal years
• Voting and proxy records
• Director conflict of interest disclosures
• Contracts the corporation is currently party to
For a fuller breakdown of the documents that actually govern your corporation, read our guide: Condo Governing Documents in Ontario (sapphirecondomgmt.ca/condo-governing-documents-ontario-board-guide).
How to Handle a Condo Records Request: The 30-Day Clock and Mandatory Forms
The Condominium Authority of Ontario publishes two mandatory forms that govern the whole exchange. The requester must submit the Request for Records form. The board must reply using the Board's Response to Request for Records form within 30 days of receiving the request. Using the correct form is not a formality; failing to respond on the proper form has, on its own, led to penalties at the Tribunal.
Once you respond, the delivery rules depend on the record type:
• Core records in electronic form: free, and delivered together with your response inside the 30-day window
• Core records on paper or examined in person: up to 20 cents per page, the requester has 60 days to pay, and the records follow within 7 days of payment
• Non-core records: a reasonable fee for labour and delivery, delivered within 30 days of payment
The single worst response is silence. Letting the 30 days lapse, or replying with an informal email instead of the mandatory form, turns a routine task into a dispute that the corporation will usually lose.
What You Can Withhold, and the Cost of Getting It Wrong
Section 55(4) of the Act lists records owners are not entitled to receive. In practice these are the records a board may legitimately refuse:
• Records relating to employees of the corporation, other than their employment contracts
• Records relating to actual or contemplated litigation, or to insurance investigations
• Records relating to specific units or owners other than the person making the request
When a record contains both releasable and protected information, the answer is to redact, not refuse outright. You may black out the protected portions, but you must explain each redaction in the accompanying statement you send with the records. Hiding behind a blanket refusal is exactly the kind of conduct the Tribunal punishes.
Disputes go to the Condominium Authority Tribunal, or CAT. If the Tribunal finds the corporation refused without a reasonable excuse, it can order a penalty of up to $5,000, on top of any costs. Tribunal decisions have imposed penalties for ignoring requests outright and for failing to use the mandatory form on time. Fees are scrutinized too: in one decision the Tribunal accepted a charge of $30 per hour to compile non-core records while rejecting the higher rate written into the management contract. Because these penalties attach to the corporation and reflect directly on the board, records handling is a governance risk worth taking seriously. For more on where directors are personally exposed, read our guide: Condo Board Member Liability in Ontario (sapphirecondomgmt.ca/condo-board-member-liability-ontario).
What Good Management Looks Like When a Request Lands
A well-run management company treats a records request as routine administration, not a fire drill. The forms are recognized on sight, the 30-day deadline is calendared automatically, and the corporation's records are already organized and current, so producing them is a matter of retrieval rather than reconstruction. If an owner's request sends your current manager scrambling, or if records come back late, heavily redacted with no explanation, or with fees that look padded, those are gaps worth addressing. Your management company should make this easy, not stressful.
Many records requests center on the numbers, and financial statements are core records you must be ready to hand over at any time. If your board is not confident it could produce clean, current financials tomorrow, that is worth knowing before an owner asks. Sapphire offers London and Sarnia boards a no-cost second opinion on their financial statements at sapphirecondomgmt.ca/financial-review-on-us. A board that already receives strong monthly reporting rarely fears a records request, because the records stay current by design. For a benchmark, read our guide: What Your Condo Management Company Should Be Reporting to You Monthly (sapphirecondomgmt.ca/condo-management-monthly-reports-board-should-receive-ontario). At Sapphire, condo corp management is built around documentation that stays request-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does a condo corporation have to respond to a records request in Ontario?
A: A board must respond within 30 days of receiving a completed Request for Records form, using the mandatory Board's Response to Request for Records form. Core records in electronic format are usually delivered with that response, while paper or non-core records follow after the requester pays a reasonable fee. This is not legal advice, but generally speaking under Ontario law, missing the deadline can itself lead to a Tribunal penalty.
Q: What records can a condo board legally refuse to share in Ontario?
A: Section 55(4) of the Condominium Act lets a board withhold records about employees, other than their employment contracts, records tied to actual or contemplated litigation or insurance investigations, and records relating to other units or owners. You can redact protected details rather than refuse an entire record, but every redaction must be explained in writing.
Q: How much can a condo charge for records in Ontario?
A: Core records delivered electronically are free. Paper copies are capped at 20 cents per page, and non-core records can carry a reasonable fee for labour and delivery. Fees must reflect actual, reasonable cost; the Tribunal has rejected charges it found inflated, so London and Sarnia boards should keep their math defensible.
Related Reading
→ Condo Governing Documents in Ontario
→ Condo Board Member Liability in Ontario
→ What Your Condo Management Company Should Be Reporting to You Monthly