The Condo Authority of Ontario (CAO) is responsible to provide new mandatory training for all condo directors in Ontario.  We now know a bit more about what kind of training can be expected, who will be required to take it and the time frame to comply with this new requirement. The CAO has also launched 4 pilot training modules and is seeking your input on them. Give them a try!

Mandatory training for condo directors

The new Condo Act will impose mandatory training on all condo directors.  The Condo Authority of Ontario is responsible to administer such training. The CAO will also be authorized to accredit training and courses from other organizations. One could eventually expect training and courses from other organizations such as the Community Associations Institute, the Condo  Directors Group or the Canadian Condominium Institute (in alphabetical order). Only time will tell.

Every condo director will have to take the required training within six months following his/her election or appointment. A director who does not take the required training within this time frame will be disqualified from the board.

The training will be valid for a period of seven years.  After that, we expect that directors will have to take additional training.  It may be a good idea for the CAO to recognize ongoing training rather than expect directors to take the same basic training every seven years.  Giving “credits” for ongoing training will encourage directors to seek ongoing education and to stay abreast of changes in the condo industry. This is more likely to make more informed directors than a mandatory basic course every 7 years.

Corporations will have to reimburse all costs, charges and expenses incurred by directors taking the training.  Such reimbursement will have to be made within 30 days. The fact that the regulation refers to both “costs” and “charges” leads the reader to conclude that the corporation may have to reimburse directors for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred to seek such training.

Finally, written confirmation of completion of training will have to be provided to the director, to the condo corporation and to the CAO.

Who will be grandfathered?

Any director who has already been appointed or elected to a board when the new training requirements come into force will be grandfathered and will not have to take this new training until their next election or appointment to the board. Stated otherwise, if you are already on the board, you will not have to take training until your next election.

When will this new training requirement come into force?

We are still expecting this new training requirement to come into force on November 1st, 2017.

What courses will be required?

We don’t know exactly what courses will be required. Eventually, the CAO will publish on its website a list of the available courses and of the organizations authorized to give them.

The CAO has recently launched the following 4 pilot training modules:

You can take these modules for free!  The modules last less than 20 minutes and the platform is easy to use.  One could expect that this  is what the mandatory training will look like, at least initially.

I encourage you to try these modules and to take the CAO’s short survey to give your input on them. Please note, however, that taking these modules now will not count towards your mandatory training.  These are just pilot modules to help the CAO test the format and content.