Condo Living

April 8, 2025 Published by Golden Horseshoe Chapter - By Carole Booth

Navigating the CAO Website

From the Volume 23, Spring 2025 issue of the CCI GHC Condo News Magazine

After locating the CAO (Condominium Authority of Ontario) website, you need to determine which topic(s) will be most relevant for finding the information you require. The homepage offers a wealth of resources, including a newsletter, a video for the 2.0 training course, and a variety of topics to explore. To fully understand the offerings on the CAO website, it's beneficial to spend some time browsing through the different topics and sub-topics. You’ll quickly notice a significant amount of cross-referencing, which can be quite advantageous.

In addition to the toolbar, there are several drop-down categories with sub-sections, including Before You Buy or Rent, Condo Living, Boards and Governance, Issues and Dispute Resolution, Explore Common Issues, Find a Condo Form or CAO Guide, Access an Ongoing Case, and Access Director Training.

During your search, you may come across the following information or sub-topics within a broader category: summary sidebars, descriptions of included content, sub-sections or topics with supporting materials, and "see also" sections with additional items to explore. Keep in mind that you may need to do some "digging" to find exactly what you need!

There is something pertinent for everyone—condo directors, managers, condo owners, and potential owners. Self-managed Boards of Directors will find the information offered to be particularly valuable. Additionally, there is a CAO Guide specifically designed for self-managed Boards of Directors.

The following are a few examples of what is available on the CAO website and how to navigate it in order to find the topic you are looking for.

Condo Calendar Tool

Select the Condo Calendar Tool from the toolbar at the top of the homepage. Corporations can easily view yearly deadlines related to legal obligations that must be filed, such as AGM notices (preliminary notice and notice of meeting) and information certificates. This calendar is tailored specifically to your corporation. The information displayed is based on the details submitted by your corporation when filing the annual return and a notice of change. To search for your corporation, simply enter the legal name or operating name, the region, and the corporation number.

Director Training

There are three ways to access Director Training. One option is to click on Director Training in the toolbar. The other two methods are through the drop-down categories for Boards and Governance or by selecting Accessing Director Training. Before entering the director training section, there will be a discussion about becoming a board member and the roles of directors.

The mandatory director training course is online and free of charge, taking approximately 7 hours to complete. It can be completed in segments and is divided into eight areas, along with a Q&A self-assessment that includes 26 e-modules. Each module has an estimated duration of 10 to 40 minutes.

When you're ready to begin the course, simply click on Director Training to sign in! You don’t have to finish the training all at once; you can save your progress and complete the modules at your convenience.

Forms

Condo forms can be accessed through the toolbar (Condo Forms) or the drop-down categories (Find a Condo Form or CAO Guide). The forms are available in both fillable and non-fillable formats. If a form contains multiple sections, you can select the required sections by clicking on them, which will cause the information to drop down. Self-managed Boards of Directors will find all the necessary forms for notices of meeting, proxies, and other required filings that are required throughout the year, along with forms needed for changes and status certificates—essentially everything needed to manage the day-to-day operations of the Corporation.

Self-Managed Board of Directors

You can find an overview of the information in the CAO Guide to Self-Managed Condos by clicking on the drop-down category—Find a Condo Form or CAO Guide. Next, click on Guides for Boards and select the CAO Guide to Self-Managed Condos. The overview includes definitions of self-management, considerations for whether self-management is suitable for your condo, the four pillars of self-management, as well as sections on governance, finance, operations, and community. It also provides tools, templates, and a link to the complete guide.

The Condominium Act and Regulations

You can access the Condominium Act, 1998 on the home page. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/98c19

The next time you have a question regarding condo life, be sure to check the CAO website!

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Carole Booth, B.Sc. in Education; MA, is a retired teacher. As a past member of the GHC-CCI Board of Directors, she continues to participates on the communication and education committees. Carole lives in a 69-unit condominium where she served as president for 12 years.