Legal

March 20, 2026 Published by Toronto and Area Chapter - By Marc Bhalla, Ian Darling

No Pottery, No Bronze. Just Progress.

From the Winter/Spring 2026 issue of CCI Toronto Condovoice Magazine.

Reflections on Eight Years of the Condominium Authority Tribunal

The Condominium Authority Tribunal launched in November 2017. It was Ontario’s first, and Canada’s second, online tribunal. At the time, our country was heralded internationally for its leadership in embracing technology to improve access to justice.

While eight-year anniversaries are traditionally celebrated with bronze and pottery, this article will not make puns about shining up the CAT or about containing disputes. Instead, we will share reflections, looking back at our article in the Spring 2018 edition of this magazine that discussed the launch of the Tribunal, and how far we have come.

When we launched, there was little guidance to offer parties around the type of outcomes they could expect. As the mediator assigned to the CAT’s first cases, former CAT Member Marc Bhalla couldn’t draw comparisons to similar decisions to help set expectations of parties around possible outcomes.

Today, the CAT has released more than 1000 decisions and orders. Tribunal decisions are very fact specific. Governing documents vary from community to community, and many cases turn on precisely what they say. Nevertheless, past decisions share common themes that offer guidance for readers to understand key considerations. Additionally, it is not uncommon for CAT mediators to help identify similar cases during the course of Stage 2 – Mediation. Beyond decisions rendered by the Tribunal, there are now more than 100 published Consent Orders that include settlement terms. They can offer ideas to promote settlement discussions in similar disputes.

Looking to the future, the emergence of advanced Artificial Intelligence tools represents both an opportunity to increase access to justice and new risks to users when used improperly. Several Tribunal decisions and orders have included concerns about parties relying on AI to create legal submissions. Although AI can help with the writing process, its use also risks hallucinations about non-existent cases or misinterpretations of the Condo Act and regulations. This issue impacts all courts and tribunals – and offers challenges to everyone participating.

In December 2024, CAT Chair Ian Darling released a Practice Direction focused on the use of Artificial Intelligence in CAT Cases to help parties understand the Tribunal’s rules and to offer best practices. This was one of the first practice directions of its kind in Canada.

Additionally, a Guide for Self-Represented Parties, released in 2025, includes tips to effectively participate in CAT cases. It is most effective to ensure the case source is credible. It is important to read the decision and keep a copy, rather than incorporating a secondhand reference to what the case says. The CAT has also partnered with Lexum to offer AI- generated plain-language summaries of decisions in the future. These summaries will be a helpful reference for people conducting research on CAT cases and demonstrate a helpful adoption of AI to promote access to justice.

Back in the day, the Tribunal’s jurisdiction was limited to record disputes. Over the years, the Ontario government has slowly expanded this jurisdiction to include disputes related to pets and animals, vehicles, parking and storage, noise, odour, light, vibrations, smoke, vapour, and more. We have noticed a trend of increased instances of people bringing applications for issues beyond the CAT’s jurisdiction. This has led to more non- jurisdictional dismissals. The Ministry of Business and Public Service Delivery and Procurement conducts consultation opportunities to invite feedback around potential new tribunal jurisdiction areas of focus. In early 2025, the Ministry sought feedback on jurisdiction expansion into issues related to owners’ meetings.

We also now have more data about how cases proceed through our process. The data indicates that cases are resolved roughly equally across the CAT’s three-step process: one-third at Stage 1 – Negotiation, one-third at Stage 2 – Mediation, and one- third at Stage 3 – Adjudication. Records cases are more likely to settle in Stages 1 and 2 than other case types.

Over the years, the CAT has also looked to refine its processes by identifying best practices in Mediation and Adjudication. The Tribunal has recently completed a public consultation on proposed revisions to its Rules of Practice, receiving a significant amount of public feedback to confirm that refinements are getting it right. The CAT has also established its expertise in condominium disputes. In the years before the Tribunal was established, there were relatively few court or tribunal decisions that were relevant to condos. Now, there is a rich body of decisions that explain a wide range of issues and outcomes.

Perhaps the most important guiding factor when creating and launching a tribunal for Ontario’s condominium sector involved the objective of resolving disputes quickly and cost-efficiently . The Tribunal’s online process is designed to offer a low-cost solution and flexible participation. Total filing fees remain at $200 as originally launched. Across the justice system, concerns remain about the amount of time it takes to resolve a conflict. This issue is pronounced in traditional courts and tribunals. Anecdotally, we hear of lawyers telling their clients to expect to wait years for their day in court or for a decision to be rendered by an administrative tribunal.

The CAT had an advantage as the only tribunal in the province unimpacted in its operation by COVID-19, as it was set up to be online from the outset. This allowed us to continue to deliver justice while courts and other tribunals had to stop and retool their processes in short order.

That most condo disputes involve parties who remain in the community before, during, and after their conflict highlights the significance of addressing them quickly. To date, Tribunal cases last an average of 32 days in Stage 1 – Negotiation, 72 days in Stage 2 – Mediation, and 90 days in Stage 3 – Adjudication hearings. The Tribunal established two key benchmarks to measure our effectiveness. We established a target to release 90% of Tribunal decisions within 30 days of the end of a hearing and to start a hearing within 10 days of moving to the adjudication stage. The purpose of these benchmarks is to promote efficient processes and to prevent backlogs. We are proud to confirm that the Tribunal has met or exceeded these benchmarks every year since its launch.

Adding to the Tribunal’s efforts, the CAO is also working to encourage informal resolution of disputes without requiring the CAT. We are increasingly encouraging those experiencing issues to try to work together to address them, viewing the Tribunal as a last resort and not a first place to go to address a dispute.

While this article presented a unique opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments, we are also aware that no administrative tribunal would exist if everyone was happy, and there are always areas to improve. With that in mind, while we welcomed the chance to look back on eight years of the CAT and all that has been accomplished, we look forward to continuing to respond to ongoing challenges and opportunities.

Marc Bhalla, Vice President, Policy, Programs & Dispute Resolution and Deputy Registrar Condominium Authority of Ontario

Ian Darling, Chair, Condominium Authority Tribunal