A status certificate in Ontario is a legal document that gives buyers a detailed snapshot of a condominium corporation's financial, legal, and operational health. It's required reading before any resale condo purchase — and it's one of the most important pieces of due diligence in the process.
Under the Ontario Condominium Act, 1998, every condo corporation must provide a status certificate within 10 calendar days of a written request. The regulated cost is a maximum of $100, inclusive of HST. Expedited delivery — within one to five business days — is available from most management companies for an additional fee, typically ranging from $150 to $500 depending on the turnaround.
The certificate itself is actually a package of documents. It includes the corporation's most recent financial statements, the reserve fund study, a summary of the current reserve fund balance, the declaration, bylaws, and rules of the building. It also discloses any pending litigation the corporation is involved in, the insurance certificate, current monthly common expenses for the unit, and whether the unit owner has any outstanding balances or liens. If a special assessment has been approved or is anticipated, that will appear here as well.
Anyone can request one — a buyer, their agent, or their lawyer — though in Toronto it's typically the buyer's side that initiates the order. The real value comes from having a real estate lawyer review the full package. They'll flag issues like an underfunded reserve fund, upcoming special assessments, high litigation exposure, or restrictive rules that could affect how you use the unit. Legal review fees generally run between $150 and $500, often bundled with closing costs if you're using the same lawyer for the transaction.
A status certificate won't tell you everything about a building, but it reveals the things that matter most to your wallet and your legal exposure. Skipping it — or skipping the lawyer review — is one of the most common and most avoidable mistakes in condo buying.