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Get My Free Estimate →A fee per square foot is only comparable between two buildings once you know what each fee includes. Heat, water, hydro, cable and central air are included in some buildings and not others, and that single difference reverses the ranking more often than any other factor. Under s. 84(1) of the Condominium Act, 1998 owners contribute in the proportions set by the declaration — not necessarily by area. A fee that is low relative to comparable buildings is a question rather than a feature: it can mean the reserve fund is being underfunded. The four documents that settle it are the status certificate (10 days, maximum $100 including tax), the current budget and the board’s s. 94(8) funding plan (both core records, free electronically), and the reserve fund study (not a core record).
“Building A is $0.72 a square foot and Building B is $0.61, so B is cheaper.” That comparison is worthless roughly half the time, and this page explains why — then sets out the method I use, so that when I do publish fee data you can check my working.
What a maintenance fee legally is
Under s. 84(1) of the Condominium Act, 1998, owners “shall contribute to the common expenses in the proportions specified in the declaration.” Not by square footage necessarily — by whatever proportion the declaration sets. Two units of identical size in the same building can carry different contributions if the declaration says so.
Section 84(3) closes the obvious escape routes: an owner is not exempt because they have waived the right to use the common elements, because they are suing the corporation, or because the rules restrict their use of the common elements. And under s. 85(1), unpaid common expenses give the corporation a lien against the unit for the amount, interest, and reasonable legal costs.
Why the per-square-foot number lies
Four reasons, in rough order of how much damage they do.
1. What the fee includes is not standard
| Commonly included in some buildings and not others | Effect on the headline number |
|---|---|
| Heat | Large. A building that includes heat looks expensive against one that does not. |
| Water | Moderate. |
| Hydro / electricity | Very large where included. Bulk-metered older buildings often include it. |
| Building insurance | Always in the fee. Not a differentiator, but the deductible is — and it has risen sharply. |
| Cable or internet | Moderate. Bulk agreements are common in newer towers. |
| Central air conditioning | Varies. |
Before comparing two fees, find out what each one covers. A $0.72 fee including heat and hydro is often cheaper in total cost than a $0.61 fee that includes neither. This single check reverses the ranking more often than any other factor.
2. Amenities cost money to run, permanently
A pool, a gym, a concierge desk staffed 24 hours, a party room, guest suites and a car wash all carry staffing, utilities and maintenance every month forever. None of that is a defect. But a building with a full amenity package and a low fee per square foot is telling you something, and what it is usually telling you is point four.
3. Age and the repair curve
Building envelopes, elevators, garage membranes, boilers and roofs have finite lives. A twelve-year-old building is generally at the bottom of its cost curve; a thirty-five-year-old one is generally at the top, unless the major work has been done and paid for. Comparing a 2016 tower to a 1989 tower on fee alone compares two different points on the same curve.
4. A low fee can mean an underfunded reserve
This is the important one. A corporation can hold the fee down by contributing less to the reserve fund than the study recommends. The fee looks attractive, and the cost arrives later as a special assessment or a steep increase. A fee that is low relative to comparable buildings is a question, not a feature. The answer is in the reserve fund study and the board’s funding plan — see the separate page on reading those.
The four documents that answer the question properly
| Document | What it tells you | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Status certificate | The current fee, any increase the board has declared since the budget, any assessment levied, the reserve fund balance, and — the most useful line in it — any circumstances known to the corporation that may result in an increase. | Section 76. The corporation must provide it within 10 days and may charge no more than $100 including all taxes. |
| Current budget | What the fee is actually spent on, line by line. | A core record under O. Reg. 48/01. Free if delivered electronically. |
| The board’s funding plan under s. 94(8) | Whether the board adopted the study’s recommended plan, and if not, how it differs. | Also a core record. Free electronically. |
| Reserve fund study | The condition of every major component and what it will cost. | A record under s. 55(1) para 7, but not a core record — slower track, and chargeable at up to 20 cents a page. |
That last distinction catches people out. The budget and the funding plan are free and quick. The study itself is neither. Ask for all four, and ask early enough that your lawyer can read them.
The method I use, published so you can check it
I maintain a directory of Etobicoke condominium buildings. I intend to publish fee-per-square-foot data from it on a quarterly basis. Here is the standard I am holding myself to, stated in advance rather than afterwards:
- Source. Fees are taken from verified sources for a specific unit — a status certificate, a condominium corporation document, or a transacted listing record — never from a marketing page and never from a general estimate.
- Normalisation. Fees are reported both as charged and adjusted for inclusions, with the inclusions stated. A building that includes hydro is not compared like-for-like against one that does not.
- Exclusion, not estimation. Where a building’s fee or its inclusions cannot be verified, the building is excluded and the number of exclusions is published alongside the sample. I will not interpolate, smooth, or carry forward a stale figure to make a table look complete.
- Sample size and date. Every release states the number of buildings in the sample, the number excluded, and the “as at” date.
- Median, not mean. Reported as medians by building age band and by corridor, because a handful of very high or very low fees distort an average.
- Corrections. If a figure is wrong, the correction is published on the page with the date, rather than the number being quietly changed.
No fee figures on this page yet, deliberately. I am not going to publish a table of per-square-foot medians until the underlying fees have been verified building by building against the sources above. Every Etobicoke fee statistic you can find online today traces back to aggregated listing data of unknown provenance, and I would rather publish nothing than publish that. The first release will state its sample size and its exclusions on the face of it.
What to actually ask about a specific unit
- What is the monthly fee, and what does it include? Get the list, not a summary.
- What has the fee been for each of the last three years?
- When was the last reserve fund study, and what class was it — comprehensive, updated with a site inspection, or updated without one?
- Did the board adopt the study’s recommended funding plan? If not, how does its plan differ?
- Has any assessment been levied since the date of the current budget?
- What does the status certificate say under the “circumstances that may result in an increase” heading?
- What is the insurance deductible, and has it changed recently?
Those seven questions will tell you more than any fee-per-square-foot table ever will, including mine.
Want the verified fee history for a specific Etobicoke building?
Not an estimate off a listing site — the actual fee, what it includes, and what it has been over the last three years. I will pull it for any building in Etobicoke and tell you where the number is soft. It costs you nothing and there is no obligation.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
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Condo Valuation
What’s your condo
worth today?
Three quick steps. Condos don’t price like houses — your floor, your view, and whether you own parking move the number more than anything else. This weighs all of them.
Reading recent condo sales…
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely $0 · about $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from what comparable units in your area sell for, here’s what your specifics added or subtracted.
Market context
—
—
Two units, same floor plan,
$90,000 apart.
That happens constantly in condos — one has the parking, the right exposure, or a board that keeps the reserve fund healthy. A model can’t see your status certificate. I can.
Frequently asked questions
Why do two similar Etobicoke condos have very different maintenance fees?
Most often because they include different things. Heat, water, hydro, cable and central air are included in some buildings and not others, and a fee that includes hydro can look expensive while being cheaper in total. Beyond that: amenity load, building age and where the building sits on its repair curve, and how much the corporation contributes to its reserve fund.
Is a low maintenance fee a good sign?
Not by itself. A corporation can hold the fee down by contributing less to the reserve fund than the study recommends, which moves the cost into a future special assessment or a steep increase. A fee that is low relative to comparable buildings is a question to investigate in the reserve fund study and the board’s funding plan.
Are maintenance fees always charged by square footage?
No. Section 84(1) of the Condominium Act, 1998 requires owners to contribute to common expenses in the proportions specified in the declaration. Those proportions are often related to unit size but they do not have to be, and the declaration governs.
How do I get a condo’s budget and reserve fund study?
The current budget and the board’s current funding plan under s. 94(8) are core records under O. Reg. 48/01, and there is no fee if the corporation delivers them electronically. The reserve fund study itself is a record under s. 55(1) but is not a core record, so it comes on the slower track and can be charged for, at up to 20 cents per page.
How long does a status certificate take and what does it cost?
The corporation must provide it within 10 days of the request and payment, under s. 76(3). O. Reg. 48/01 caps the fee at $100 including all applicable taxes. If the corporation misses the 10-day deadline, s. 76(5) deems it to have given a certificate stating there is no default, no declared increase and no levied reserve fund assessment.
Why does this page not publish fee figures?
Because I have not yet verified them building by building against status certificates, corporation documents or transacted records. Published Etobicoke fee statistics generally trace back to aggregated listing data of unknown provenance. The method above is published in advance so that when the data is released, the sample size and the exclusions are on the face of it and can be checked.
Related reading
- Reserve funds and special assessments: reading the study, not the rumour
- Rent versus buy in Etobicoke: the arithmetic
- Etobicoke condo directory
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these, and each was read on 30 August 2026. Primary sources only — statute, regulation, and the government or agency that administers the rule. Where I could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing.
- Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19. e-Laws. Section 73 sets the ten-day rescission right; section 80 governs interim occupancy and occupancy fees; section 81 governs money held in trust. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- O. Reg. 48/01 under the Condominium Act, 1998 (General). e-Laws. Consolidation from 20 July 2026. Sections 27 to 33 govern reserve fund studies and the funding plan; s. 18 prescribes the status certificate; ss. 13.1 to 13.11 govern records requests. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Status certificates. Condominium Authority of Ontario. Confirms the 10-day production requirement and the $100 maximum fee including taxes. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Reserve funds. Condominium Authority of Ontario. Plain-language description of the study cycle and the board’s 120-day and 15-day obligations. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Condominium Authority of Ontario. The provincial authority for condominium education, the public condominium registry, and the Condominium Authority Tribunal. Accessed 30 August 2026.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Etobicoke real estate agent
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke. I write these pages the same way I work a file: read the primary source, quote it, date it, and say plainly where the source is silent or where two sources disagree. If a figure on this page has no citation beside it, that is a mistake and I want to hear about it.
I work with buyers, sellers, renters and investors across Etobicoke, Mimico, Humber Bay Shores, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood and Stonegate–Queensway. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.