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Get My Free Estimate →Your condominium corporation must insure the units and the common elements against a statutory list of “major perils” (s. 99(1) and 99(2)) — but not improvements made to a unit (s. 99(4)). What counts as an improvement is decided by your building’s standard unit definition, which lives in a by-law under cl. 56(1)(h) or, if there is none, in the developer’s original schedule under cl. 43(5)(h). Separately, if you, your tenant or anyone living in your unit with your permission causes damage “through an act or omission”, s. 105(2) lets the corporation add the lesser of the repair cost and its deductible to the common expenses for your unit — no negligence required. CAO says those deductibles run from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. The coverage that answers this is loss assessment / deductible coverage on your own policy, and s. 105(4) confirms the exposure is an insurable interest. Get your building’s certificate of insurance and its standard unit by-law before you close.
There are two insurance policies on your condominium and most owners have never read either one. The corporation carries one. You are supposed to carry the other. The line between them is not drawn where people assume it is, it is not the same in every building, and the gap between them is where a five-figure bill arrives.
This page sets out exactly where the statute draws that line, quoting it, and then shows you how to find where your building draws it — because on the single most expensive question, the Condominium Act deliberately hands the answer to your corporation rather than deciding it for you.
What the corporation must insure
Section 99(1) of the Condominium Act, 1998 is short and it is the foundation of everything else:
“The corporation shall obtain and maintain insurance, on its own behalf and on behalf of the owners, for damage to the units and common elements that is caused by major perils or the other perils that the declaration or the by-laws specify.”
Read that again: the units, not merely the common elements. The corporation’s policy reaches inside your front door. This is the first thing people get wrong — they assume the master policy stops at the corridor.
“Major perils” is not left to interpretation. Section 99(2) defines it as a closed list:
“the perils of fire, lightning, smoke, windstorm, hail, explosion, water escape, strikes, riots or civil commotion, impact by aircraft or vehicles, vandalism or malicious acts.”
Water escape is on that list, which matters enormously, because water is what actually damages Toronto condominiums. Your declaration or by-laws may add perils beyond the statutory minimum. They cannot subtract.
Section 99(3) closes a loophole worth knowing about: an exclusion in the required insurance is not effective against damage resulting from faulty or improper material, workmanship or design that would otherwise be insured. A corporation cannot buy its way out of construction-defect damage through policy wording.
The four words that shift the cost to you
Section 99(4):
“The obligation to insure under subsection (1) does not include insurance for damage to improvements made to a unit.”
So the corporation insures your unit — but not your improvements. Which raises the only question that actually matters: what counts as an improvement?
The Act does not answer it. It routes the question. Section 99(5) says the answer is “determined by reference to a standard unit for the class of unit to which the unit belongs.” And section 99(6) says the standard unit is:
| Where the definition lives | When it applies |
|---|---|
| A by-law made under clause 56(1)(h) | Whenever the board has passed one. This is the usual case in an established building. |
| The schedule described in clause 43(5)(h) — the declarant’s original schedule | Only where the board has not passed a standard unit by-law. This is the fallback, and it is the developer’s own definition, written at registration. |
Clause 43(5)(h) describes that original schedule as one “setting out what constitutes a standard unit for each class of unit that the declarant specifies for the purpose of determining the responsibility for repairing improvements after damage and insuring them.”
This is the whole ballgame, and it is building-specific. Two identical units in two Etobicoke towers can have completely different answers to “is my flooring insured by the corporation?” — because one corporation passed a standard unit by-law that includes flooring and the other did not. There is no province-wide answer. Anyone who tells you there is has not read s. 99(6).
In practice a standard unit definition tends to cover things fixed in place at original construction — wall and ceiling finishes, original flooring, cabinetry, plumbing fixtures, interior doors — and to exclude what you added afterwards and what you can carry out with you. But tends to is not a standard. Yours is a document, and you can read it.
The deductible chargeback: how a $27,000 bill lands on one owner
Section 99(7) allows the corporation’s policy to carry “a reasonable deductible.” Section 105 then decides who pays it.
The default rule, s. 105(1): the portion of a loss excluded by the deductible “shall be a common expense.” Everybody shares it through fees.
The exception, s. 105(2) — and read the standard carefully:
“If an owner, a lessee of an owner or a person residing in the owner’s unit with the permission or knowledge of the owner through an act or omission causes damage to the owner’s unit, the amount that is the lesser of the cost of repairing the damage and the deductible limit of the insurance policy obtained by the corporation shall be added to the common expenses payable for the owner’s unit.”
Three things in that sentence deserve attention.
1. There is no negligence requirement
The trigger is “an act or omission”. Not a negligent act. Not a careless one. If your dishwasher hose fails while you are at work and you did nothing wrong, the chargeback provision can still reach you. This is close to strict liability and it surprises almost everyone.
2. The base provision covers damage to your own unit
Read it again: “causes damage to the owner’s unit.” The statutory default does not, on its own words, charge you for damage your water did to the three units below you.
3. But s. 105(3) lets the corporation extend it — and most do
“The corporation may pass a by-law to extend the circumstances in subsection (2) under which an amount shall be added to the common expenses payable for an owner’s unit if the damage to the unit was not caused by an act or omission of the corporation or its directors, officers, agents or employees.”
So the answer to “am I on the hook for the units below me?” is: look for the deductible by-law. If your corporation passed one, you probably are. If it did not, the statutory default is narrower than the industry folklore suggests.
Section 105(4) is the provision your broker needs to hear about: the amount payable by an owner under s. 105 or under a s. 105(3) by-law “constitutes an insurable interest of the owner”. That is the statutory basis for the deductible-coverage endorsement on your own policy. It is insurable because the Act says it is.
How big can the deductible be? The Condominium Authority of Ontario says corporation deductibles “can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands” and offers, as its own illustration, an Etobicoke case involving a $27,000 insurance bill charged to an owner. CAO does not name the case, so treat that as the regulator’s example rather than a citable decision.
I am not going to publish a “typical Ontario condo deductible” figure. I looked for one. Every number on offer came from broker marketing, not from a regulator, an insurer’s filed data or a published dataset. The honest answer is CAO’s: hundreds to tens of thousands, and the only figure that matters is the one on your building’s certificate of insurance. Ask for it.
Why the deductibles keep climbing
This is not your board being difficult. It is arithmetic arriving from outside.
| Figure | Value | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Insured losses from severe weather, Canada, 2024 | Over $8.5 billion — the worst year in Canadian history at the time, roughly 273,000 claims, 188 per cent above the historic average | Insurance Bureau of Canada, 6 February 2025 |
| Two 2024 Toronto flood events | Over $1 billion combined | IBC, 6 February 2025 |
| Insured losses from severe weather, 2025 | Over $2.4 billion — the tenth costliest year on record | IBC, 20 January 2026 |
| Decade comparison, inflation-adjusted | 2006–2015: $14 billion. 2016–2025: $37 billion | IBC, 20 January 2026 |
| Toronto residential construction costs since 2017 | +114 per cent | IBC, 6 February 2025 |
| Canadian residential construction costs, five years | +67 per cent, against 18 per cent general inflation | IBC, 6 February 2025 |
That last pair is the one that explains your building. A condominium policy insures replacement cost under s. 99(7). When the cost to rebuild in Toronto more than doubles in eight years, the insured value more than doubles, and premiums and deductibles follow it. Boards raise the deductible because the alternative is a premium the budget cannot absorb — which is a decision to move risk from the corporation onto individual owners, whether or not it was framed that way at the AGM.
What your own policy actually has to do
A unit owner’s policy is doing five separate jobs. Most people buy it thinking about one.
| Coverage | What it is for | Why it is easy to get wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Betterments and improvements | Everything in your unit outside the standard unit definition — the renovation, the upgraded flooring, the new kitchen | The limit should be set against what your building’s standard unit by-law actually excludes, not against a round number your broker suggested. |
| Contents | Furniture, clothing, electronics, everything you would carry out | Straightforward, and the part everyone remembers. |
| Personal liability | Claims by others for harm you caused | In a stacked building your downstairs neighbour is the likeliest claimant you will ever have. |
| Loss assessment / deductible coverage | The s. 105 chargeback, and special assessments levied to fund an uninsured loss | This is the one people skip. It is the coverage that answers the $27,000 bill. Match its limit to your corporation’s actual deductible — which means knowing the number. |
| Additional living expenses | Hotel, meals and moving costs while the unit is uninhabitable | Water damage in a concrete building routinely means months, not days. |
If you rent your condo out: the asymmetry nobody explains
Put the two standards side by side. This is the part I would want an investor client to read twice.
| Corporation → you | You → your tenant | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing provision | Condominium Act s. 105(2), plus any s. 105(3) by-law | Residential Tenancies Act s. 34 and s. 89 |
| The standard | “through an act or omission” | “wilful or negligent conduct” causing “undue damage” |
| Who is caught | The owner, a lessee of the owner, or a person residing in the unit with the owner’s permission or knowledge | The tenant, another occupant, or a person the tenant permitted in the complex |
| What it takes | The damage happened | You prove fault, at a hearing |
| Where it lands | Added to the common expenses payable for your unit — enforceable like unpaid fees | An order from the Landlord and Tenant Board, which you then have to collect |
The Residential Tenancies Act, s. 34, is exact about it: “The tenant is responsible for the repair of undue damage to the rental unit or residential complex caused by the wilful or negligent conduct of the tenant, another occupant of the rental unit or a person permitted in the residential complex by the tenant.” Section 89(1) is the mechanism — a landlord “may apply to the Board for an order requiring a tenant or former tenant to pay reasonable costs” on the same wilful-or-negligent standard.
So the exposure is not symmetric. Your corporation can charge you the deductible because a hose failed. To pass that cost to your tenant you must prove they were wilful or negligent, and that the damage was undue, at a Board hearing, and then collect. On a burst supply line where nobody was careless, that recovery does not exist. The deductible is yours.
What actually bridges the gap: adequate loss-assessment coverage on your own landlord policy, and a lease clause requiring the tenant to carry and maintain tenant insurance. CAO is clear that tenant insurance is not required by either the Condominium Act or the Residential Tenancies Act, but that a landlord may require it in the tenancy agreement, and that the corporation’s governing documents may require it too. Check both before you draft.
Two obligations condo landlords miss, both from s. 83: within 10 days of entering a lease you must notify the corporation and provide a copy or summary of the tenancy agreement along with the tenant’s name and your own address; and within 10 days of the tenancy ending you must notify the corporation in writing. Section 119 separately requires an owner to take all reasonable steps to ensure a tenant complies with the Act and the governing documents.
One more, and it is the cheapest mistake to avoid: the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s advice on renting out a property is to contact your insurer first. An owner-occupied policy is written for an owner-occupied risk. Changing the occupancy without telling the insurer is how people discover at claim time that they had no coverage at all. I am not going to describe what a landlord policy covers in detail, because I could not verify that from a regulator or the IBC — every source offering specifics was a broker selling one. Ask your own broker, in writing, about rental-income coverage, liability limits and loss assessment.
If you are the tenant
You have no interest in the building and no claim on the corporation’s policy. What you have is your own belongings and your own liability, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada puts the liability point plainly: tenants “are responsible for the harm they cause to any part of their apartment, the building and to others who live or visit there.”
A tenant policy typically covers contents, personal liability up to a limit, and additional living expenses while the unit is being repaired. In a condominium the liability side is the reason to buy it. A washing machine hose that fails on the twelfth floor can damage eleven units, and the cost of that does not scale to your rent.
Before you close: five things to demand
The status certificate is the instrument. Under s. 76 the corporation must provide it within 10 days and may charge no more than $100 including all applicable taxes. Two of the five below are express contents of it; the rest you ask for.
| What to get | Why | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| The certificate of insurance for all current policies | It names the insurer, the coverage and the limits | An express status certificate item |
| The standard unit by-law | It decides what the corporation insures inside your unit. If none exists, the declarant’s s. 43(5)(h) schedule governs — confirm which | Arrives inside the declaration, by-laws and rules bundle, which is an express status certificate item |
| Any deductible by-law under s. 105(3) | It decides whether you are exposed for damage that escapes your unit, not just damage within it | Same bundle. Read it, do not assume it exists |
| The actual deductible amounts, by peril — especially water | It sets the limit you need on your own loss-assessment coverage | Not a listed status certificate item. Ask separately; the certificate of insurance is the route |
| Disclosure of ongoing litigation | Insurance disputes and construction-defect claims show up here first | An express status certificate item |
CAO makes a point worth repeating to any buyer who thinks the status certificate is a formality: corporations “are bound by information they include or omit from certificates” and may not be allowed to collect fee increases they failed to properly disclose. The document has teeth. Read it, and have your lawyer read it.
Seven things people get wrong
| The belief | What the Act actually says |
|---|---|
| “The corporation’s policy stops at my front door.” | Section 99(1) insures “the units and common elements”. It reaches inside. |
| “My condo fees include my insurance, so I do not need my own.” | They include the corporation’s policy, which excludes your improvements (s. 99(4)), all your contents, your personal liability, and the deductible chargeback (s. 105). |
| “A standard unit means the same thing in every building.” | Section 99(6) hands the definition to a by-law under cl. 56(1)(h), or failing that the declarant’s schedule under cl. 43(5)(h). It is building-specific by design. |
| “They can only charge me the deductible if I was negligent.” | Section 105(2) says “through an act or omission”. Negligence is not the trigger. |
| “I am automatically liable for the units below me.” | The s. 105(2) default addresses damage “to the owner’s unit”. Extending it requires a by-law under s. 105(3). Check whether yours has one. |
| “My tenant will have to pay the deductible.” | Only if you establish wilful or negligent conduct causing undue damage under RTA s. 34, at the Board, and then collect. The corporation faces no such burden against you. |
| “Faulty construction is excluded, so nothing is covered.” | Section 99(3) makes such an exclusion ineffective against damage that would otherwise be insured. |
Buying a condo in Etobicoke and want the insurance position checked before you waive conditions?
Send me the status certificate. I will tell you whether the corporation has a standard unit by-law, whether it has a s. 105(3) deductible by-law, and what the certificate of insurance shows — so you can set your own coverage against the real number instead of a guess. No obligation and no cost.
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.
Free tool — AI condo value estimator
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
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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
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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
Does my condo corporation insure my flooring?
It depends entirely on your building. Section 99(4) says the corporation does not insure improvements made to a unit, and s. 99(5) says whether something is an improvement is decided by reference to the standard unit for your class of unit. If your corporation passed a standard unit by-law under clause 56(1)(h) that includes original flooring, then original flooring is insured and your upgrade is not. If it passed no by-law, the developer’s schedule under clause 43(5)(h) governs. There is no province-wide answer to this question.
Can I be charged the corporation’s deductible even if I did nothing wrong?
Yes. Section 105(2) is triggered by an owner, a lessee of the owner, or a person residing in the unit with the owner’s permission or knowledge causing damage “through an act or omission”. It does not require negligence. If a supply line fails while you are out, the provision can still apply. This is why loss assessment or deductible coverage on your own policy matters, and s. 105(4) expressly makes that amount an insurable interest of the owner.
Am I responsible for water damage my unit caused to the units below?
Not automatically under the statutory default. Section 105(2) as written addresses damage “to the owner’s unit”. However, s. 105(3) lets the corporation pass a by-law extending the chargeback to other circumstances where the damage was not caused by the corporation or its directors, officers, agents or employees, and many corporations have done exactly that. Find out whether yours has one. Separately, ordinary liability law can still reach you where you were at fault.
How large are condo insurance deductibles in Ontario?
The Condominium Authority of Ontario states they can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands, and gives an Etobicoke example of a $27,000 insurance bill charged to an owner. There is no published, authoritative dataset of Ontario condo deductibles, so any specific “typical” figure you see should be treated with suspicion. The only figure that matters is the one on your own building’s certificate of insurance.
Why have condo insurance costs risen so sharply?
Replacement cost and claims experience. The Insurance Bureau of Canada reports Toronto residential construction costs up 114 per cent since 2017, insured severe-weather losses of over $8.5 billion nationally in 2024 including more than $1 billion from two Toronto flood events, and over $2.4 billion in 2025. Section 99(7) requires the corporation’s policy to cover replacement cost, so when rebuilding costs double the insured value follows, and premiums and deductibles follow that.
Is my tenant required to have insurance?
Not by law. The Condominium Authority of Ontario states that tenants are not required to have tenant insurance under the Condominium Act or the Residential Tenancies Act, but that a landlord can include the requirement in the tenancy agreement, and the corporation’s governing documents may require it. If you rent out a condo, put it in the lease and check the governing documents.
Can I recover the deductible from my tenant?
Only on a higher standard than the one used against you. Residential Tenancies Act s. 34 makes a tenant responsible for undue damage caused by wilful or negligent conduct, and s. 89(1) lets you apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for reasonable repair costs on that basis. So you must prove fault and that the damage was undue, then collect on the order. The corporation faces no equivalent burden when it charges you under s. 105(2). Plan for the gap rather than assuming it closes.
What should I ask for before closing on a condo?
Five things: the certificate of insurance for all current policies, the standard unit by-law (or confirmation that the declarant’s schedule governs), any deductible by-law passed under s. 105(3), the actual deductible amounts by peril with water called out specifically, and the disclosure of ongoing litigation. The first, second and fifth are express contents of the status certificate under s. 76, which the corporation must provide within 10 days for no more than $100 including taxes. The deductible amounts are not a listed item, so ask separately.
Does the corporation’s policy cover damage from bad construction?
Where the damage would otherwise be insured, yes. Section 99(3) provides that an exclusion in the required insurance “is not effective with respect to damage resulting from faulty or improper material, workmanship or design that would be insured, but for the exclusion”. That does not make the corporation’s policy a construction warranty, and Tarion coverage is a separate question, but the policy cannot exclude the resulting damage.
Related reading
- Reserve funds and special assessments: reading a condominium’s finances before you buy
- What a status certificate actually tells you before you buy a condo
- Comparing Etobicoke maintenance fees: why the per-square-foot number usually lies
- The Queensway, Etobicoke: the reference guide to the corridor
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 — s. 99, property insurance. e-Laws official consolidation. Section 99 read in full on 30 August 2026: subsections (1) to (7), including the definition of “major perils” in s. 99(2) and the exclusion of unit improvements in s. 99(4). Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Condominium Act, 1998 — s. 105, deductible. e-Laws official consolidation. Section 105 read in full on 30 August 2026: subsections (1) to (4), including the “act or omission” chargeback in s. 105(2) and the extending by-law power in s. 105(3). Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Insurance — Condominium Authority of Ontario. CAO consumer guidance on what the corporation insures and what the owner must insure. No publication date shown on the page. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- What does condo insurance cover? — CAO knowledge base. CAO. States that corporation deductibles “can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands” and gives an Etobicoke illustration of a $27,000 insurance bill charged to an owner. No publication date shown. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- By-laws — Condominium Authority of Ontario. CAO. Lists “definitions of a standard unit for repair and insurance purposes” as a by-law topic, and states that most by-laws require approval of owners representing a majority of the units. No publication date shown. 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.
- Leasing a condo — Condominium Authority of Ontario. CAO. Sets out the s. 83 ten-day notice obligations on a condo landlord and states that tenants may be required to carry contents insurance by the tenancy agreement or the governing documents. No publication date shown. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Condo Landlords’ Guide (PDF). Condominium Authority of Ontario, April 2024. States that tenant insurance is not required by the Condominium Act or the Residential Tenancies Act but that landlords may require it in the tenancy agreement. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 — s. 34 and s. 89, tenant damage. e-Laws official consolidation. Section 34 makes a tenant responsible for undue damage caused by wilful or negligent conduct; s. 89 lets a landlord apply to the Board for the cost of repair. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Condominium or strata coverage — Insurance Bureau of Canada, Ontario. Insurance Bureau of Canada. Industry association consumer guidance on what a unit owner’s policy covers. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Tenant insurance — Insurance Bureau of Canada, Ontario. Insurance Bureau of Canada. States that tenants are responsible for harm they cause to their apartment, the building and others in it. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Rental properties — Insurance Bureau of Canada, Ontario. Insurance Bureau of Canada. Advises contacting your insurer before renting out a primary or secondary property. Does not describe landlord coverage in detail. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Severe weather-related insured losses in Canada exceed $2.4 billion in 2025. Insurance Bureau of Canada, 20 January 2026. Also states insured losses of $14 billion across 2006–2015 against $37 billion across 2016–2025, inflation-adjusted. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Inflationary pressures continue to create challenges for the property insurance market. Insurance Bureau of Canada, 6 February 2025. Source of the 2024 loss total of over $8.5 billion, the two 2024 Toronto flood events exceeding $1 billion combined, and the 114 per cent rise in Toronto residential construction costs since 2017. 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.