What Your Client Is Really Buying When They Buy a Condo
Ask a client what they are buying and they will describe an apartment: the rooms, the view, the parking spot. Legally, they are buying something larger. A condo in Quebec is a fraction of a building held in divided co-ownership, and with it come a share of everything the owners hold in common, a seat in the syndicate (syndicat de copropriétaires) that runs the building, and the rules and costs the syndicate has already set.
Most buyers don't see it that way, and it changes how they should read every document in the file. Explaining it is part of your duty to advise, and it is the starting point for everything else in this series.
A fraction, not an apartment
Your client will own their private portion outright: the apartment itself, with its own lot number at the land registry and its own municipal tax bill. They will also own a share of the common portions: the land, the structure, the roof, the envelope, the mechanical systems, the hallways.
That share is the unit's relative value (valeur relative), set in the declaration of co-ownership (déclaration de copropriété). It is the unit's quote-part, and it matters more than most buyers realize. It determines how many votes the unit carries at meetings, and what share of common charges and special assessments (cotisations spéciales) it pays. Two units with the same floor area can carry different relative values.
Some common portions are for restricted use: a balcony, a parking space or a storage locker that only one owner may use but that still belongs to everyone. The declaration can put the costs of these on the owners who use them.
A seat in the syndicate
Buying the fraction makes your client a member of the syndicate, the legal person made up of all the co-owners. The syndicate maintains the building, insures it, manages the contingency fund (fonds de prévoyance), and enforces the rules. Day to day, a board of directors (conseil d'administration) runs it. Major decisions are made at the meeting of co-owners, where votes are weighted by relative value.
Two consequences are worth spelling out for a client. Decisions are made by majority, so your client will be bound by votes they lose. And decisions made before they arrive come with the purchase: this year's budget, a contract signed with a contractor, a lawsuit already under way, work already approved. Those are part of what they are buying.
The rules come with it
The declaration of co-ownership is published at the land registry and has three parts. The constituting act sets out what the building is for and the relative value of each fraction. The by-laws of the building (règlement de l'immeuble) set the rules of daily life. The descriptive statement of fractions identifies each unit.
The by-laws are where clients get surprised: limits on renting, especially short-term; rules on pets; restrictions on renovations, flooring or balconies. The co-owners can change many of these rules by vote at a meeting, so the rules your client buys under may not be the ones they live under in five years.
The costs come with it
Your client will pay common charges every month, in proportion to their unit's relative value. Part of those charges goes to the contingency fund for major repairs. When the fund isn't enough, the syndicate can vote a special assessment, and your client pays their share of it. The syndicate's insurance also carries deductibles, sometimes large ones, and depending on what caused a loss, part of a deductible can end up with an owner.
None of these figures are fixed. Charges rise with costs, contributions rise when a study says the fund is short, and assessments arrive when work can't wait.
What the inspection covers, and what it doesn't
Buyers insist on an inspection, and they should. But the inspector looks at the unit, and at most the common areas around it. The rest of what your client is buying, the building's finances, its planned work, its rules and its disputes, is in the syndicate's documents: the attestation, the minutes (procès-verbaux), the financial statements, the budget, the contingency fund study (étude du fonds de prévoyance) and the declaration. Reading those is the other half of the inspection.
Our article on the syndicate's attestation covers what it contains and where it stops, and our article on the contingency fund covers how to tell whether it is sufficient.
First, make sure it's a condo
Everything above describes divided co-ownership. Some buildings sold as condos are something else: undivided co-ownership, or shares in a corporation that owns the building. The rules, the documents, the financing and the risks are different, and the protections described in this series don't apply. Check the land registry before anything else. A separate article covers both.
For your client
When you buy a condo, you're buying more than the apartment. You'll own your unit, plus a share of the building's common parts, like the roof, the structure and the land. That share, set in the declaration of co-ownership, decides your vote in the syndicate and how much you pay of the building's costs. You'll also become a member of the syndicate that runs the building, and you'll be bound by its rules and by decisions it has already made. That's why, beyond the inspection, we review the syndicate's documents: they tell us how the building is managed, what work is coming, and what it's likely to cost you.
Read the whole file, not one document.
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This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.
This article was written with the help of AI tools, then reviewed and checked against the laws, regulations and decisions it cites by the Quotepart team.