r/CanadaHousing2

Australian "Four Corners" exposé on Strata (Condo) abuse – a must-watch for Ottawa investors/buyers
▲ 59 r/CanadaHousing2+7 crossposts

Australian "Four Corners" exposé on Strata (Condo) abuse – a must-watch for Ottawa investors/buyers

This investigation reveals systemic issues in Australia's strata industry: hidden fees, massive conflicts of interest with insurance brokers, corporate consolidation killing competition, and even regulators with undisclosed ties to the industry. They were charging owners $100+ to chase petty debts and steering insurance to sister companies at double the price.

As we push for more high-density living in Ottawa, condo buyers and investors need to be aware of these exact risks. Management fees, special assessments, and opaque procurement practices are already major headaches here. This doc is a great primer on why scrutinizing condo financials, management contracts, and insurance procurement is non-negotiable before purchasing.

Watch this, then ask your property manager the hard questions about disclosure and kickbacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdbCTFWAR5Y

Has anyone in Ottawa had similar suspicions about their condo corp or management fees?

u/Physical-Alfalfa9989 — 18 hours ago

For people in BC, do you regret voting for Eby?

I am not a political scientist and I dont want to start a political discussion. But does anyone regret voting for Eby and the NDP? I do.

At first he changed the law where government can expropriate private property to "create housing". Before, governments were only allowed to expropriate for linear developments (roads, highways, etc).

Then this DIRPA fiasco.

Now, this bailout. Call it what you want, it is by the very definition, a bailout.

*I am a bit biased as I am a firm believer of private property rights over socialism.*

reddit.com
u/arch_your_back — 9 days ago

The Housing Culling: The Trojan Horse and the Sleeper Cells

You feel it when you walk down the street. The ground feels wrong. You work harder than your father did and have less to show for it. You look at the housing prices and tell yourself it's just a bubble or that the government is incompetent. You are wrong. No accident. No oversight. Culling.

We bent the knee. We moved from the Age of Faith to the Age of Control. We swapped our old spirit for a new religion called Secular Humanism.

This is the doctrine of the liberals and the self appointed divine classes, which I call the elites who believe they can engineer society from above. Look at Quebec. They were the experiment. They purged the old faith from the public square to make room for the new State religion first. The globalists are waging an ultimate war against the races who built the West, using White Guilt as the weapon to beat west into submission.

The housing crisis is a Trojan Horse. This is the delivery mechanism for a war that has been raging for twelve thousand years. Look at the war in Ukraine. Look beyond the borders. Every new wave of displacement feeds the next. The elites in Europe are keeping that war burning in a holding pen, waiting for the political winds to shift. When they do, the floodgates open. The chaos serves a purpose. Weaponization follows every step. They are exporting the displacement to break the backs of Western nations.

They are doing the same thing in Canada. They are bussing and flying people into our small towns across the West, not as neighbours, but as a workforce with no roots in the communities they enter, as Sleeper Cells. They are buying up homes/hotels and motels, installing a rootless workforce while we sleep. These people have zero loyalty to our history. They have zero connection to the soil. They are totally dependent on the State. They are the perfect livestock for the Farm the elites are building. Watch what people choose when pressure rises. Many reach for authority before liberty.

Why aren't we stopping it? Because they paralyzed us. They injected a bio weapon into our minds called White Guilt. They turned our survival instinct into a sin. They redefined morality so that protecting your own home is hate, and protecting your own culture is discrimination. They framed the invasion as a virtue, and you fell for it. They are oppressing the very races who built this civilization, using our own empathy as a weapon against us.

You have to understand the deep truth. Twelve thousand years ago, humanity split. One group built walls. They built the first cities. They wanted Order. They wanted to turn the world into a farm where everyone is a docile servant. The other group stayed in the wild. We are the descendants of the Steppe and the Ice. We carry the blood of the Hunter. We value freedom over safety. We remember the cold wind.

The liberals, the divine classes, the bureaucrats? They are the Farmers. They cannot control the Hunter. The Hunter cannot be farmed. So, they decided to replace the Hunter. They are diluting your blood, your culture, and your history with a globalized underclass that will never ask questions. They are using debt and demographics to price you out of existence.

This is where you learn.

Every time I push against this, I hit a wall. That wall teaches you. If you don't push, you don't learn. If you don't learn, you stay in your shield. You have to be willing to be banned. You have to be willing to be told you are wrong. You have to be willing to fight through it. Because this is the world you are in. You are fighting a system that is not yours by DNA. It is an ancient, foreign machine designed to domesticate you.

The Trojan Horse is already inside the gates. The engine is running. The pain you feel in the housing market is the squeeze of the trap.

Never think they will fix it or they made a mistake. They are doing exactly what they planned. The only way out is to realize that the rules they gave you were meant to break you.

Push the wall.

Break the shield.

Wake up.

reddit.com
u/JayThaSavage90 — 9 days ago

Doesn't Carney understand economics ? Adding money to the buy side and bailing out industry versus adding more supply and helping... consumers !

Government getting involved with business really irks me these days. Every funding announcement is for a big company like GM or VW or a big mining play. And then we wonder why small business isn't doing better in Canada.

Doesn't Carney understand supply/demand economics ?

First off, if Carney bails out the developers he just became the buyer of a product at a higher than market price. Developers will make money because of that, getting rewarded for building over priced condos.

Secondly, bailing out the developers doesn't create any new housing. That housing is already built ! All it does is make the government of Canada a landlord which I also don't think is good idea, instead of building up the housing supply.

Thirdly, market pricing is set by the intersection of supply and demand, no matter what market we are talking about. If Carney adds money to the supply side it drives up the price of real estate. Just like removing sales tax, giving buyers low interest loans. Those programs never work because they throw money at a fixed supply, driving the price up higher, making things less affordable.

What Carney should do is this:

  1. Don't give the developers any money. Let them sell at a loss. This will drive down the baseline price for condos in Vancouver.

  2. Get a condo project approved.

  3. Give money to buyers to purchase from the approved condo project.

This is better because:

  1. doesn't reward the developers

  2. keeps the government out of the landlord business

  3. works directly with people, not with big organizations

  4. increases the SUPPLY of housing

reddit.com
u/yycTechGuy — 10 days ago

PSA: The federal government is running a public survey on 2027-2029 Immigration Levels. It closes June 30th.

Like a lot of you, I've been incredibly frustrated by the housing crisis, wage suppression, and the sheer volume of temporary residents over the last few years. We see endless posts and rage-bait about it every single day across Reddit and social media, but arguing in the comments doesn't actually change policy.

Right now, the federal government (IRCC) is running their official public consultation to set the Immigration Levels Plan for 2027-2029. It’s not getting much mainstream media coverage, and the social media algorithms definitely aren't pushing it because dry government surveys don't generate ad revenue.

But this is the actual data the minister uses to justify their targets to the massive corporations asking for more cheap labor.

If we don't fill this out, they will just point to a lack of public pushback to keep the caps high.

It takes less than 5 minutes. Tell them the infrastructure is maxed out, we need hard caps on temporary visas, and we need to prioritize housing.

Here is the link to the official Canada.ca survey. It closes on June 30th.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/consultations/2026-consultations-immigration-levels.html

Upvote or share it so people actually see it before the deadline.

reddit.com
u/Wack0Wizard — 10 days ago

I have to do something

Okay, I have expressed my opinions several times, and complained several times. And, well I am frustrated. Frustrated with the current situation within government at all levels Federal, Provincial and Municipal.

I would like to make my own political run, and I think I am actually being serious. If Doug Ford can be an MPP then the bar is pretty low.

Here would be my political points

Housing. We need to get housing under control. I would create and attempt to pass a bill into legislation that would:

  1. Limit foreign buyers to commercial land ownership only. Any residential dwellings would be off limits unless it is a personal residence. The residence would not be allowed to use as a temporary rental or permanent rental. It is for the commercial land owner only, and they must own commercial land to be able to have 1 residential dwelling.

  2. Limit large corporations from having a monopoly on multi unit dwellings. Single family homes would no longer be allowed to be owned by large corporations, investment firms or hedge fund holdings. Limit the corporations who do own and lease properties to amounts they may charge for rentals and leases. This would be based on size, location, condition and upkeep. If it is a dump they would only be able to charge dump prices, unless of course they fixed it up and maintained it then they could apply to charge more rent, however, they would need to meet strict criteria to do so.

  3. Set up a provincial mortgage guarantee program much like a student loan program. Anyone that wants to get a mortgage would qualify, they would be given a 25 year mortgage and the amount would be based on what they could financially afford to pay off in 25 years. There would be 5 year refinancing options for maintenance and upgrades. If the mortgagee did not pay they would be treated as such the property would be foreclosed on and the home would be sold to someone else within the program. Everyone would qualify, even those on fixed incomes.

  4. Provide companies grants and options to build homes, based on need and within a budget. Not luxury mansions, the people that can afford those can go through traditional lending.

  5. Provide funding to commercial entities that want to process lumber and building materials here in Canada without any outsourcing. All wood, metal and minerals required would be sourced in Canada only. They would also be given tax incentives to hire Canadian entry level workers to train them.

  6. Provide tax incentives to builders who use the commercial entities to procure their building materials. Along with tax incentives to hire and train apprentices for trades in plumbing, HVAC, and construction.

  7. Provide tax incentives to commercial rental holdings to build or aquire rental units for students and low income households. Requiring them to have housing options that do not include sharing small units with multiple roomates. Repair and maintain those units.

Homelessness

The biggest and most visible issue with homelessness is drug addiction and mental illness. I know that not all homeless people are drug addicts and mental ill people but a majority are. So,

  1. Provide funding to hospitals to open exsisting mental health beds that have been closed due to a lack of funding. For every bed the hospital opens for that purpose there would be additional funding.

  2. Begin large scale construction of long term care facilities for those that are deemed unable to reintergrate back into society. Built on a care home model, with addiction and recovery services available to all patients and clients. Build based on a legitimate count of all that would need a long term care bed and keep building until there were enough ltc beds for them. Additionally add independent living suites on site for those that need supervision but do not require constant care.

  3. Those that are homeless simply because they were priced out of the rental market or had employment issues would be either be set up with the mortgage program and linked to a property company that is getting tax incentives for providing housing without 3 credit checks and reference letters for your 3rd grade math teacher.

Employment

Employer match up system. John is an apprentice plumber. ABC terlits needs a plumber, so they post on Employer Match up. John is registered and it matches him up with ABC. They meet online via microsoft teams, and John seems like a good fit. The only issue is, John lives in Hamilton and ABC terlits is in Sudbury. The employer would be given a grant to relocate John to Hamilton and train him for a minimum of 1 year. If they successfully complete that goal then they do not have to repay the grant, if they do not they will not be able to get another grant until the previous grant has been repaid in full. The employer fulfils a role at next to no cost to them and the employee has a job being trained in a trade.

International stutudents would not be able to work at all until the student unemployment rate was at less than 5%. At 5% they would be able to work 10 hours per week. Employers would be required to show they could not get anyone else to work that position in order to hire an international student.

PGWP would be a conditional work permit in that it is for training in a field they studied while in Canada. PGWP would not be allowed at entry level jobs such as retail, fast food, or beverage outlets.

Any deviation from the work permit program would be an automatic revoke of the permit and the person would be asked to provide a plan to leave Canada within 90 days. If they do not provide the plan to leave Canada within 10 days they will be deported. Upon approval of said plan they will have to provide proof of activity on that action plan otherwise they will be detained and summarily deported. If a person is deported and they own assets in Canada, those assests would be sold and any funds collected would first be used to repay the Canadian government for any and all fees associated with the deportation and the remaining funds would be sent to the deportee.

Companies who come to Canada and create more than 10 jobs for Canadians will be given tax relief. The tax relief will increase based on the amount of employees they have. Any outsourcing would be heavily taxed. LMIA, TFW, IMP workers would be heavily taxed as well. As these permits and compliance cost money and therefore the company must compensate the government for those services. LMIA applications will only be accepted if the employer has used the Employer Match up service for at least 1 year, has hired 1 person and that was unsuccessful. IMP would strictly be a short term set up period of 3 to 6 months to train Canadian citizens.

Infastructure

Hospitals would be given funding based on a Quality Assurance system. If your hospital is horrible, high death tolls, waiting times more than 4 hours you would get the lowest amount of funding. If your hospital is doing well and you have happy patients then you get the highest amount of funding. Hospital admin staffing, CEO's and the like would be pay capped at 15% below the lowest paid front line worker. Front line workers would be Nurses, PSW, Doctors, Technicians and Maintenance staff. The administrative caps would be based on the QA score as well. If you are not doing a good job and your hospital is failing its patients then you should not get a huge pay bonus etc..... improve and you will make more money.

Create a medical program that is inclusive to ALL. Premed would be at a cost to the student, but once the student began medical studies this would be free. This includes degrees in nursing as well. The doctors would be required to work for an assigned hospital based on years of education. They would pick from a list of available postings and contract to be there for the time they were educated. There would be no limit on how many could enroll, if you want to enroll and you have the premed education then welcome, no matter your color, race, creed, or origin. These schools would be facilitated at all government funded hospitals. They would learn there, have classrooms and exams there and be fully intergrated into the hospital team.

Place walk in clinics within the hospital. Patients requiring emergency medical care would be seen asap. Anyone triaged that do not require emergency care would be sent to the walk in clinic. The walk in clinic could be staffed by the very students from the medical programs.

Create a community run Quality Assurance and Complaince board for each hospital, police and fire service in that community. This would be a volunteer board that would provide peers from all branches of the community to review and make recommendations to the service that they are reviewing.

This is not a perfect plan and it is only a start.

To be honest I am very seriously thinking about a go fund me something something to get the funds together to run. We cant just keep complaining we need to do something.

reddit.com
u/andreacanadian — 12 days ago
▲ 107 r/CanadaHousing2+4 crossposts

PSA: Beware of New Condos with Oppressive “Shared Facilities Agreements” – New Claridge Homes condos in Ottawa, Ontario impacted

TL;DR: Claridge Homes forced new condo owners at Claridge Moon (and likely Claridge Royale) into oppressive Shared Facilities Agreements (SFAs) that were signed before the condo corporation was turned over to owners. The agreements are incomplete, unclear, and one-sided. The Moon condo board filed a court application to terminate the SFA, but has done nothing to move the issue forward in court. If you’re looking at a new Claridge build, RUN unless you’ve reviewed the SFA with a lawyer – and even then, think twice.

---

The backstory

I’m a unit owner at Claridge Moon – the 27-storey tower at 340 Queen St. The legal trap I discovered after moving in is unreal.

Claridge Homes (through their declarant, Claridge Homes (Moon) Inc.) controlled our condo board before turnover (that’s normal for new builds). But during that pre-turnover period, they quietly signed a Shared Facilities Agreement between our condo corporation (OCSCC No. 1106) and other Claridge entities – specifically:

  • Claridge Homes (Albert) Inc.
  • Claridge Homes (Albert) Limited Partnership

This agreement was registered on February 12, 2024 – before owners had any say. It gives Claridge-related businesses rights over our property (access, easements, shared costs) and binds us to cost-sharing terms that are frankly unreasonable and oppressive.

---

What’s actually wrong with the SFA? (from the court filing)

Our condo corporation filed a Notice of Application with the Ontario Superior Court on May 12, 2025. You can read the key allegations yourself, but here’s the summary:

“The provisions of the Shared Facilities Agreement are incomplete, unclear, unreasonable, and oppressive to OCSCC 1106 and its owners.”

Also – the Disclosure Statement given to buyers (under Section 72 of the Condominium Actfailed to clearly or adequately disclose the SFA’s terms. So most of us had no idea what we were walking into.

---

Why this should worry prospective buyers

If you buy at Claridge Moon or Claridge Royale (which appears to have a similar structure), you could be inheriting:

  • Unclear cost-sharing obligations – You might be paying for facilities or services on Claridge’s property (or vice versa) with no fair formula.
  • Perpetual easements/access rights – Claridge entities can use your condo’s land or amenities, and you have little control.
  • No ability to renegotiate without going to court – Because the SFA was signed before owners had a board, it’s heavily skewed in Claridge’s favor.

---

What the court application is asking for

From the filing:

An Order that the Shared Facilities Agreement… be terminated and replaced with a new agreement that is reasonably acceptable to the parties.

If the judge agrees, it’s a win for owners. But the fact that we had to go to court at all – less than a year after turnover – tells you everything about how Claridge does business.

---

My advice to anyone looking at buying new Condo builds in Ontario

  1. Ask for the Shared Facilities Agreement (if one exists) BEFORE you sign a purchase agreement. If the sales office says “it’s standard” or “it’s not ready yet” – walk away.
  2. Hire a lawyer to review any mutual use agreement. Do not rely on the disclosure statement alone.
  3. Check if the SFA was signed before turnover – that’s a huge red flag. It means owners had no say.
  4. Look for Section 113 applications on the court registry to determine if the condo corporation has challenged the SFA after turn-over from the developer.
  5. Consider other builders who don’t need to trap owners in oppressive agreements to make their numbers work.

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Current status

The Notice of Application was issued May 12, 2025. Despite this, the Moon BOD has taken no action to bring this application to a hearing. Without any further action on this court action, we may be stuck with an oppressive SFA for years, maybe even decades.

---

Final thoughts:

Had I known about this SFA nonsense before closing, I would have walked. Don’t make my mistake.

Ask questions. Demand documents. And if the developer's salesperson says “don’t worry about the Shared Facilities Agreement” – worry a lot.

Happy to answer questions in the comments. And if you own a unit at the Claridge Royale condo in Ottawa and are seeing the same thing, contact me so we can compare notes.

Archived Web Link to Court Application:

https://archive.org/details/2025-05-12-issued-notice-of-application

u/Physical-Alfalfa9989 — 14 days ago