In Reverse – Navigating the CAT – Experiences, Thoughts and Concerns

The CCI Eastern Ontario Condo Contact Magazine features industry professionals' experiences, thoughts, and concerns regarding the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) in its Volume 33 issue. Overall, the CAT process is seen as satisfactory, offering quicker and less expensive dispute resolutions compared to the court system. Navigating the CAT process is found to be relatively straightforward, but some improvements could be made in terms of website navigation and providing clearer guidelines for different stages of the process.

Issues raised include concerns about fairness, particularly for condominium board members or managers who may not have the same resources as owners or lawyers to prepare and respond to cases. The requirement to provide all documents, even if not relevant, and the conundrum surrounding record requests are also highlighted as issues.

Suggestions to make the CAT process easier include better guidance on non-core records, standard forms/formatting, reducing unnecessary information uploads, and providing clearer information on reasonable fees and employment record restrictions. Additionally, more detailed courses or materials on navigating the CAT process effectively and efficiently would be beneficial.