The Ontario status certificate, in plain English

The status certificate is a 34-paragraph prescribed form. Here is what the key paragraphs disclose, in plain buyer language — and which answers are worth bringing to your lawyer.

The reserve fund is the building's savings account for major repairs. Ontario's Auditor General found 69% of reviewed reserve fund studies weren't adequately funded — and the full study usually isn't in your certificate package.

CAO data: about 16% of corporations issued a special assessment between 2018 and 2023, and the 2023 average was $3,525 per voting unit. The very large cases are the tail — here is what the honest numbers look like.

Status-certificate conditions typically give you five to ten business days. Here is a calm, day-by-day way to use them — from requesting the certificate to the final conversation with your lawyer.

Paragraph 19 tells you whether the corporation is party to a court, arbitration, or tribunal proceeding. Here is what that disclosure is, what it isn't, and the questions it hands to your lawyer.

Two short paragraphs in the status certificate tell you whether the building's budget is holding. Here is how to read a disclosed deficit or a mid-year increase — and what to ask about each.

The legal review verifies encumbrances, disclosures, and compliance. Reserve-fund adequacy, in the legal profession's own words, is a question left for engineers. Knowing the boundary makes your lawyer meeting sharper.

The status certificate confirms the corporation carries insurance — but the form doesn't require the deductible amount. That number lives in an attachment, when it appears at all, and it has grown dramatically.