The Line Between Municipal Utilities and Condo Utilities

On August 1, 2019, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its decision in Condo Corporation No. 0410106 v Medicine Hat (City), 2019 ABCA 294. This decision drew, and possibly changed, the line between utility infrastructure owned and operated by condominium corporations and such infrastructure owned and operated by municipalities.

The Court stated that, based on the Municipal Government Act’s treatment of main lines and service connections, utility infrastructure that services any parcel of land outside of the condo plan area is the responsibility of the municipality to manage, not the condo corporation. This rule will apply regardless of whether the utility infrastructure is on private or public land, and regardless of whether the utility infrastructure meets the municipality’s standards.

There could be implications for both municipalities and condo corporations with this ruling. Extra care should be taken when considering a condo servicing strategy that involves the condo’s infrastructure providing services to any parcels of land outside of the condo plan area.

For more information, the Court’s original decision is available here: https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abca/doc/2019/2019abca294/2019abca294.pdf.