Condo fees are out of control. Here's how buyers can keep them in check

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Here's how buyers can keep them in checkRobert McLister: Whatever the reasons, condo fees only go in one directionLast updated 24 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Skyline in Vancouver, B.C., October 15, 2025. Photo by Arlen Redekop / Postmedia staff photoMost people buy a condo because the sticker price is friendlier than that of a detached home.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorWhat some tend to gloss over is the cost and fallout of condo fees, called strata fees in some parts of the country.Condo fees are out of control.They grew at a compound annual rate of 8.6 per cent from 2010 to 2023 — which is the latest available Statistics Canada data I could find.Inflation during that same stretch was only 2.34 per cent, according to the Bank of Canada.SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: FP West: Energy Insider brings you behind the oilpatch’s closed doors with exclusive insights from insiders every Wednesday morning.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of FP West: Energy Insider will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe escalating cost of condo fees across Canada is partly attributable to a structural correction following years of underfunded building reserves and artificially suppressed monthly budgets.But condo boards also point fingers at climbing costs for insurance, utilities, labour and materials, amenities and tighter reserve-fund legislation.Occassionally, however, the board spends your money like it’s a dare, just to see how much they can waste before you say something.Whatever the reasons, fees only go one direction, and if they climb too fast they won’t just dent your monthly budget and shrink what a bank will lend you; they can drag down your condo’s resale value.As a loose rule, condo fees can average 75 to 85 cents per square foot in many markets, Property.ca’s Brendon Cowans recently told the Canadian Press. Call it $800 a month on a 1,000-square-foot unit.It starts with your approval. You have to convince a lender that you can make all your housing-related payments.Unless you’re getting a pure equity mortgage, say from a non-prime lender, the underwriter compares your monthly obligations against your income.That ratio usually needs to land at 39 to 44 per cent or lower, depending on which calculation applies.Condo fees add to your obligations, though lenders only include 50 per cent of them when calculating your debt ratios.By the way, they use 50 per cent as a rule of thumb, since condo fees include expenses that a freehold owner pays directly, such as utilities and maintenance.So if you buy a condo with an $800 fee, $400 of it will be added to your expenses (on paper).If you make $100,000 a year and are buying with the minimum down payment and a 30-year amortization, for example, that $400 slashes the home price you can afford by almost 13 per cent (nearly $59,000)!With the majority of first-time buyers pushing the limits of what they qualify for, 13 per cent is often the difference between the home you want and the home you can afford.A condo listed at the same price as a house carries an extra recurring obligation that lenders hold against you.Most people leave that out of the math when sizing up what they can afford.Heck, even the top-ranked mortgage qualifying calculator on Google, built by our government’s Financial Consumer Agency, somehow forgets to include condo fees.(Side note: Apparently, FCAC didn’t go out of their way to get sufficient feedback from mortgage professionals when designing this calculator, given that every federally regulated lender in the country has to factor in condo fees when applicable.)The point is, condo fees are paid for the life of ownership and always rise over time, typically outpacing inflation. And that’s on top of the special assessments that inevitably arrive unannounced to ambush condo owners.And if you’re trying to save a few bucks each month, note that low fees can be as worrying as high ones, especially in older buildings. That’s because they often signal an underfunded reserve, meaning the building isn’t collecting enough to cover future repairs.Conversely, a higher fee with strong reserves may beat a low fee that’s masking deferred maintenance.What you want to do, especially if you don’t have a baller budget, is comb through the condo documents like a forensic accountant (e.g., the Status Certificate in Ontario, Form B in British Columbia and Estoppel Certificate in Alberta, plus up-to-date reserve studies, budgets, board minutes and so on).And don’t simply outsource the reading to someone else and hope for the best.At a minimum, pump digital copies of these documents through a few AI chatbots to surface red flags, then send your realtor off to chase down the answers. Pending litigation, planned fee hikes and other landmines are often just waiting to be found.And finally, when shopping for a pre-approval on a concrete box in the sky, build in a conservative condo fee from the start. It’s remarkable how many people on tight budgets walk away with generic mortgage pre-qualifications that include either no condo fees or far too little.Robert McLister is a mortgage strategist, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news. You can follow him on X at @RobMcLister.For the best national insured and uninsured mortgage rates, updated daily, please visit our mortgage rate page here. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.