Overcrowding in Condominium (as featured in Condo Business Magazine, Fall 2025 Issue)

Ontario’s housing crisis is creeping into the walls of Condominiums across Ontario. We all know there is a lack of affordable housing and that it is contributing to homelessness and social inequality, but what other issues are there that are stemming from this lack of affordability?

There is one issue that doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of traction. If you work in the Condominium and/or residential world you are likely well aware. OVERCROWDING.

Professionals in the condominium and residential sectors are encountering this issue more and more. Not only is overcrowding hard to address, it is also extremely difficult to resolve, especially when governing documents offer little clarity. Many corporations have declarations, bylaws and/or rules that reference unit occupancy by a “single family”, however do not define what ‘family” actually means. This vagueness leads to complications with enforcement.

Condominium buildings are designed with certain assumptions in mind. A two-bedroom unit, for example, is meant to house two to four people – not ten! Everything within the building, from plumbing and HVAC to elevators and garbage rooms/chutes, is planned around these occupancy assumptions. When units become overcrowded, the effects spread quickly beyond the four walls of the unit.

More people means more garbage. Waste collection is usually always tied to condominium/common element fees so an increase in garbage will most certainly impact the owners in that the budget for waste collection will be insufficient. The cost of which will fall on all owners.

Inside the unit, overcrowding often leads to mattresses on the floor, cramped living conditions and poor upkeep. This, in turn, can trigger pest issues such as cockroaches and bed bugs. Once this happens the spread to other units and the common elements is inevitable. Another problem that is also hard to prove and both costly and difficult to fix.

Overcrowding also strains the building itself. Elevators, garage doors, plumbing and HVAC systems wear out faster. Residents end up dealing with higher maintenance costs, more frequent maintenance repairs and/or breakdowns, and inconvenience like long wait times for elevators and gym equipment. Excess noise can also be an issue with overcrowding which can cause tension with neighbours and a general decline in quality of life – or as we say in the Condominium world “Owners and occupants are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their units and common elements, free from nuisance or unreasonable disturbance”.

Another difficult challenge with overcrowding is governance. Even when a unit is clearly overcrowded, managers face significant barriers. Boards and managers can request names of occupants, vehicle info and emergency contact information, but are limited by what residents disclose. Under section 83 of the Condominium Act, 1998 (the Act), “all owners must notify management within ten days of signing a lease” but this doesn’t seem to carry a lot of weight unless the corporation makes a dispute under the Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) (again hard to enforce/prove).

The Ontario Human Rights Code, which takes precedent over the Act, prohibits discrimination based on family status, marital status and other protected grounds. A corporation therefore cannot ask residents to prove they are related, nor can it impose arbitrary definitions of “family”. Notice such as “no unit shall be occupied in a manner that causes unsanitary conditions or unreasonable wear on common elements” sound clear and straightforward on paper, however are next to impossible to enforce. What is “unreasonable wear” to one person may seem perfectly normal to another. Managers are left trying to balance the expectations of owners, the limits of governing documents, and the realities of human rights law.

The Ontario Building Code and Fire code establish limits tied to square footage and safety requirements but again are hard to enforce. In extremely obvious situations, Municipal property standards (by-law) can enforce when conditions become unsafe or unsanitary.

So, what can corporations do to help minimize the issue of overcrowding? They should modernize their governing documents to reference “occupants” rather than using the term ‘family”. Using this language should help, however enforcement would remain difficult. Proving the number of people residing in a unit is a nearly impossible task without infringing on human rights.

Overcrowding in Condominium units is a byproduct of Ontario’s affordable housing crisis that does not receive the attention it should. It poses tangible risk to buildings, increases the cost to owners (increased Condominium fees and/or special assessments) and creates major challenges for managers and boards to navigate. Until corporations governing documents provide clear guidance, and the bigger issue of housing affordability is tackled, Condominium corps are left balancing a fine line between protecting their communities and respecting the human rights of the people who live there.