The owner-occupied position

When the Condominium Act was last changed, a provision was added to make one of the director positions the owner-occupied position. Only the owners of the residential suites, who live in their units, can vote in this election.

The director who holds the owner-occupied position should be made known to all the owners and when this director's three year term is up, only the owners who occupy their units can vote in an election to fill this position.

Five person board
It is best for a board to have two directors up for election in one year, the two others up for election in the following year and the director holding the owner-occupied position up for re-election in the third year. That would cause less confusion.

Two elections
However, there are times when the board has to fill two or more director positions at an AGM, one of which is the owner-occupied position. Whenever this happens, there has to be two elections.

Election for the owner-occupied position
This election comes first. If there are more than one candidate running for this position, the losing candidates are then free to run in the second election.

Election for a regular director position
The second election is then held for the regular director position or positions.

Ignoring the owner-occupied position
The managers and the corporation lawyers seem to hate this position because it adds a bit of complexity to the election process. Therefore there are condos where the requirement for the owner-occupied position is ignored and all director positions are voted for by all the owners, including the owners who rent out other units that they own, absentee owners and the owners of the commercial units.

The owner residents in a condo need to be vigilant and insure that the board honours the spirit and the letter of the Act when it comes to holding elections for the owner-occupied position on the board.

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