Condo & ownership
Condo common expenses, move-in charges and special assessments
By Bo Yu, Broker, Right at Home Realty, Brokerage · Verified/updated August 2026
Common expense fees are your monthly share of running the corporation: maintenance of the common elements, insurance on the building, management, utilities that aren't separately metered, and — critically — contributions to the reserve fund for major repairs.
A special assessment is a one-time extra charge levied when the reserve fund can't cover something: a roof, a garage membrane, a window replacement, a lawsuit. It is not routine, but it is not rare either, and it is the single largest financial risk in condo ownership.
There are also small administrative charges buyers rarely hear about until move-in day: elevator booking fees, move-in fees, key fob and parking transfer charges.
- Who charges it
- The condominium corporation, through its board and management company.
- Who normally pays
- The unit owner.
- When it's paid
- Monthly by pre-authorized debit from closing onward, with the first partial month adjusted on the statement of adjustments; assessments are billed as the board determines.
- Cash or financed
- Ongoing cost, not financeable. Lenders count the fees against your qualifying ratios.
- Typical range
- $0.55–$0.90 per square foot per month in most Ottawa buildings
How it's calculated — and why it varies
Fees are set by the corporation's annual budget and allocated among units by the percentage in the declaration — usually roughly proportional to unit size. They change with the budget each year.
- Ottawa low-rise condo townhome: often $250–$450 a month.
- Downtown high-rise with concierge, pool and gym: often $600–$900 a month for a two-bedroom.
- Some buildings include heat, water and hydro in the fee; some include none of it. Compare fee levels only after checking what's inside them.
- Move-in and elevator booking charges: commonly $100–$300, one time.
- Special assessments: anything from a few hundred dollars to five figures per unit, allocated the same way as the monthly fees.
Exemptions, refunds and when it doesn't apply
- Freehold homes have none of this — but they also have no reserve fund, so major repairs come out of your own savings.
- A low fee is not automatically good news; it can mean an underfunded reserve and a future assessment.
- The reserve fund study in the status certificate is the best available signal of assessment risk — read it before you go firm.
- Special assessments generally cannot be financed into your mortgage after closing without refinancing.
A real Ottawa example
A 780 sq ft condo in Little Italy with $560 monthly common expenses, closing on the 18th: the statement of adjustments credits the seller for the 13 days already paid — about $235 — and the buyer's own payments start the following month.
The same building levies a $6,400-per-unit special assessment two years later for garage waterproofing. The reserve fund study in the status certificate had flagged the garage as due for work. That is why the review matters.
How this shows up in the calculator
Enter your monthly condo fees in the calculator and they appear in the monthly-cost panel and in your qualifying picture, plus a status-certificate row in closing costs. The calculator deliberately does not predict special assessments — nobody can — so treat them as a risk to investigate, not a line to estimate.
Open the calculatorOfficial sources — verified/updated August 2026
Rules and rates change. These are the first-party pages this one was checked against; confirm anything that matters to your purchase directly with them.
Every figure on this page is a planning estimate for general information only, based on the assumptions shown, and are not legal, tax, mortgage or financial advice or an offer of credit. Actual rates, payments, taxes, fees and values vary — confirm the numbers with your lender, lawyer or accountant before relying on them. Full disclosures.
This page is general information about how a cost works in Ontario, not legal, tax, mortgage or accounting advice, and not a quote. Your lawyer, lender and accountant confirm what actually applies to your purchase.
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