Peel Condominium Corp. No. 505 et al. v. Cam-Valley Homes Ltd. et al., (2001) 142 O.A.C. 251 (CA)

• Judge: Finlayson, Labrosse and Weiler, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ontario)
• Case Date: March 06, 2001
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (2001), 142 O.A.C. 251 (CA)

Peel Condo. v. Cam-Valley Homes (2001), 142 O.A.C. 251 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2001] O.A.C. TBEd. MR.018

Peel Condominium Corporation No. 505 and Peel Condominium Corporation No. 447 (applicants/respondent/appellant by cross-appeal) v. Cam-Valley Homes Limited, Cam-Valley Developments Ltd. and David Feldman (respondents/appellants/respondents by cross-appeal) and Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association (intervener) and The Ontario Real Estate Lawyers' Association (intervener)

(C33234)

Indexed As: Peel Condominium Corp. No. 505 et al. v. Cam-Valley Homes Ltd. et al.

Ontario Court of Appeal

Finlayson, Labrosse and Weiler, JJ.A.

March 6, 2001.

Summary:

Cam-Valley developed a series of condominiums in different phases around a wooded valley. It was originally intended that the centre of the development would be an outdoor recreation area (ORA). Cam-Valley changed the project plans to add a 25 unit townhouse, to be built in the ORA. Two of the condominium corporations (PCC 505 and PCC 447) sought a declaration that they were the beneficial owners of the relevant lands, and ancillary orders requiring the transfer of the lands from Cam-Valley to them.

The Ontario Superior Court, in a decision reported at [1999] O.T.C. Uned. C29; 28 R.P.R.(2d) 186, permanently enjoined Cam-Valley from developing the lands for residential purposes. Cam-Valley appealed. PCC 505 cross-appealed the decision that the adjacent lands were not held in trust by Cam-Valley.

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and dismissed the cross-appeal.

Contracts - Topic 1106

Formation of contract - General principles - Duty to negotiate in good faith - [See Real Property - Topic 8830 ].

Real Property - Topic 8826

Condominiums - Developers - Rights of - Respecting common areas - [See Real Property - Topic 8830 ].

Real Property - Topic 8830

Condominiums - Developers - Fiduciary duties - Cam-Valley (CV) developed a series of condominiums - The development was to include a common outdoor recreation area (ORA) - CV changed the project plans to add a 25 unit townhouse, to be built in the ORA - Two of the condominium corporations objected - The trial judge permanently enjoined CV from developing the lands for residential purposes - CV appealed - The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal - Regarding the relationship between a purchaser and a developer, the court stated that "a prospective purchaser cannot be the fiduciary of the developer in any accepted equitable sense; otherwise the developer could not negotiate with the buyer at all ... The prospective purchaser is protected by the statutory requirement of full disclosure, not the extension of fiduciary principles to the bargaining process. After executing an agreement of purchase and sale, he or she is entitled to rely on the good faith of the developer to carry out the agreement honestly" - See paragraphs 33 to 44.

Real Property - Topic 8854

Condominiums - Purchasers - Disclosure to - Cam-Valley (CV) developed a series of condominiums - The development was to include a common outdoor recreation area (ORA) - CV changed the project plans to add a 25 unit townhouse, to be built in the ORA - Two of the condominium corporations objected - They argued, inter alia, that all the saving clauses which protected CV were "buried away" in voluminous documentation - The Ontario Court of Appeal held that "I am sure that developers of condominiums are just as frustrated at having to produce these mountains of documents as the prospective purchasers are with having to read them. However, these documents are required of developers by the Condominium Act and non-compliance with the Act usually redounds to the prejudice of the developer. The detail required in the disclosure documents is a statutory burden, not a matter of choice" - See paragraph 32.

Real Property - Topic 9010

Condominiums - Common property - Actions respecting - [See Real Property - Topic 8830 ].

Cases Noticed:

Middlesex Condominium Corp. No. 87 v. 600 Talbot Street London Ltd. et al. (1998), 107 O.A.C. 1; 37 O.R.(3d) 22 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 23, 78, footnote 4].

York Condominium Corp. No. 167 v. Newrey Holdings Ltd. (1981), 32 O.R.(2d) 458 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 25, 78].

Abdool et al. v. Somerset Place Developments of Georgetown Ltd. et al. (1992), 58 O.A.C. 176; 10 O.R.(3d) 120 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 34].

Simone v. Daley et al. (1999), 118 O.A.C. 54; 170 D.L.R.(4th) 215 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 38].

Martel Building Ltd. v. Canada (2000), 262 N.R. 285 (S.C.C.), refd to. [paras. 38, 87].

LeMesurier v. Andrus (1986), 12 O.A.C. 299; 54 O.R.(2d) 1 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 39, 95].

Mannpar Enterprises Ltd. v. Canada (1999), 121 B.C.A.C. 275; 198 W.A.C. 275; 173 D.L.R.(4th) 243 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 40].

Weiss et al. v. Schad et al., [1999] O.T.C. 228 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 40].

Hidden Valley Lakeside Condominiums Inc. et al. v. Vercaigne et al. (1997), 43 O.T.C. 321; 12 R.P.R.(3d) 227 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 67].

Hodgkinson v. Simms et al., [1994] 3 S.C.R. 377; 171 N.R. 245; 49 B.C.A.C. 1; 80 W.A.C. 1; [1994] 9 W.W.R. 609; 117 D.L.R.(4th) 161; 22 C.C.L.T.(2d) 1, refd to. [para. 82].

Freedman v. Mason, [1958] S.C.R. 483, refd to. [para. 82].

International Corona Resources Ltd. v. LAC Minerals Ltd., [1989] 2 S.C.R. 574; 101 N.R. 239; 36 O.A.C. 57; 61 D.L.R.(4th) 14; 35 E.T.R. 1; 44 B.L.R. 1, refd to. [para. 85].

Houle v. Banque Nationale du Canada, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 122; 114 N.R. 161; 35 Q.A.C. 161; 74 D.L.R.(4th) 577; 5 C.B.R.(3d) 1, refd to. [para. 94].

Banque de Montréal v. Leong, [1989] 2 S.C.R. 429; 100 N.R. 203; 26 Q.A.C. 20, refd to. [para. 94].

Banque de Montréal v. Ng - see Banque de Montréal v. Leong.

Banque Nationale du Canada v. Soucisse, Groulx and Robitaille, [1981] 2 S.C.R. 339; 43 N.R. 283, refd to. [para. 94].

Banque de Montréal et autre v. Hydro-Québec et autres, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 554; 138 N.R. 185; 48 Q.A.C. 241, refd to. [para. 94].

Banque de Montréal v. Bail Ltée - see Banque de Montréal et autre v. Hydro-Québec et autres.

Stepps Investments Ltd. v. Security Capital Corp. (1976), 14 O.R.(2d) 259 (H.C.), refd to. [para. 95, footnote 5].

Downtown King West Development Corp. v. Massey Ferguson Industries Ltd. (1996), 89 O.A.C. 373; 28 O.R.(3d) 327 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused (1996), 206 N.R. 154; 96 O.A.C. 233 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 96, footnote 6].

Wallace v. United Grain Growers Ltd., [1997] 3 S.C.R. 701; 219 N.R. 161; 123 Man.R.(2d) 1; 159 W.A.C. 1; 152 D.L.R.(4th) 1, refd to. [para. 97].

Carter v. Boehm (1766), 97 E.R. 1162, refd to. [para. 99].

Coronation Insurance Co. et al. v. Taku Air Transport Ltd. et al., [1991] 3 S.C.R. 622; 131 N.R. 241; 6 B.C.A.C. 161; 13 W.A.C. 161; [1992] 1 W.W.R. 217; [1992] I.L.R. 1-2797; 85 D.L.R.(4th) 609; 61 B.C.L.R.(2d) 41; 4 C.C.L.I.(2d) 115, refd to. [para. 99].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Chitty on Contracts (28th Ed. 1999), vol. 1, p. 604 [para. 66].

Gonthier, Charles D., Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: The Forgotten Leg of the Trilogy, or Fraternity: The Unspoken Third Pillar of Democracy (2000), 45 McGill L.J. 567, pp. 583, 584 [para. 96, footnote 6].

Counsel:

Colin P. Stevenson, for the appellants/respondents by cross-appeal;

Patricia M. Conway, for the respondent/appellant by cross-appeal, Peel Condominium Corp. No. 505;

Mark H. Arnold, for the respondent/appellant by cross-appeal, Peel Condominium Corporation No. 447;

Jonathan F. Lancaster and Harry Herskowitz, for the intervener, Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association;

Theodore B. Rotenberg and Howard D. Gerson, for the intervener, Ontario Real Estate Lawyers' Association.

This appeal was heard on October 30-31, 2000, by Finlayson, Labrosse and Weiler, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal. The decision of the court was released on March 6, 2001, and the following reasons were filed:

Finlayson, J.A. (Labrosse, J.A., concurring) - see paragraphs 1 to 49;

Weiler, J.A., concurring in the result - see paragraphs 50 to 105.