Condominiums Are an Economic Engine for Ontario

The last 7-10 years has shown a dramatic increase in the number of condominiums in the Province of Ontario. It does not take any scientific data to realize how many cranes there are in the Province of Ontario, the City of Toronto has even surpassed some of the major US cities in terms of construction projects.

What does this mean in terms of where we go as an economy in Ontario? Ontario historically relied on manufacturing and more refining the service sector. However, with the rise in the costs of labour, the overall costs of manufacturing in the province has gone up, which means that manufacturing has been on the steady decline for the last two decades. So, condominiums represent a great opportunity for the Ontario economy. We are transitioning into being a service province not a manufacturing industry. This may or may not be good in the long run. But today it is valuable for all of us because it allows us to create more jobs domestically.

As we have always said a condominium is a micro government economy, it is a macro view of the world on multiple levels, on policy levels, on political levels and on a business level on a microscale. From my discussion with property managers in the industry, the following are the types of industries that are engaged by condominiums:

• HVAC specialists for the cooling towers and the heating;
• Plumbing experts for the vertical risers in buildings and the underground piping;
• Electricians for the purposes of installing and managing electrical distribution systems in condominiums;
• Cable service providers;
• Concierge services both in person and on-line;
• Security systems, cameras and DVR’s installations and servicing;
• Security personnel to manage our gatehouses, our front desks and our grounds;
• Elevator specialists, people who know elevators and can keep them running and functioning;
• Designers;
• Contractors to do drywall and constructional repairs;
• Engineers to help us understand our capital cost replacement obligations as well as to manage projects such as garage rectifications and membranes;
• Lawyers, who provide us with insight into the legal obligations and responsibilities of condominium corporations;
• Pool specialists;
• Lifeguards;
• Cleaning staff;
• Painters;
• Carpet cleaners;
• Mat service companies;
• Window cleaning services;
• Roof specialists;
• Gardeners and landscape architects;
• Related industries and services; technology and manufacturing (perhaps not domestically)

The list could possibly be endless.

While ideally it would be great if this was supplemented with domestic production, this is a positive economic direction in the Ontario and Canadian economy. Given the depression that this country and other countries around the world have been plummeted into thanks to greed, economic incompetency, war/terrorism, environmental abuse, and greed (did I say that already), it is up to us to support our own growth strategy.

Accordingly, I would congratulate every single condominium owner for putting the Ontario and Canadian economic engines to work by living in a condominium. I would also like to acknowledge all the people who dedicate their services, their skills and their resources to making condominiums work. I have great admiration for those management companies and managers who ethically and with integrity source excellent service providers that provide value for money.

All of the information contained in this article is of a general nature for informational purposes only, and is not intended to represent the definitive opinion of the firm of Elia Associates on any particular matter. Although every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is accurate and up-to-date, the reader should not act upon it without obtaining appropriate professional advice and assistance.

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