Special assessments in a Quebec condo: who decides and how to split them

Short answer. A special assessment pays for an expense that neither the year's budget nor the contingency fund covers. The board decides on it, after consulting the general meeting of co-owners; if the work is an improvement, the meeting votes, by three quarters. Each unit pays according to its share of the common expenses, unless the declaration provides otherwise for a common portion for restricted use. Nobody is entitled to pay in instalments: the board offers it, or not. And a special assessment almost always points to a contingency fund that has fallen behind.

The bill nobody saw coming

The roofer's report arrives in May: the roof membrane is done, $48,000 of work, before winter. The contingency fund holds $12,000. That leaves $36,000, and the board meets on a Tuesday night with two questions: how much to ask of each unit, and who has the power to decide.

Both have an answer in the Civil Code, and in your declaration of co-ownership. This guide takes them in the order a board runs into them.

What a special assessment is

The Civil Code calls it a "special contribution to the common expenses". It is money asked for on top of the expenses set in the year's budget, for a cost neither that budget nor the contingency fund covers: a repair that cannot wait, a loss below the deductible, unexpected professional fees.

It is not the usual assessment, which follows the year's budget. It is not a contribution to the contingency fund either: it pays for one specific expense, not a reserve.

Who decides

The board, after consulting the meeting

The board of directors must consult the general meeting of co-owners before deciding on a special contribution (art. 1072.1 C.C.Q.). The text asks the board to consult the meeting, not to have it vote: the decision stays with the board.

In practice, a consultation is prepared like any meeting. The notice of meeting puts it on the agenda, and the file goes with it: the quotes, the contingency fund balance, the total amount and each unit's part. A co-owner who discovers the number at the meeting spends the evening disputing it; one who received it with the quotes asks questions.

The meeting, when the work is an improvement

Redoing the roof as it was is preserving the building. Adding a rooftop terrace is improving it. Work of alteration, enlargement or improvement of the common portions, and how its cost is shared, is decided at the meeting, by three quarters of the votes of the co-owners present or represented (art. 1097 C.C.Q.).

The line is not always sharp. A window that performs better than the old one, an elevator replaced by a larger model: when in doubt, put it to a vote. A decision taken by the right majority cannot be challenged on the majority.

What your declaration says

The declaration of co-ownership and the by-laws of the immovable can add their own rules: an amount above which the board has to go through the meeting, a payment deadline, an interest rate on late payments. Read them before the board meeting, not after.

How each unit's part is calculated

The basic rule: each co-owner contributes to the common expenses in proportion to the relative value of their fraction (art. 1064 C.C.Q.). That is the unit's share of the common expenses, set in the declaration of co-ownership. A special assessment follows the same rule.

One exception worth knowing. For major repairs to, and replacement of, a common portion for restricted use, such as the balconies or one building's parking, the declaration may provide a different split, for example that only the units that use it pay. If it says nothing, everyone pays according to their share.

A complete example

Back to the roof: $36,000 to raise, eight units, paid in three instalments.

Here everything comes out even, instalments included. That is not always the case: with $34,000, unit 101 would pay $4,828.00, that is $1,609.34 and then twice $1,609.33. The first instalment carries the cent that does not divide. And between units, a few cents are sometimes left over: give them to the units whose part had the largest remainder, and the total lands back on the amount decided. A table that adds up to $35,999.98 will have the whole meeting talking about two cents.

The special assessment calculator builds this table for your building, with your shares, and turns it into a PDF to attach to the notice. Nothing you enter is stored.

Paying in instalments

The Civil Code gives no co-owner the right to pay in several instalments. The board offers it when the expense allows. If the roofer wants a deposit at signing and the balance when the work is done, two or three instalments that follow those dates make sense.

Announce the dates with the amount. An instalment without a date becomes an instalment nobody pays, and the treasurer spends the fall chasing it.

The co-owner who does not pay, or who disagrees

The one who does not pay

A special assessment is a contribution to the common expenses like any other, with the same remedies. After more than thirty days in default, the syndicate can publish a legal hypothec on the fraction, by registering a notice (art. 2729 C.C.Q.). After more than three months, the co-owner loses the right to vote at meetings.

If the unit is sold, the buyer owes the common expenses due at the time of the purchase. The special assessment must therefore appear in the syndicate's certificate, the document the notary asks for when a unit is sold.

The one who disagrees

A co-owner can ask the court to annul a decision of the meeting that is biased, taken with intent to harm or in contempt of their rights, or tainted by an error in counting the votes. They have ninety days after the meeting to act (art. 1103 C.C.Q.).

The board's best defence is prepared before the meeting: quotes, the fund balance as of today, and the calculation per unit, attached to the notice. A decision whose numbers have been circulating for two weeks is rarely challenged on the numbers.

What your board can do this week

1. Pull out the declaration of co-ownership and the by-laws. Note each unit's share, and what they say about common portions for restricted use and special contributions.
2. Ask for at least two quotes, and for the contingency fund balance as of today.
3. Work out each unit's part with the calculator, and keep the PDF for the notice.
4. Decide whether you offer instalments, and on which dates.
5. Put the consultation on the agenda of the next meeting. The agenda template gives you the structure.

Next time

A special assessment rarely comes out of nowhere. It comes when the contingency fund has not kept up with the building's wear: the roof was thirty years old, and nobody had put money aside to redo it.

Since August 14, 2025, contributions to the contingency fund follow the contingency fund study, no longer a floor of 5% of the common expenses. Existing condos have until August 15, 2028 to have that study done. In the meantime, the contingency fund calculator gives an order of magnitude of what should go into it each year, and the gap with what you pay in today.

What Kohabit does

Kohabit does not issue special assessments. It calculates the budget's assessments on each unit's share, keeps the balance of each fund, and sends the notice of the meeting the board has to consult by email. For the special assessment itself, the free calculator builds the table, and you attach it to the notice.

Frequently asked questions

Can the board impose a special assessment without a vote?

Yes, when the expense is for maintaining or preserving the building: the board decides, but only after consulting the general meeting of co-owners. If the work is an improvement or an alteration, the meeting votes, by three quarters of the votes of the co-owners present or represented.

How is each unit's part calculated?

According to the unit's share of the common expenses, set in the declaration of co-ownership. For major repairs to, or replacement of, a common portion for restricted use, the declaration may provide that only the units that use it pay.

Can a co-owner insist on paying in instalments?

The Civil Code gives them no such right. The board can offer it, and should announce the dates along with the amount.

What happens if a co-owner does not pay?

The same remedies as for other common expenses: after more than thirty days in default, the syndicate can register a legal hypothec on the fraction; after more than three months, the co-owner loses the right to vote at meetings.

Does the buyer of a unit pay a special assessment already decided?

The buyer owes the common expenses due at the time of the purchase. The special assessment must therefore appear in the syndicate's certificate, and the notary settles with the parties who pays what.

Sources

• Civil Code of Québec, arts. 1054, 1064, 1069, 1072, 1072.1, 1094, 1097 and 1103 (divided co-ownership), on LégisQuébec
• Civil Code of Québec, art. 2729 (legal hypothec of the syndicate), on LégisQuébec

Text of the articles consulted on October 1, 2026.

Written by Ben, founder of Kohabit and a volunteer board member of his own condo. This article is informational and does not replace legal advice: for a specific situation, consult a notary or a lawyer practising co-ownership law.