Definition : Fraction

Question: I plan to purchase the exclusive right of enjoyment of a parking space (common portions for restricted use) a few months after purchasing my apartement (parking is sold directly by the developer). Do I have to go to the notary to change my deed of purchase to indicate that parking is associated with my private portion ?

Any co-owner may have the relative value of their fraction, as well as the allocation of common expenses, revised according to certain conditions and formalities. To do so, it is necessary to proceed with an appeal to revise the relative value of the fractions. Furthermore, a co-owner may wish to modify the relative value of their fraction. Therefore, they will have to request the prior consent of the Board of directors or the general meeting of co-owners, depending on what is required. This revision or modification of the relative value has an impact on the proportionate share of the right of ownership (which the co-owners hold in the common portions), the number of votes they can cast at the meeting of co-owners and the allocation of common expenses. On this question, Article 1064 of the Civil Code of Québec stipulates that: “Each co-owner contributes to the common expenses in proportion to the relative value of his fraction.”

Divided co-ownership is a housing formula that usually has more than one owner.  In order to assess and quantify the interest of each person in the building, the legislator has provided that the right of ownership of each owner in the common portions is proportional to the relative value of his fraction.  To determine the relative  value of a unit, it must be compared with the value of all the other units of the co-ownership.  The relative value is calculated and usually expressed as a percentage or thousandths.  Its distribution is recorded in the declaration of co-ownership, (the  constituting act of the co-ownership). Finally, it should be noted that the relative value determines the voting power in the meeting of co-owners and serves in particular as a basis for calculation in the distribution of the co-owners of the common expenses.

Most often than not declarations of co-ownership (Constituting Act of co-ownership) designate the legal status of exterior parking spaces as common portions for restricted use. This is also true for indoor parkings, when the developer (declarant) decides that it is not necessary to create a specific lot number for each space. These are therefore an integral part of the lot constituting the common portions of the immovable.  

The right to vote is recognized as an essential element of any modern society, and as such, co-owners cannot be deprived of it except as provided in the law. In addition, each co-owner has, in principle, at the meeting a number of votes proportional to the relative value of his fraction. However, in certain circumstances, it is provided that the co-owner may have his right to vote suspended or reduced, by the sole effect of the law. It is important to know who may be affected by these restrictions and what the consequences are.The voting rights of the co-owners of the immovable can, in certain circumstances, be suspended or reduced. It is important to know who may be affected by these restrictions and their consequences.

In divided co-ownership, the right of ownership is divided, among the co-owners, by "fractions", each comprising a materially divided private portion (e.g. a residential unit, a parking or storage space, and sometimes even a plot of land) and a share  of the common portions. To each fraction is attached an undivided right of ownership in the common portions, and sometimes the right to use the common portions for restricted use. The fraction is the result of the division of a building to create a co-ownership. In other words, the addition of all the fractions constitutes, by the effect of the publication of a declaration of co-ownership, the co-ownership building.

Co-ownership is a collective property in which the co-owners have a right of ownership over their respective fraction: each co-owner has an undivided right to the common portions while he will have an exclusive right of ownership over his private portion. This is how you purchase an apartment in a building in divided co-ownership, you become the owner of your dwelling (private portion), but also owner of an undivided part of the building called common portion  (for example: the ground, balconies, major components such as foundations and main walls). This, taken as a whole, including the common and private portion, is designated in legalese as: a fraction.