Definition : Dog

Me Yves Joli-Cœur et la notaire émérite Me Christine Gagnon, étaient interviewés dans le cadre de l’émission télévisée La facture de Radio-Canada.  Un débat a cours entre de nouveaux copropriétaires et un syndicat, quant à la présence de leurs deux chiens. Lors de la prise de possession de leur condo, en janvier 2020, le responsable du syndicat de copropriété leur annonce que les animaux sont interdits dans l’immeuble. Or, la déclaration de copropriété prévoyait exactement le contraire. Il appert qu’un règlement interdisant la présence d’animaux avait été adopté par le syndicat, sans être incorporé à la déclaration.

For the respect and tranquility of all the occupants of our building, we wish to ban dogs. Question: Are we entitled to do so?   Answer: There is no legislation in Quebec that formally prevents a syndicate of co-owners from including in the declaration of co-ownership a clause prohibiting the possession of a dog in the building. It is one thing to prohibit such an animal inside the private portion of a co-ownership. But it is still necessary that this prohibition is consistent with the destination of the immovable.

I live on the 5th floor of an 8-storey building. The co-owner on the 7th storey uses his balcony to let the dog urinate and defecate. Unfortunately, the urine and droppings fall back on our balconies. The situation has been going on for almost two years. We sent him e-mails, but they didn’t solve anything. The syndicate has been aware of this situation for a year and a half but nothing is happening. The last few weeks the situation has worsened, because we receive several times a day drops of urine and it stains the windows and the smell is always present. I have to remove my plants and herbs from the edge of the balcony. This week I made a complaint to the City, which should send the co-owner a letter. Question: If the situation persists, I would like to know what are my rights?

While the declaration of co-ownership of my immovable allows domestic animals in the co-ownership, the board has decided at its last meeting, to which I did not even attend, that my dog was a "harmful animal" and that it was no longer allowed in the compound of the co-ownership. They thus require that I remove it from the co-ownership. Question: Does the board have such powers?