In Alberta, a condominium developer must hold a purchaser's deposit in trust until the buyer's title is registered, unless the deposit is covered by an approved purchaser protection plan or held as security under another enactment. Since the 2018 amendments to the Condominium Property Act and its regulation, deposits held in trust must be held by a prescribed trustee, a lawyer who is an active member of the Law Society of Alberta, and must be forwarded to that trust account within three business days of receipt. For an operations team, that turns every deposit into a dated, trackable event per unit.
This is an operational summary for developer teams, not legal advice. Your lawyer determines how the rules apply to your project and agreements.
Key takeaways
- Section 14 of the Condominium Property Act creates a statutory trust over money paid by a purchaser until title is in the purchaser's name.
- Deposits held in trust must go to a prescribed trustee (a Law Society of Alberta lawyer) within three business days of the developer receiving them.
- The lawyer must notify the buyer, within ten days of receipt, that the deposit is held in trust.
- Deposits covered by a purchaser protection plan approved by the Minister, or held as security under another enactment, are not required to be held in the trust account.
- The operational risk is timing and evidence: knowing, for every unit, when each deposit arrived, where it went, and when the buyer was notified.
What does the Condominium Property Act require for deposits?
The rules came into force in stages, on January 1, 2018 and April 1, 2018, and were designed to protect condo buyers from developers who fail to complete a project (Gowling WLG summary). In practical terms:
- Trust. Money paid by a purchaser is held in trust until title to the unit is in the purchaser's name, as the purchase agreement contemplates.
- Prescribed trustee. The trust must be held by a prescribed trustee, which in practice means the developer's lawyer.
- Three business days. The developer must forward a deposit to the lawyer's trust account within three business days of receiving it.
- Buyer notice. The lawyer must notify the buyer, within ten days of receiving the money, that it is held in trust.
- Alternatives. A deposit covered by an approved purchaser protection plan, for example deposit protection offered through certain new home warranty providers, does not have to be held in the trust account (Norton Rose Fulbright).
The regulation also sets disclosure requirements for new condo sales. Your lawyer will confirm the current text of the Condominium Property Regulation.
Why do deposit records break down?
Condo deposit schedules usually have several instalments over a long build, often from buyers paying by different methods and sometimes from abroad. Common failure points:
- A deposit arrives at the sales centre and is not logged the same day, so the three-business-day clock is unclear.
- The ERP shows the payment, but the sales file still shows it as missing, and the buyer is chased for money already paid.
- An instalment is late and nobody follows up until the next statement.
- A buyer asks whether their deposit is protected, and the answer depends on which mechanism applies to the project.
How to track condo deposits per unit
Give every deposit a small, dated record:
| Field | Source of truth |
|---|---|
| Instalment and due date | Purchase agreement and ERP payment schedule |
| Date received and method | Finance or ERP |
| Date forwarded to the trustee | Finance, confirmed by the lawyer |
| Trust or protection plan applied | Project setup, confirmed by the lawyer |
| Date buyer notified | Lawyer |
| Reconciliation status | ERP |
Then run two simple checks every day: deposits received but not yet forwarded, with how many business days remain, and upcoming instalments in the next two weeks that need an approved reminder. See payment follow-up and ERP reconciliation.
Which deposit exceptions need human review?
Route these to finance and the lawyer, not to an automated reply:
- A deposit received with no matching unit or buyer
- A deposit approaching the three-business-day limit without confirmation of transfer
- A buyer asking whether their deposit is protected, or by what mechanism
- Payments from a third party or from an unexpected account (see FINTRAC obligations for Alberta builders)
- Requests to change, defer, or refund a deposit
Where Asterisko fits
Asterisko reads payment schedules and receipts from the ERP, which stays the source of truth, and keeps each deposit attached to the right buyer and unit. It sends approved reminders before instalments are due, flags deposits that have not been confirmed as forwarded, and escalates discrepancies to finance. It does not hold funds, act as trustee, or tell a buyer how their deposit is protected; those answers come from your finance team and lawyer.
Explore the payment-operations workflow or read how to automate payment follow-ups without replacing the ERP.
Sources
- Gowling WLG, Summary of amendments to Alberta condo legislation
- Norton Rose Fulbright, Alberta's new condominium laws: a greater administrative burden for developers
- Real Estate Council of Alberta, Condominium Property Regulation (PDF)
