‘A condominium corporation is not required to wait until an accident, fire or property loss occurs before acting to address a reasonably perceived risk’
A Toronto condo board has the power to prohibit residents from keeping e-bikes inside their own units as part of a sweeping ban aimed at addressing fire safety concerns, Ontario’s condominium tribunal has ruled.
The Condominium Authority Tribunal upheld a rule enacted by an East York condo building that prohibits e-bikes and several other forms of electric transportation anywhere on the property.
The rule prohibits residents from storing the devices in their units, parking spaces and lockers or bringing them through the building’s lobby, corridors, stairwells and elevators. Charging the devices anywhere on the property is also prohibited.
The Sept. 9 tribunal decision comes amid growing concern over battery fires in Toronto, where Toronto Fire Services (TFS) has recorded 100 lithium-ion battery fires so far this year — a 43 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
One person has died and 14 people have been injured in those incidents, according to figures provided to TorontoToday by TFS earlier this week.
The tribunal hearing involved Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 2587, a building located on Vanderhoof Avenue.
The no e-bike rule rule took effect on Dec. 20, 2025, after residents were notified of the proposed change a month earlier.
It was challenged by unit owner Michael Hinton in a case advanced on his behalf by resident Tristan Mendoza, who owned an e-bike and had used it as his primary means of transportation for more than a year.
Mendoza argued the blanket prohibition was unreasonable because it failed to distinguish between different types of batteries, safety characteristics or individual circumstances.
His e-bike used a sealed lead-acid battery and its original manufacturer’s charger, neither of which had been modified, according to the decision.
Mendoza also said the bike had been stored and used at the property for about 15 months without a safety incident. He offered to provide technical information about the battery and make the e-bike available for inspection.
Tribunal member Neha Chugh acknowledged that different e-bikes and battery technologies may present different levels or types of risk, but found that did not make the condo’s blanket prohibition unreasonable.
Chugh also rejected the argument that the condo needed expert evidence demonstrating Mendoza’s particular e-bike presented a fire risk.
“The issue before me is not whether TSCC 2587 has established, through scientific evidence, that Mr. Mendoza’s particular e-bike will cause a fire,” Chugh wrote.
Instead, Chugh said the question was whether the board’s decision to address the perceived safety risk through a uniform prohibition was clearly unreasonable.
“I find that it is not,” she wrote.
The tribunal found the blanket rule provided the condo with a clear and consistently enforceable approach rather than requiring management to assess individual e-bikes, batteries and charging equipment.
“The purpose of a safety rule is preventative,” Chugh wrote. “A condominium corporation is not required to wait until an accident, fire or property loss occurs before acting to address a reasonably perceived risk.”
The ruling comes after a series of lithium-ion battery fires in Toronto over the summer.
Earlier this month, two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after an e-bike battery caught fire in a laneway near St. Clair Avenue West and Bathurst Street.
In August, Toronto firefighters responded to a string of incidents involving the batteries, including three lithium-ion battery fires within a 24-hour period, one of which was a two-alarm blaze at a George Street Toronto Community Housing building that injured four people.
Four people, including two children, were also hospitalized after an August fire at a St. James Town apartment where an e-bike and lithium-ion batteries were found. TFS said the batteries were compromised and contributed to the fire, though it could not confirm they were the source of ignition.
Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop has warned that fires involving lithium-ion batteries can spread extremely quickly, leaving occupants significantly less time to escape.
The tribunal also found the condo reasonably enforced the rule against Mendoza. However, Chugh found Mendoza had not acted unreasonably or in bad faith by challenging it.
The condo sought its legal and enforcement costs, but the tribunal declined to award them, finding Mendoza had raised a legitimate question about the reasonableness of the blanket prohibition.
Each side was ordered to bear its own costs.
Graeme Macpherson, a lawyer representing the condo corporation in the tribunal proceedings, declined to comment when contacted by TorontoToday.
TorontoToday also reached out to Mendoza for comment but did not receive a response before publication.