Most condo corporations collect monthly dues by pre-authorized debit (PAD) rather than chasing 60 or 100 individual e-transfers every month. That convenience comes with real obligations under Payments Canada's Rule H1 — the national rulebook every PAD in Canada is processed under, whether the payee is a bank, a billing company, or a condo corporation.
A signed authorization comes first
A PAD can only be issued once the payor — the owner, in this case — has entered into a Payor's PAD Agreement authorizing it. That agreement has to specify the practical details Rule H1 requires: whether the PAD is a fixed or variable amount, its frequency, and how the payor can amend or cancel it.
10 calendar days' notice before the first debit
Before an owner's very first PAD is processed, the corporation (as payee) must provide a Confirmation of the agreement's key terms at least 10 calendar days before the due date of that first debit.
"...the Payee must, at least 10 calendar days before the due date of the first PAD, provide or make available to the Payor, a Confirmation (which may be in the form of a Written copy of the Payor's PAD Agreement or a summary of the key terms of that agreement...)."
Payments Canada, Rule H1 (2026), s. 16(a)
An owner can authorize waiving or shortening that 10-day window — but if they do, the corporation still has to provide the Confirmation within 5 calendar days after the first PAD is debited. There's no version of the rule where an owner's first PAD goes through with no confirmation at all.
10 days' notice before any change, for recurring PADs
Condo fees usually recur at a set interval — monthly, typically. Rule H1 has a separate requirement for exactly that case: any change in the amount of a fixed-amount PAD, or any change to the payment date, requires pre-notification to the owner at least 10 calendar days before it takes effect.
"...where a Payor's PAD Agreement provides for Personal PADs or Business PADs recurring at Set Intervals, the Payee or Member Payee must provide or make available Pre-notification specifying the amount and date of the next PAD at least 10 calendar days before... each and any change in the amount of a fixed amount PAD... and of any change to the payment date(s)."
Payments Canada, Rule H1 (2026), s. 17
This is exactly the situation a board hits every year at budget approval time — this year's approved budget raises monthly dues, and every owner on PAD needs 10 calendar days' notice before that new amount is actually debited, not just a mention at the AGM months earlier.
An owner's right to cancel
An owner can instruct the corporation to stop issuing PADs at any time. Once they do, Rule H1 requires the corporation to use best efforts to cancel it in the very next processing cycle, and in any case to stop issuing new PADs within 30 calendar days of the notice.
"...where the Payor instructs the Payee to cease issuing PADs, or otherwise revokes the Payor's PAD Agreement or an Authorization to issue PADs, the Payee must... use best efforts to cancel the PAD in the next business, billing or processing cycle; [and] within not more than 30 calendar days from the notice, cease to issue any new PADs against that Payor."
Payments Canada, Rule H1 (2026), s. 30(a)
If the owner's own PAD agreement sets a cancellation period shorter than 30 days, that shorter period applies instead. A corporation can't quietly lean on the 30-day maximum if its own agreement promised owners something faster.
Cancelling a PAD authorization stops future debits — it doesn't cancel the underlying obligation to pay condo fees. Rule H1's own model cancellation notice says exactly that: "this cancellation does not terminate any other obligation" the owner has to the corporation. An owner who cancels PAD still owes dues; they just have to pay some other way going forward.
Where this shows up in practice
Every one of these rules turns into a real operational step for whoever runs a condo's PAD collection: sending the right confirmation before a new owner's first debit, sending 10 days' notice before a board-approved fee increase actually hits anyone's account, and processing a cancellation request within the required window instead of it falling through the cracks of a shared inbox.
PAD collection, run on the real rules
Confirmation, pre-notification, and cancellation — handled per owner
M&M's platform runs PAD collection batches per property, tracks confirmations and NSF follow-ups per unit, and keeps the Unit Payment Ledger as the single source of truth for what each owner has actually authorized.
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