When Greg Gillis opened a notice from the insurance provider of his Fredericton condominium last spring, he was shocked by what he saw. 

The cost of insurance for the 10-condo building had skyrocketed to $22,000 a year — a $12,000 jump.

Gillis is the condo board president at York House in Fredericton, built in 1893 and converted to condominiums in 2012.

The building on York Street, near George Street, used to be the city’s high school, and is listed on Canada’s Historic Places. For that reason, one insurer Gillis checked with wouldn’t touch the building. 

“This is a modern building,” he said, “If you walk around inside, there’s nothing in here apart from the 11-foot ceilings that would tell you you are in a building that was designed in 1891 and built 1893.” 

Gillis said the board takes care of any repairs that are needed. 

“When we started [in 2013], our insurance was in the order of 3,500 bucks a year, went up a little bit a few years later to about $5,000 and then another few years later went up to $10,000. And suddenly last year we were informed it was going up to $22,000.

“So we investigated to see what kind of opportunities we had to get a better insurance price.”

Gillis believes insurers are confusing the building’s position on Canada’s Historic Places with a building that has a heritage designation, which York House lacks.

“It’s not the same thing, but that’s not making a difference to them,” he said.

According to the Condominium Act, a condo building must have insurance. The board looks after the insurance and the members pay the board for it. Members also insure their own units. 

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