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We can now confirm that Bill 44 has been read through and proclaimed into law by the BC Legislature.  As a reminder from our previous articles on the subject, the three main changes in the Strata Property Act arising from these amendments are:

• The end of rental restrictions – the provisions in SPA which allowed for Strata Corporations to pass bylaws limiting the number of rentals within a property or setting a minimum duration for rentals have been removed.  Special note should be made that “short term accomodations” (which are not “rentals” under the law) can still be prohibited by bylaw with fines of up to $1,000/day for offenders;
• Electronic General Meetings no longer require a bylaw to be permitted- all Strata Corporations are free to hold their General Meetings via electronic means;
• Age restriction provisions have also been amended – only “55+” communities are now permitted under the Act with various provisions for caregivers.

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In our previous article, we noted that the esteemed Strata legal community had not yet weighed in on the impact of Bill 44, designed to end Rental Restrictions in BC.

We would like to take this opportunity to link you to an article from Lesperance Mendes, very astute Strata-focused lawyers here in the Lower Mainland and their commentary on the new prohibition on rental restrictions, changes to the age restriction provisions in the Strata Property Act, and an overlooked change as well: that electronic Annual/Special General Meetings will be permanently enshrined as legitimate in the SPA.  Notably, the provision in the “proposed legislation would also clarify that a voter who attends a general meeting virtually does not need to be issued a voting card and is not entitled or required to vote by secret ballot.”

As Lesperance Mendes notes, general commentary on this legislation is not to be taken as legal advice.  If your Strata Corporation has specific questions about the impacts of this legislative change, your Property Manager would be pleased to arrange a legal opinion on your behalf.

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The BC Government has announced a major change to the Strata Property Act, which if passed through new legislation, will effectively end the ability of Strata Corporations to prohibit rentals.  The proposed changes are being made as part of the Province’s efforts to address the housing affordability crisis facing British Columbia.

We at Stratawest do not take a position on this legislation- there are pros and cons to removing rental restrictions and time will tell whether or not it will lead to good outcomes. It’s also important to note that the full text of the legislation has only just been made public, has not yet been passed (so may be subject to amendment) and the BC Strata legal community has yet to weigh in on the proposed changes.

That said, our clients have incredibly diverse views on the proposed legislation with some being in favour and some being very much opposed.  There are advocacy groups in our province whose mission is to protect the public, and they are lobbying on behalf of their stakeholders.  Most notably, the Condominium Home Owners Assocation (CHOA) has announced their own position on the proposed changes and written an open letter to the legislature on the subject, advocating for them to consider the wider implications on the Strata community.

Strata Councils who wish to lobby for changes to the legislation should consider joining CHOA, an organization of which we are a member and have long supported.  You can do so by advising your Property Manager, who will arrange for membership on your behalf.

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As we wrote about recently, subsequent to last year’s devastating and tragic “heat dome”, there is growing demand for heat pumps and other air conditioning units to be installed within Strata Corporations.  These usually require some physical alterations to accommodate the associated electrical and piping requirements.

Our colleagues at Lesperance Mendes published this article which covers some of the most recent developments in this area and we take this opportunity to share it with you here.

Our advice on this subject is brief- due to the complexities involved with installations of this type of equipment and the legal implications of refusing applications to allow them, we strongly encourage Strata Councils to engage legal advice for assistance on developing a framework for the installation (or accommodation) of air conditioning devices.  More and more Owners are going to be requesting permission to install and your Strata would be well served to be prepared to review these applications and determine what accommodations can be made, especially for those most vulnerable to heat related health issues.

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We take this opportunity to link this excellent article from Vancouver Magazine, “Strata Squeeze: Could Florida’s Condo Collapse Happen in Vancouver?”.

The author highlights and expands upon several subjects we have been discussing on our blog for many years now.  These topics include:

1. The impacts of inflation and recent cost increases for just about all labour;
2. The Insurance crisis in BC,
3. The shortage of qualified and licensed Property Managers compared against the massive number of new Strata titled developments, which is creating significant disruption within our industry;
4. Depreciation Reports and the importance of long term planning;

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Our changing climate is prompting action by all levels of government address what is more and more being referred to as the “climate emergency”.  Rising temperatures, forest fires, flooding, increased migration and more are predicted for the Lower Mainland.

We write today about the first and most obvious impact, rising temperatures along with the related impact of forest fires.

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There are many inflationary pressures facing Strata Corporations as we exit the most acute phase of the pandemic.  As we have been writing about, costs continue to soar for Strata Corporations- materials, services (such as insurance) and labour are all seeing dramatic increases.

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Please note that we are republishing our previous article on Privacy Guidelines for Strata Corporations as the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner has updated their Strata Guide, linked below.

We have previously written on Access to Records requests that Strata Corporations routinely face.  All Strata Corporation records are subject to various pieces of legislation, most notably the Strata Property Act (SPA) itself.  However, SPA is subservient to other provincial and federal legislation such as the Personal Information Protection Act and PIPA overrides SPA in a variety of circumstances.

The Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has recently updated their guidelines for Strata Corporations.  In their words:

These guidelines will help strata corporations and strata agents in discharging their duties under the Strata Property Act (“SPA”) in a manner that respects the privacy of owners and tenants under the B.C. Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) and promotes transparency in the operation of strata corporations.

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Ownership of vacant properties in British Columbia is currently subject to the “BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax” (SVT), which is wholly separate and apart from the Vancouver Empty Homes Tax (EHT) which applies to properties in Vancouver proper.

The provincial government has phased exemptions for the SVT, which are changing this year, 2022.  It is beyond our expertise to provide advice to homeowners on the tax implications of these changes, but we can refer Owners for whom this tax applies to the official website.  We encourage anyone who does not occupy their property as their full time domicile to independently research both the SVT and the EHT and how one or both may apply to your properties.

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Dear Strata Councils,

Today, March 10^th, 2022, Dr. Bonnie Henry and the Province of British Columbia announced that the requirement to wear masks in indoor public spaces shall be lifted at 12:01am tomorrow (Friday March 11^th, 2022).

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