How to Prepare AGM Minutes in BC

Minutes are the official legal record of what a strata corporation decided at a meeting. Done well, they protect council and owners alike; done poorly, they become a source of disputes. Here's how to prepare clean, compliant AGM minutes in British Columbia.

What must AGM minutes include?

Under the Strata Property Act, minutes are a record of decisions made, not a transcript of debate. Good AGM minutes capture:

• Meeting basics — date, time, location (or video platform), and confirmation that a quorum was present.
• Approval of prior minutes and the financial statements.
• Each motion — its exact wording, who moved and seconded it (optional but helpful), and the result of the vote.
• Election results for the new strata council.
• The approved budget and any resolutions requiring a 3/4 or unanimous vote.

Record the outcome and vote counts for resolutions that need a special majority, because the threshold matters legally.

What should you leave out of minutes?

Minutes should be factual and neutral. Avoid:

• He-said-she-said commentary or attributing opinions to named owners.
• Personal or confidential information — bylaw enforcement, arrears, or legal matters involving specific units belong in council (in-camera) records, not the AGM minutes circulated to all owners.
• Editorializing. "After heated discussion" adds nothing; "the motion was defeated 12–8" is the record.

When in doubt, write less. The minutes answer one question: what did the strata decide?

How are minutes approved and distributed?

The process generally runs like this:

1. Draft the minutes promptly while the meeting is fresh.
2. Distribute them to owners. The SPA requires the strata to provide AGM minutes to owners within a set period after the meeting — getting them out within a couple of weeks is good practice.
3. Approve them at the next general meeting, where corrections can be moved and recorded.

Minutes form part of the records the strata must keep and produce on request, including for buyers reviewing a unit. Combined with Form B and financials, they're the documents purchasers scrutinize most.

How long must a strata keep its minutes?

The strata must retain general meeting and council meeting minutes for a long period — minutes are among the records the SPA requires be kept effectively for the life of the strata. Store them securely and back them up. A platform like ManageStrata keeps minutes, budgets, and bylaws in one searchable record so nothing is lost between council turnovers.

When you need to review years of past decisions — for example, to trace when a leak was first reported — reading every set of minutes is slow. To quickly analyze a strata's documents (minutes, depreciation report, bylaws), tools like SearchStrata use AI to surface the key facts and pull out exactly when something was discussed.

A simple minutes checklist

Before you circulate, confirm the minutes record the date and quorum, approval of prior minutes and financials, every motion with its result, election outcomes, and the approved budget. Keep the tone neutral, omit confidential details, and file them with the rest of your self-managed strata records.

Accurate minutes are the cheapest insurance a council can buy. They settle "what did we agree?" before it ever becomes a tribunal dispute.