The BC Strata AGM Checklist

Most AGM problems in BC are not voting problems — they are notice and preparation problems. The Strata Property Act sets the deadline, the minimum notice period, what the notice package must contain and who has to receive it. Work backwards from those, and the meeting itself usually takes care of itself.

Step 1: Lock the date

A strata corporation must hold an annual general meeting no later than 2 months after its fiscal year end (s.40). Your fiscal year end is set in your bylaws, so check the registered bylaws rather than assuming December 31.

There is one escape hatch. Under s.41, no AGM is needed if, before the last date the meeting must be held, all eligible voters waive the meeting in writing and consent in writing to resolutions that approve the coming year's budget, elect a council by acclamation, and deal with any other business. If two or more people share one vote for a strata lot, all of them must consent. In practice this is realistic only in very small strata corporations.

Step 2: Count the notice days correctly

Notice must be at least 2 weeks in writing (s.45) — and at least 4 weeks where a winding-up resolution will be considered.

The trap is delivery. Notice that is mailed, emailed, faxed, put under the door or left in a mailbox is conclusively deemed received 4 days after it is sent (s.61(3)). Only notice handed directly to the person counts on the day it is given. So an emailed notice package should go out 18 days before the meeting, not 14.

Who must receive notice:

• every owner;
• every mortgagee who has filed a Mortgagee's Request for Notification (s.60);
• every tenant who has been assigned the landlord's right to vote, if the strata has received notice of the assignment (s.147).

Step 3: Assemble the AGM notice package

The notice itself must include (s.45(3)–(4)):

• a description of the matters that will be voted on, including the proposed wording of any resolution requiring a 3/4 vote, 80% vote or unanimous vote;
• the date, time and, if applicable, place of the meeting;
• instructions for attending electronically, if electronic attendance will be permitted;
• the budget and financial statement referred to in s.103.

Get the resolution wording right the first time: a 3/4 vote means at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy, excluding abstentions (s.1) — not 3/4 of all owners. An 80% vote and a unanimous vote, by contrast, are measured against all eligible votes in the corporation.

If you are bringing bylaw amendments, note two things: a strata corporation whose lots are all residential (or a bare land strata plan) cannot amend its bylaws before the second AGM except by unanimous vote (s.127), and an approved amendment has no effect until it is filed in the Land Title Office (s.128). Before you draft, it is worth confirming whether the change belongs in a bylaw at all — see Strata Bylaws vs Rules in BC: What's the Difference?.

Council sets the agenda, but owners holding at least 20% of the votes may by written demand propose a resolution or raise a matter, and it must go into the notice and onto the agenda of the next general meeting (s.46).

Quick answers for the week before

Do we need a bylaw to hold the AGM online? No. Since November 24, 2022, all BC strata corporations may hold electronic or hybrid general meetings and accept electronic votes without passing a bylaw. The conditions in s.49 still apply: notice must include attendance instructions, the platform must let everyone communicate with each other, and the chair must be able to identify eligible voters. Electronic attendees are deemed present in person, no voting card is required for them, and they are not entitled or required to vote by secret ballot.

What is quorum? Unless the bylaws say otherwise, eligible voters holding 1/3 of the votes, present in person or by proxy — or 2/3 if there are fewer than 4 strata lots or fewer than 4 owners (s.48). If quorum is not present within half an hour, the meeting stands adjourned to the same day the next week at the same time; at that adjourned meeting, after another half hour, those present constitute a quorum. Your bylaws can change this, so check them.

One owner says they never got the notice. Is the meeting void? Not automatically. Failure to give proper notice does not invalidate a vote as long as the strata made a reasonable attempt to give notice in accordance with s.45 (s.47). Keeping a dated distribution record is how you prove that.

The budget vote

The budget is approved by majority vote at the AGM, and the proposed budget may be amended by majority vote before it is put to a vote (s.103). Two current requirements to confirm before you circulate it: every strata corporation and section must budget a minimum annual CRF contribution of at least 10% of the total budgeted operating-fund contribution, determined after considering the most recent depreciation report, and if the budget is defeated, a new one must go to a special general meeting within 30 days (or a longer period approved by a 3/4 vote at that meeting), with owners continuing to pay the previous budget's fees until it passes.

If a depreciation report or an electrical planning report deadline lands in the coming year, the AGM is the natural place to fund it.

After the gavel

Minutes are the record the next council, the next buyer and the CRT will rely on — see How to Prepare AGM Minutes in BC. Where older documents need to be reviewed before a vote, tools like SearchStrata can run AI analysis across years of strata documents to find what was actually decided. And whether you are self-managed or working with a manager, remember that the minutes, votes and books belong to the corporation — ManageStrata is built on that idea: the management company can change, but the strata's knowledge shouldn't. Councils handling this in-house may also find How to Self-Manage a Strata in BC useful.

This article is general information about BC strata law, not legal advice; verify against the current Strata Property Act and Regulation or consult a BC strata lawyer.