Strata Records & Document Retention in BC

Two different duties: prepare and retain

The Act splits this in a way that is easy to miss. Under section 35 of the Strata Property Act, a strata corporation must prepare certain records — minutes of general and council meetings including the results of votes, a list of council members, a list of owners and tenants, and books of account showing money received and spent and the reason for each.

It must also retain copies of a longer list: the registered strata plan, the Act and regulations, the bylaws and rules, resolutions dealing with changes to common property, waivers and consents, written contracts, court and Civil Resolution Tribunal decisions and legal opinions, budgets and financial statements, income tax returns, correspondence, bank statements, Information Certificates, depreciation reports, electrical planning reports, and reports on repair or maintenance of major items.

How long each of those has to be kept is set by the Strata Property Regulation, not by the Act, and it is not one number (BC government guidance on strata records).

How long you actually have to keep things

Section 4.1 of the Strata Property Regulation sets five different periods.

Permanently

• the registered strata plan and any amendments
• resolutions dealing with changes to common property, including the designation of limited common property
• decisions of an arbitrator, a judge or the Civil Resolution Tribunal in proceedings the strata was party to, and legal opinions the strata obtained
• depreciation reports
• electrical planning reports, and reports on EV charging infrastructure

Until the item is disposed of or replaced

• reports on the repair or maintenance of major items — engineers' reports, risk management reports, sanitation reports and the like

At least 6 years

• minutes of general and council meetings
• books of account
• budgets and financial statements, for the current year and previous years
• income tax returns
• bank statements, cancelled cheques and certificates of deposit
• Information Certificates issued under section 59
• waivers and consents under sections 41, 44 and 45

At least 6 years after it ends — written contracts to which the strata is a party, including insurance policies, counted from termination or expiry rather than from signing.

At least 2 years — correspondence sent or received by the strata corporation and council.

The one that's usually stated wrongly

Bylaws and rules are not on a "keep forever" rule. What the Regulation requires is that the strata retain a current copy — the same treatment it gives the Act and regulations themselves, the list of council members and the owner list. There is no statutory requirement to retain every superseded version of your bylaws indefinitely.

Keeping the history anyway is sensible practice: when a dispute turns on which bylaw was in force in a particular year, the registered filings at the Land Title Office are the authority, and your own copies save time. But present that as good practice, not as a retention rule, because a council that treats an optional habit as a legal duty tends to be wrong about the duties that are real.

Getting records to an owner

Section 36 is the access side. On request, the strata must make section 35 records available for inspection and provide copies to an owner, to a tenant who has been assigned that right, or to someone either of them authorises in writing. Former owners and former tenants can also request records relating to their period of ownership or tenancy.

The timing is specific: the strata has 2 weeks to comply, except where the request is for bylaws or rules, which must be provided within one week. The strata may charge a copying fee, capped by the Regulation.

Missing those deadlines is one of the more common reasons an owner ends up at the Civil Resolution Tribunal, and it is entirely avoidable with an organised filing system. A Form B Information Certificate request runs on its own track and has its own prescribed attachments.

Digital records

Nothing in the Act requires paper. What matters is that the records exist, are complete, and can be produced within the statutory window — which in practice favours a system where the current bylaws, the last six years of minutes and financials, and every permanent record are retrievable without hunting through a former treasurer's garage. Tools like SearchStrata can read a back-catalogue of minutes and reports and surface what is actually in them, and keeping the filing current in something like ManageStrata is what turns a records request into a five-minute job.

Questions councils ask

Do we have to keep bylaws forever? No. The Regulation requires a current copy. Keeping superseded versions is useful practice, not a statutory duty.

How long do we keep minutes? At least 6 years — both general meeting and council meeting minutes.

How long do we keep an insurance policy? At least 6 years after the policy ends, not 6 years from when it was issued.

Can we refuse a records request? Not for section 35 records from someone entitled to them. You can charge the capped copying fee, and you have 2 weeks — one week for bylaws and rules.

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.