Majority, Three-Quarters, Unanimous: A Voting Threshold Cheat Sheet

Few things derail a general meeting faster than an argument about whether a resolution actually passed. The Strata Property Act uses exactly four voting thresholds, and each one is counted differently. Getting the count wrong can make a decision vulnerable to challenge — so it is worth knowing the arithmetic before the voting cards go up.

The four thresholds — and the words to avoid

BC's four thresholds are majority vote, 3/4 vote, 80% vote and unanimous vote. All four are defined in section 1 of the Strata Property Act.

You will sometimes hear owners (or templates borrowed from other provinces) refer to an "ordinary resolution" or a "special resolution." Those terms appear nowhere in the Act. Use the statutory language — it is the only language that maps onto the counting rules below.

Unless the Act or the regulations require or permit a different threshold, matters at an annual or special general meeting are decided by majority vote (s. 50).

How each threshold is counted

This is where most stratas go wrong. Two of the thresholds count votes cast; two count every eligible vote in the corporation.

• Majority vote — more than 1/2 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy at the time the vote is taken, excluding abstentions.
• 3/4 vote — at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy at the time the vote is taken, excluding abstentions. It is not 3/4 of all owners and not 3/4 of all strata lots.
• 80% vote — at least 80% of the votes of all eligible voters, whether or not they show up. Used for winding-up resolutions. A materially higher bar.
• Unanimous vote — all the votes of all eligible voters. Again, absentees are counted in the denominator.

Generally each strata lot carries one vote; unit entitlement determines money, not voting weight. The exception is a Schedule of Voting Rights, which applies where a strata plan includes nonresidential strata lots (Form W).

Which decisions need which threshold

Majority vote (examples):

• Approving the annual budget, which sets strata fees (s. 103).
• Ratifying a rule made by council, at or before the first AGM after it is made (s. 125).
• Five specific contingency reserve fund expenditures under s. 96: obtaining a depreciation report; repair, maintenance or replacement recommended in the most current depreciation report; installing EV charging infrastructure or managing the electricity it uses; obtaining an electrical planning report; and obtaining other reports about EV charging infrastructure.
• A significant change in use or appearance of common property that relates to installing EV charging infrastructure or managing its electricity (s. 71).

3/4 vote (examples):

• Amending the bylaws (s. 128) — note the amendment has no effect until it is filed in the Land Title Office.
• A special levy where each lot's share is calculated under ss. 99, 100 or 195 — normally unit entitlement (s. 108).
• Any other significant change in the use or appearance of common property, or of land that is a common asset (s. 71).
• Most other CRF spending not on the majority-vote list above.

Unanimous vote (examples):

• A special levy divided "in another way that establishes a fair division of expenses for that particular levy" rather than by the statutory formulas — s. 108(2)(b).
• Bylaw amendments before the second AGM in a bare land strata or an all-residential strata (s. 127).

80% vote: winding-up resolutions.

And one useful exception: no owner approval is required for a special levy or CRF expenditure to cover an insurance deductible the strata must pay to repair or replace damaged property, unless the strata has decided not to repair under s. 159 (s. 158(3)).

Q&A: the questions that come up at every AGM

Does an abstention count as a "no"? For a majority or 3/4 vote, no — abstentions are excluded from the count entirely. For an 80% or unanimous vote, effectively yes, because those thresholds measure all eligible votes, so anything short of a yes works against the resolution.

Do we need 3/4 of all owners to pass a 3/4 vote? No. It is 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters present in person or by proxy when the vote is taken.

Can we reword a 3/4 resolution at the meeting? Only within limits. Under s. 50(2), amendments to the proposed wording of a 3/4 resolution are allowed if they do not substantially change the resolution and are themselves approved by a 3/4 vote before the vote on the resolution.

Does council vote the same way? No. Under Standard Bylaw 18, council decisions are made by a majority of council members present in person at the meeting, with the president able to break a tie (unless there are only two strata lots). Your registered bylaws may differ.

Notice, and running the vote

Notice of a general meeting must be at least 2 weeks (s. 45), and must set out the proposed wording of any resolution requiring a 3/4, 80% or unanimous vote. Where a winding-up resolution will be considered, notice is at least 4 weeks. Remember that notice sent by email, mail or fax is conclusively deemed received four days after sending, so an emailed package should go out roughly 18 days ahead.

At the meeting, Standard Bylaw 27 provides that voting cards are issued, votes are decided on a show of voting cards unless an eligible voter requests a precise count, the outcome must be announced and recorded in the minutes, and any vote must be by secret ballot if an eligible voter requests it. Record the numbers properly — see how to prepare AGM minutes in BC.

If your strata has sections, note that a section amends bylaws relating solely to the section by a 3/4 vote at a section meeting, with a different threshold possible for all-nonresidential sections where the section bylaws say so (s. 197), and a section has its own budgeting and levy powers (s. 194).

When the answer is "check your bylaws"

The Act sets the thresholds, but your registered bylaws can add procedural detail — quorum, proxies, chairing, section structures — and many stratas' bylaws depart from the Standard Bylaws. If you are not sure what your own bylaws actually say versus what a rule says, start with strata bylaws vs rules in BC; for digging through a long amended bylaw set, AI document analysis tools such as SearchStrata can help you find the clause before the meeting rather than during it. Self-managed councils tracking resolutions and thresholds across meetings often use software like ManageStrata to keep the paper trail straight — see our guide on how to self-manage a strata in BC.

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.