Strata Property Law Project: 2017 year-end update
December 15, 2017
BY Kevin Zakreski
2017 was a year of milestones for BCLI’s Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two. The project committee wrapped up its work on complex stratas. There were noteworthy developments on the new strata-termination legislation, which was inspired by the committee’s 2015 Report on Terminating a Strata (PDF). And the project saw significant progress made on the committee’s review of selected governance, common-property, and land-title issues, topics that will loom ever larger for the project in 2018.
Completion of work on complex stratas
After being open for public comment for 4.5 months, the consultation on complex stratas closed on 15 January 2017. The consultation asked people for their views on the committee’s proposals to reform the law on sections, types, and phases. Respondents had the option to reply to the full 68 proposals set out in the Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas (PDF) or to the three highlighted in the summary consultation (MS Word).
The committee received 36 responses in total. This figure breaks down into 14 responses to the full consultation and 22 responses to the summary consultation. The committee is grateful to everyone who took the time to the respond to the consultation. It reviewed the responses at its January 2017 committee meeting.
Based on its tentative recommendations and the public’s responses, the committee published its Report on Complex Stratas (PDF) in late June. The report confirmed the committee’s 68 recommendations for reform and set out draft legislation and regulations, which are intended to illustrate how these recommendations may practically be implemented.
There has been continued interest in the publication, with 130 copies being downloaded (126 times from the BCLI website and a further four times from BCLI’s satellite publications page on the Social Science Research Network website).
Reforms on terminating a strata
Recommendations from the project’s first report, the Report on Terminating a Strata (PDF), were implemented by Bill 40. The termination provisions in Bill 40 came into force on 28 July 2016.
Bill 40’s reforms to the Strata Property Act’s provisions on terminating a strata continue to draw attention. After the first cases under the new laws were beginning to reach the courts, Business in Vancouver ran a series in March examining the roots of the bill and considering where its changes might lead. Part 2 in the series noted the role of BCLI’s Report on Terminating a Strata (PDF) in the development of Bill 40. Business in Vancouver has also reported on the first strata to terminate itself using the new Bill 40 process.
In September, the BC Supreme Court delivered a judgment on the first contested petition for an order confirming a winding-up resolution. This ruling emphasized the importance of strict compliance with the reformed legislation’s provisions. There were also media reports on an uncontested termination in Coquitlam.
Progress on selected governance, common-property, and land-title issues
The bulk of the committee’s time in 2017 was spent considering selected governance, common-property, and land-title issues. The committee has completed its review of selected governance issues, examining such topics as bylaws and rules, statutory definitions, general meetings and strata-council meetings, and strata-corporation finances. It has also made a start on selected common-property and land-title issues for stratas.
Project committee update
The committee had one change in 2017, with Garrett Robinson joining the committee in April. Also in 2017, the committee bade farewell to committee member Ian Holt.
A look ahead to 2018
The project is slated to come to its conclusion in 2018, so the committee has a lot on its plate for the upcoming year. In particular, it plans to wrap up its examination of common-property and land-title issues, issue publications dealing with strata governance, common-property, and land-title issues, and begin its consideration of insurance issues for stratas.
Statistics on project publications, meetings, and website engagement
One of the goals of the project is to make its research and conclusions widely known to interested readers. Here are some statistics, tracking how that information is made available to and accessed by the public, during 2017:
- number of publications: one, the Report on Complex Stratas (PDF)
- number of supporting documents issued: 3, a media release announcing publication of the Report on Complex Stratas (PDF), a backgrounder on the report (PDF), and a legislative fact sheet for the report (PDF)
- number of project-committee meetings held: 12
- number of tentative recommendations made: 70
- number of presentations and articles mentioning the project: 5
- number of pageviews of project page: 1725
- number of blog posts on strata-property topics: 61
Thanks to our supporters
The Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two has been made possible by support from nine funding organizations. Support from the bulk of these organizations is reviewed from year-to-year. BCLI thanks the following organizations for continuing to support the project in 2017:
