Strata GovernanceJuly 9, 2026 · 7 min read

Dealing With a Difficult or Bullying Strata Council in BC

Stuck with a secretive or bullying strata council? BC's Strata Property Act gives owners real tools — records, hearings, an SGM, council removal, and the CRT.

If your strata council is obstructive, secretive, or outright bullying, you are not powerless. BC's Strata Property Act gives owners a ladder of tools — the right to strata records, the right to a formal hearing, the power to call a special general meeting, the ability to replace council members, and access to the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) when a council acts "significantly unfairly."

First, separate a clash from actual misconduct

Not every frustrating council is a bad one. Volunteers make mistakes, meetings run long, and lawful-but-unpopular decisions upset people. Be honest about which situation you're in, because it changes your options.

Normal friction: a decision you disagree with, a slow email reply, a fee increase you don't like, or a vote that didn't go your way.
Genuine problems: ignoring the Act or the bylaws, making decisions in secret, refusing to hold meetings, withholding records, enforcing bylaws selectively against people they dislike, undisclosed conflicts of interest or self-dealing, or shouting down and intimidating owners.

Your position is far stronger when you can point to a specific rule the council has broken, not just a decision you would have made differently.

Build a paper trail

Before you escalate anything, get it in writing. Email is your friend.

Raise your concern with council in writing and keep a copy.
Ask specific, answerable questions and note when (or whether) you get a reply.
Keep meeting notices, minutes, correspondence, and any fine or warning letters together in one folder.

A calm, dated record does two things: it often prompts a stalling council to act, and it becomes your evidence if you later go to the CRT.

Use your right to strata records

Under sections 35 and 36 of the Act, the strata must keep a defined set of records and make them available to owners, generally within two weeks of a written request. That includes council and general meeting minutes, the bylaws and rules, financial statements, budgets, contracts, correspondence sent or received by the strata, and more. A Form B Information Certificate must be provided within one week.

Records are the cure for a council that operates in the dark. If decisions are being made that you never hear about, ask for the minutes.

Request a formal hearing (section 34.1)

Any owner or tenant can demand a hearing before council. Put the request in writing and state what you want to discuss. Council must hold the hearing within four weeks of receiving the request, and if you're asking for a decision, it must give you that decision in writing within one week of the hearing.

A hearing forces a distracted or avoidant council to sit down and deal with your issue on the record.

Force the issue with a 20% petition

If council won't act, you can go over its head to the owners. Under section 43, people holding at least 20% of the strata's votes can demand a special general meeting (SGM) by written petition. The strata must hold that meeting within four weeks of receiving the demand.

An SGM lets the owners — not council — vote on the resolutions you put forward: directing council to do something, overturning a decision within its power, or changing who sits on council.

Replacing council members

Council cannot remove its own members, and it can't force you out for being a critic. But the owners can act. Under the Standard Bylaws (and most strata bylaws), the owners may remove one or more council members by a majority vote at an annual or special general meeting, and elect replacements. If a whole council has lost the owners' confidence, an SGM is where you fix it.

Check your own bylaws for the exact wording and any notice requirements before you rely on this.

Escalating to the Civil Resolution Tribunal

The CRT handles most strata disputes in BC, and you don't need a lawyer to file. It can order a strata to follow the Act and its bylaws, to produce records, to stop or reverse an improper fine, and to compensate an owner.

Its most powerful tool for a bad council is the "significantly unfair" remedy. If the strata (or council) has acted in a way that is oppressive or unfairly prejudicial to you, the CRT — like the Supreme Court under section 164 — can set the decision aside and order a fair outcome. Selective bylaw enforcement, ignoring proper process, and decisions that unreasonably single you out are the kinds of things this remedy is built for.

Dealing with intimidation directly

If the problem is behaviour — a member who bullies, shouts, or harasses — a few practical moves help:

Ask that the strata adopt a written council code of conduct, so expectations are clear and breaches are nameable.
Bring a second person to meetings as a witness, and ask that decisions and objections be minuted.
Keep your own communications professional; it makes the other person's conduct stand out.

The CRT generally addresses the strata's decisions rather than policing personalities, so a code of conduct and the ballot box (an SGM) are usually your most direct levers on behaviour.

Where to get backup

You don't have to do this alone. The Condominium Home Owners Association of BC (CHOA) and the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA) both run advice lines and publish plain-language guidance. For anything involving money, forced sales, or a real risk of litigation, talk to a strata lawyer. And sometimes the simplest fix is a professional manager who acts as a neutral buffer, keeps council to proper process, and takes the personal heat out of the room.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove a strata council member in BC? The owners can remove one or more council members by a majority vote at an annual or special general meeting, subject to your bylaws. Council cannot remove its own members. If council won't call a meeting, owners holding 20% of the votes can petition for an SGM.

Can I take my strata council to the CRT? You take the strata corporation (not the individuals) to the CRT. It can order the strata to comply with the Act and bylaws, hand over records, cancel improper fines, and remedy conduct that was significantly unfair to you.

What does "significantly unfair" mean? It's the legal standard for conduct that is burdensome, oppressive, or unfairly prejudicial to an owner — for example, enforcing a bylaw against you but nobody else. The CRT and the courts can overturn such decisions.