Strata GovernanceJuly 9, 2026 · 6 min read

Snow Removal and Winter Maintenance: A BC Strata's Responsibilities

Snow and ice on common property is the strata's problem until someone slips. Here's who must clear it, who's liable, and how a small BC building plans ahead.

In the Lower Mainland we like to pretend winter is someone else's problem. Then a Fraser Valley cold snap drops 20 centimetres overnight, the walkway to your lobby turns into a skating rink, and suddenly your strata council is scrambling to find someone with a shovel at 6 a.m. For small buildings especially, snow and ice are less about the weather and more about who is responsible when things go wrong.

This guide walks through the three questions that actually matter: who has to clear the snow, who is on the hook if someone slips, and how a small BC strata can plan for winter before the first flake falls.

This article is general information for BC owners and council members, not legal advice. Snow-related liability turns on the specific facts, your bylaws, and your municipality's rules. Confirm anything important with a strata lawyer or your manager.

Whose snow is it, anyway?

The starting point is the same one that governs almost every repair-and-maintenance question in a strata: what is common property and what belongs to the owner. Under the Strata Property Act, the strata corporation is generally responsible for maintaining common property, and that is where most winter obligations live. Think main entrances, shared walkways, the visitor parking lot, common stairs, and driveways that everyone uses.

Where it gets murky is limited common property (LCP) and the boundaries of individual strata lots. A private patio, a townhouse's own driveway, or a deck that only one owner can use may be that owner's responsibility to keep clear, depending on your bylaws and the strata plan. Many stratas assume the owner handles their own LCP; others clear everything centrally and recover the cost through fees. If you have never actually checked, this is the winter to do it, because the answer decides who has to be out there with a shovel. Our plain-English breakdown of common property versus limited common property is a good place to start, and our guide to who is responsible for strata versus owner repairs covers the same logic that governs snow duties.

The practical takeaway: don't guess. Read your bylaws and your registered strata plan, and if the split still isn't obvious, get it clarified in writing before December.

Slip-and-falls: where the liability really sits

This is the part that keeps councils up at night, and rightly so. In British Columbia, occupiers of property owe a duty to take reasonable care that people on the premises are reasonably safe. For common property, the strata corporation is typically the occupier — which means if someone slips on an icy common walkway and is hurt, the strata can be the one facing a claim.

The word doing all the work here is reasonable. The law does not expect your strata to keep every surface bone-dry the instant snow starts falling. What it expects is a reasonable, good-faith effort: clearing and salting within a sensible time, in a sensible way, and keeping some record that you did. A council that has a plan, acts on it, and documents what it did is in a far stronger position than one that reacts randomly or ignores the problem.

A few practical points for small buildings:

Contractors don't erase your duty. Hiring a snow-removal company is smart, but the strata generally can't fully offload its responsibility just by signing a contract. Vet the vendor, confirm they carry their own liability insurance, and keep the agreement clear about response times and triggers.
Volunteers cut both ways. In tiny self-managed buildings, a council member sometimes does the shovelling. That's fine, but if an owner is injured doing strata work, or does a patchy job, the exposure comes back to the corporation. Councils that lean on volunteers should think carefully about whether it is fair or wise — the same tension we raise in should strata council members be paid.
Insurance is your backstop, not your plan. Liability coverage is part of a typical strata policy, but a claim can still hit your deductible and your future premiums. It pays to understand what your strata insurance actually covers before you need it.

Don't forget the municipal sidewalk

Here's the trap that catches a lot of strata councils: the public sidewalk running past your building. Many BC municipalities have bylaws requiring the owner or occupier of a property to clear snow and ice from the adjacent public sidewalk, often within a set window after snowfall. That obligation can land on your strata even though the sidewalk technically belongs to the city.

Because these rules — the deadlines, the fines, and exactly who they apply to — vary from municipality to municipality and change over time, don't rely on what a neighbour told you. Check your own city's or district's current bylaw (Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam and the rest all set their own), or ask your manager to confirm what applies to your address. A modest bylaw fine is the least of it; an unshovelled public sidewalk is also a slip-and-fall waiting to happen.

Build the plan before the snow, not during it

The stratas that handle winter well are boring about it: they decide everything in the fall, when nobody is stressed. A simple seasonal plan for a small building doesn't need to be elaborate. It should answer:

Who acts, and when? Name the trigger (e.g. snow accumulating, or ice forming) and who is responsible for making the call — a contractor on standby, a designated council member, or your property manager.
What areas, in what order? Prioritise the routes people actually use: the main entry, the path to the mailboxes, accessible ramps, and the way out to the street.
What supplies are on hand? Salt or ice-melt, shovels, and grippy mats for the lobby, stocked before the first storm, not bought in a panic when every shop is sold out.
How do you prove it happened? A shared log — even a phone note with dates, times, and photos — is cheap insurance if a claim ever lands.

Getting the responsibilities and communication right is core council work, and it maps directly onto the broader strata council roles and responsibilities in BC. If your council is stretched thin, this is exactly the kind of seasonal coordination a strata manager handles so volunteers aren't fielding 6 a.m. calls.

Paying for winter without blowing the budget

Snow removal is an operating expense, so in a normal year it comes out of the operating budget funded by your strata fees — one of the many line items covered in what strata fees actually pay for. The problem is that BC winters are wildly inconsistent: two mild years lull a council into budgeting almost nothing, and then a heavy winter blows straight through the line item.

For a small building, a bad snow year can be the difference between finishing on budget and finishing over it — which is one of the quieter causes of a strata going over budget. A few habits help:

Budget for a typical-to-heavy winter, not last year's mild one.
Get your snow contract signed in early fall — good crews book up, and last-minute rates are steep.
Keep your contingency reserve healthy so a genuinely severe winter doesn't force awkward mid-year decisions.

None of this is glamorous, but a couple of hours of planning in October is a lot cheaper than an insurance claim, a bylaw fine, or an emergency vendor call-out in January.

Frequently asked questions

Is the strata or the owner responsible for clearing snow? As a general rule, the strata corporation clears common property — shared entries, walkways, and driveways — while owners may be responsible for their own strata lot and, depending on your bylaws, their limited common property like a private patio or deck. Check your bylaws and strata plan to confirm the split for your building.

Can our strata be sued if someone slips on ice? Yes. As the occupier of common property, the strata owes a duty to take reasonable care that people are reasonably safe, so an injury on an icy common walkway can lead to a claim. Having a documented snow-clearing plan and acting on it is your best protection. Speak with a strata lawyer about your specific exposure.

Does hiring a snow-removal contractor remove our liability? Not entirely. A contractor is a sensible and important step, but the strata generally can't fully transfer its duty of care by signing a contract. Choose a vendor with their own liability insurance, set clear response expectations, and keep records.

Do we have to clear the public sidewalk in front of the building? Often, yes. Many BC municipalities require the adjacent property owner or occupier to clear public sidewalks within a set time after snowfall, and that can fall on your strata. The rules and deadlines differ by city and change, so confirm your local bylaw directly.

What if we're a self-managed strata with no contractor? You still owe the same duty of care. Make sure someone is clearly responsible, supplies are stocked before winter, and the work gets logged. If coordinating it reliably is a strain on volunteers, it may be worth bringing in help for at least the winter months.