How strata minutes get approved, and what counts as a draft
Many councils hold minutes back until they are approved. Standard Bylaw 19 requires the opposite. Here is the clean process from draft to approved record.
There is a persistent belief that minutes are somehow not real until the next meeting approves them, and that distributing them early is premature. In BC the opposite is true: under Standard Bylaw 19, council must inform owners of the minutes of a council meeting within two weeks, whether or not the minutes have been approved. Waiting a month for approval before distributing is itself the compliance failure.
The clean three-step cycle
Step one: distribute a draft within two weeks. Write the minutes promptly, mark them clearly as DRAFT, and send them to owners. Email is fine for owners who have provided an address for notices; paper for the rest. The draft label matters: it tells readers the record may still receive corrections.
Step two: approve at the next meeting. Approval is a simple motion: "to approve the minutes of the council meeting held June 12, 2026, as distributed", moved, seconded, and the result recorded. If corrections are needed, the motion becomes "as amended" and the amendments are stated.
Step three: record corrections in the approving meeting's minutes. This is the part councils get wrong. A correction belongs in the minutes of the meeting where it was made: "The June minutes were amended to show the gutter contract at $2,180, not $2,810." Do not quietly rewrite and reissue the old document as if the error never happened; the audit trail is the point. It is fine to issue a corrected copy, marked as amended, alongside that record.
Who signs, and what gets kept
The Act does not require a signature, but having the chair or secretary sign or initial the approved version is good practice and makes the official copy obvious years later. Keep the approved version permanently in your records, and remember the retention floor: minutes must be kept at least six years under the Strata Property Regulation, though almost every strata sensibly keeps them for the life of the building. Our records retention guide covers the full list.
Common questions
Can owners demand changes to the minutes? Owners can point out errors, but the minutes belong to council. Council decides what the record says when it approves them, and an owner who disagrees can ask that their objection be noted or pursue other remedies.
Do general meeting minutes work the same way? AGM and SGM minutes are typically approved at the next general meeting, which can be a year away. Distribute them promptly all the same; owners and buyers rely on them long before formal approval.
Let us handle the minutes themselves
StrataMinutes turns your council's rough notes into complete, professionally formatted minutes that meet the requirements of the Strata Property Act, usually within minutes. Every document comes with a compliance checklist.
No payment details needed for your first council meeting.
This page is general information for BC strata councils, not legal advice. See the current text of the Strata Property Act and the Strata Property Regulation on BC Laws.
Related guides
Legal Requirements
Minute-Taking Guide
Minutes Template
Records Retention