Video and phone strata meetings that still comply
The Act now expressly permits electronic attendance and electronic meetings. The record-keeping rules do not relax when the meeting moves online.
Since the amendments that followed 2020, the Strata Property Act expressly permits strata meetings to be held partly or fully by electronic means, provided everyone attending can communicate with each other, unless a strata's own bylaws restrict it. For a province full of stratas whose owners winter elsewhere, this is one of the most useful changes to the Act in years. Check the current wording on BC Laws and your own bylaws before relying on it; a few stratas have adopted bylaws that limit electronic attendance.
What changes online, and what does not
The mechanics change: a video link in the notice instead of an amenity-room address, a roll call instead of a show of hands. The legal substance does not change at all. Notice periods are the same. Quorum is the same, and electronic attendees count toward it. Voting thresholds are the same. Minutes are just as mandatory, and section 35 still requires the results of votes to be recorded.
Running a clean electronic general meeting
Registration. Confirm identity and lot as people join, and log proxies in advance by email so the desk work is done before the meeting starts. State the registration totals aloud once quorum is confirmed, so the number lands in the minutes.
Voting. For routine motions, a verbal poll or platform voting feature works. For three-quarter votes, take a counted poll and read the totals back to the meeting before moving on: "41 in favour, 9 opposed, 3 abstentions, the resolution passes." That sentence is the audit trail.
The minutes. Record the platform ("held by video conference"), attendance and proxies, quorum, each motion with its result, and the adjournment time, exactly as for an in-person meeting. Our AGM minutes guide lists everything a general meeting record needs.
Recording the meeting: think before pressing record
Video platforms make it tempting to record everything. Be careful. A recording of a meeting captures voices, faces, and unguarded comments, all of it personal information under BC privacy law, and it is not a substitute for minutes in any case. If you record to help the minute-taker, say so at the start, and delete the recording once the minutes are finished and distributed. A recording that lives forever is a liability with no matching benefit; the minutes are the record the Act asks for. Our privacy guide covers this in more depth.
Hybrid meetings
Half the room in person, half on screen is the hardest format to chair. Two habits save it: every motion and every vote result gets repeated aloud for both audiences, and one person (not the chair) watches the screen for raised hands. If the technology fails partway through, note the time and what was done about it; if quorum depended on the people who dropped off, the safe course is to adjourn.
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
Quorum Rules
Minutes and Privacy
Minute-Taking Guide
AGM Minutes