I feel like my strata council is harassing me. How can I make them stop?

Often, the leadership duties involved in serving on a strata council are confused for positions of authority. But in fact, the strata council has a responsibility to act in the best interests of the strata corporation and unit owners. If your strata council is bullying you or otherwise treating you unfairly, you have options.

Read your strata’s bylaws

A good place to start is to get a copy of your strata’s bylaws. Read through them, and look for any provisions that prohibit the type of behaviour your council is engaging in. Strata bylaws aren’t simply guidelines that the strata council can choose to follow or not. If someone is violating a bylaw, you can take steps to have it enforced.

Keep an eye out for a bylaw setting out an internal dispute resolution process. Often, strata bylaws describe a process for owners to appeal a decision of the council. Check out the guidance on dealing with your strata for more on this.

Request a special general meeting

Another option is to demand that your strata council hold a special general meeting to address the issue. Under BC law, a group of people holding at least 20% of the strata corporation’s votes can demand that a special general meeting be held to discuss a particular matter. This can be a good option if other strata owners are facing similar treatment by the council. 

Run for a spot on strata council

You can also take the democratic approach. That is, consider running for election to the strata council yourself. Or you can work with others in your strata to elect a council you feel is better suited for the job. 

If things have escalated to the point where you don’t think it’ll be possible to resolve the issue within the strata, it may be time to consider legal action. In BC, the Civil Resolution Tribunal deals with strata disputes. This is an online platform that operates like a court, but is less formal. 

If you feel that you’re being treated poorly because of certain parts of your identity, you may be experiencing discrimination. If this is the case, you may have grounds to bring a human rights claim. See this guidance for details.