Recorded on: April 2, 2025
Length: 60 minutes
Description
Working with the Block Watch Society of BC, we asked British Columbians across the province what issues they experience in dealing with their neighbours. Lawyer Anil Aggarwal and Constable Jason Doucette answer common questions about noise, dogs, smoke, difficult neighbours, privacy and reputation, and when to involve the police.
Highlights
In this webinar, you will learn:
Noise
What you can do about a neighbour who blasts their music at a high volume throughout the day. [4:50]
What you can do about excessive party noise after 11 pm and the best way to approach a neighbour in advance. [9:40]
What to do if you live next to a music venue and the noise from the venue is loud and runs late into the night. [13:00]
Dogs
What you can do if your neighbour’s dog barks all day long. [15:35]
What you can do if your neighbour lets their dog off leash and it tears up your yard and poops on your property. [18:50]
What you can do if your neighbour has an aggressive dog and you’re scared that it will hurt someone. [22:10]
Smoke
What you can do if your neighbour chain smokes on their deck all day long and the smoke ruins your outside time and enters your house through open windows. [23:50]
Menacing neighbours
What you can do if you have a neighbour with mental health or addiction issues who knocks on your door late at night and you feel unsafe and sometimes harassed. [26:35]
What you can do to protect your safety and the safety of others if you have a belligerent rental neighbour who drinks and smokes heavily and engages in activities that could harm others, like cooking with a propane tank and possibly driving under the influence. [29:00]
Privacy and reputation
Whether it’s legal for your neighbour to film you using their phone when you’re outside on your property or in your home, and whether your neighbour can point their security camera at your home or have part of your home in the footage. [31:20]
What you can do if someone in your community posts illegitimate complaints and defamatory comments about you in a public forum. [35:30]
Police
What you can do if you hear yelling and loud noises next door and suspect domestic and family violence. [38:00]
What you can do if you suspect that there are drug trafficking activities occurring in your neighborhood. [40:05]
When it’s appropriate to contact the police about neighbour issues. [41:35]
Live questions
When your neighbour’s right to enjoy their property outweighs your right to enjoy your property. [43:40]
Recommendations for apps to measure the decibel level of noise. [45:20]
Whether bylaws and fines relating to dogs off leash are ever enforced. [46:35]
What you can do about drones flying over your property. [47:40]
Whether you need photographic proof of a neighbour smoking. [48:40]
Whether you can draft a demand letter yourself or need a lawyer to do so. [50:20]
Whether there is a way for you to find out why there is a police presence in your mobile home park. [51:30]
What you can do if your upstairs strata neighbour, who you think might be racist, is purposely making noise and stomping their feet to bother you. [54:30]
Featuring
Anil Aggarwal
Anil is a lawyer in the insurance, strata property and residential tenancy groups at Alexander Holburn. In his litigation-based practice, he has appeared before all levels of court in BC as well as various tribunals, including the Civil Resolution Tribunal and the Residential Tenancy Branch. Anil is also a visiting professor for Simon Fraser University’s Masters in Applied Legal Studies Program, where he lectures on property law.
Constable Jason Doucette
Constable Doucette is a social media officer with the VPD Media Relations Unit.
Attendee feedback
“Great information. Really well presented, and all speakers were very approachable. Thank you!"
“Very useful neighbourhood information. Something all neighbours need to watch to be informed, to promote appropriate behaviour before things get out of hand.”
“Thank you for this webinar. It is exciting to see technology being used to such a great end. Citizen participation is so much enabled. Great insightful presenters. Much appreciated.”
“Excellent! The two most important concepts I learned were 1) get to know our neighbours, and 2) document, document, document.”
“I realized my grievances with my neighbour’s noise is best handled with a friendly approach and that, on the spectrum of annoying neighbour issues, my issues are a very low level of concern!”
“I liked the format of the webinar. I thought the prepared questions were very applicable and answered most of what I was looking for in the webinar. The moderator was excellent as were the VPD officer and the lawyer. They answered the questions fully and concisely. I thought this was an excellent webinar and I look forward to the next one.”
“Very professional yet casual feel. Appreciated the overall tone and answers.”
“I think this was one of the best webinars I have ever attended. The presentation was so well done and the two guests interacted so well that it was very interesting and informative. Both Jason and Anil were prepared and that made them come off as professional and educated experts in the field so I could trust what they said.”
"I like the format. Bravo. Keeping to a "few issues" of the majority just works!"
"Great presentation. Nice to have viewpoints from public, lawyers and the police."
"I didn't know half the information and this seminar helped me understand the how to in certain situations. Very informative and easy to understand."
“The predetermined questions were an excellent idea to engage the audience and were well selected. Anil & Jason both provided helpful, thorough and thoughtful responses. It was extremely well organized and presented. I have no suggestions. Well done!!!! I look forward to Part 2.”
"These webinars are really helpful in understanding how the legal system affects us all. The more people who understand their rights and obligations, the better off we all are!"
Additional resources
From People’s Law School:
From the Vancouver Police Department:
Community Policing Centres, operated by members of the community working in partnership with the Vancouver police
GeoDASH, a mapping tool to enhance community awareness of policing activity in Vancouver
Crime statistics from the Vancouver Police Department
Cases referred to:
Suzuki v. Munroe, 2009 BCSC 1403, where the court found that a surveillance camera pointed partly at a neighbour’s property was a nuisance
McKraig v. Bourne, 2025 BCCRT 378, an example of where a tribunal awarded damages for noise coming from a strata unit upstairs that featured stomping, yelling, and banging
Also:
Block Watch Society of BC, bringing police and communities together to further community safety
BC Crime Stoppers, providing the opportunity to share information anonymously about criminal activity
VictimLinkBC, a 24-hour helpline for victims of family violence
Complaint form to report unsafe drone use, from Transport Canada
Information on quiet enjoyment, from the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC)