Running a strata of 2 to 5 homes: bylaws, money and insurance

The rules that change at 4 lots and at 5 lots

Most of the Strata Property Act applies the same way to a duplex strata and a 300-unit tower. A small group of rules depends on the number of strata lots or owners. The table sets them side by side. A strata lot is one owned unit in the strata plan. The council is the small group of owners who manage the strata between general meetings.

Read two lines in the table closely. The council rule and the quorum rule turn on fewer than 4 strata lots or fewer than 4 owners, so a fourplex where one person owns two units has only 3 owners and falls under the small-strata version. The depreciation report rule turns only on the number of strata lots, so ownership does not change it.

Bylaws: the Standard Bylaws unless you file others

Bylaws are the strata's own rules about how the building is used, run and repaired. Section 120 says a strata's bylaws are the Standard Bylaws in the Act's schedule, except where different bylaws are filed in the land title office. The owner developer may file different bylaws when the plan is deposited. That is the best moment to fit the bylaws to a small building, because every change after that needs a vote.

For a strata made up only of residential lots, section 128 says a bylaw change needs a resolution passed by a 3/4 vote at an annual or special general meeting. The change has no effect until it is filed in the land title office. Section 121 says a bylaw cannot be enforced to the extent that it breaks the Act, the regulations, the Human Rights Code or any other law.

The Standard Bylaws split repairs this way. Bylaw 2 makes each owner repair and maintain their own strata lot and any limited common property they use. Bylaw 8 makes the strata repair common property and common assets, and, for a strata lot outside a bare land plan, the structure and exterior of the building, including doors, windows and skylights on the outside. So under the Standard Bylaws, the roof over one owner's unit in a side-by-side multiplex is a strata repair paid by every owner. Owners who want each unit to carry its own exterior repairs need bylaws that say so.

Money: the operating fund, the reserve fund and special levies

Section 92 requires two funds. The operating fund pays for costs that happen once a year or more often, such as insurance and landscaping. The contingency reserve fund saves for costs that happen less often than once a year, such as a new roof. Owners pay into both through monthly strata fees.

Section 6.1 of the Strata Property Regulation sets the floor: each year's reserve contribution must be at least 10% of the total budgeted for the operating fund that year. The rule has no exemption for small strata. The contribution also has to be set after considering the most recent depreciation report, if the strata has one.

A depreciation report is a study by a qualified professional of the building's parts, how long each will last and what it will cost to replace. Since the changes that took effect 1 July 2024, section 6.21 requires a strata to get one at least every 5 years. The province's news release of 22 April 2024 says the old option to defer the report each year by a 3/4 vote of owners ended with those changes. Section 6.22 exempts a strata "if and for so long as there are fewer than 5 strata lots in the strata plan". A small strata may still choose to get one: section 96 lists a depreciation report as a reserve fund expense that needs only a majority vote.

Spending from the reserve fund follows section 96. Some items, including a depreciation report and repairs it recommends, need a majority vote at a general meeting. Other reserve spending needs a 3/4 vote unless it is an emergency under section 98. When the reserve is not enough, section 108 lets the strata raise a special levy, a one-time charge to owners. A special levy shared by unit entitlement needs a 3/4 vote. The resolution must state the purpose, the total, how each lot's share is worked out and the payment dates. Money left over goes back to owners, or into the reserve if no owner would get more than $100 (as of 23 October 2026).

Insurance in a small strata

Section 149 requires the strata corporation to insure the common property, the common assets, the buildings shown on the strata plan and certain fixtures that were part of the original building. The cover must be for full replacement value and must cover the major perils listed in section 9.1 of the regulation, which include fire, windstorm and escape of water. Section 150 requires liability insurance, and section 9.2 of the regulation sets the minimum at $2,000,000 (as of 23 October 2026).

Section 154 requires the strata to review its insurance every year, report on it at each annual general meeting, and tell owners and tenants about material changes, including a higher deductible. A deductible is the part of a claim the insured pays before the insurer pays. Section 158 treats paying the deductible as a common expense shared by all owners. If one owner caused the loss, the strata may sue that owner to recover the deductible.

Owners still need their own policy. Section 161 lets an owner insure their strata lot against risks the strata policy does not cover, their own improvements, loss of rental income above the strata's cover, and their own liability. Ask your insurance agent whether your own policy pays a deductible the strata charges back to you, and do it before the first strata policy is placed.

Making decisions with 2, 3 or 4 owners

Section 45 requires at least 2 weeks' written notice of an annual or special general meeting. Section 48 sets the quorum, the number of votes that must be present for the meeting to do business. With fewer than 4 strata lots or fewer than 4 owners, the quorum is owners holding 2/3 of the votes. If no quorum is present within half an hour, the meeting is adjourned to the same day the next week, and if quorum is still missing then, the owners present make up the quorum.

A 3/4 vote means at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters who are present in person or by proxy and who do not abstain. Each residential strata lot has one vote under section 247. In a duplex strata where both owners vote, a 3/4 vote therefore needs both. In a triplex, it needs all three. Section 53 (4) allows the president to break a tie at a general meeting only if the bylaws provide for it, and Standard Bylaw 27 (6) says the president's tie-breaking vote does not apply when the plan has only 2 strata lots. When two co-owners of one lot cannot agree how to vote, section 57 (2) says their vote is not counted on that question.

Rentals have their own rules. Section 141 says a strata must not screen tenants, require approval of tenants, require terms in tenancy agreements, or otherwise restrict the rental of a strata lot. Section 146 requires a landlord owner to give a new tenant the bylaws, the rules and a Notice of Tenant's Responsibilities, and to give the strata a signed copy within 2 weeks. Short-term rentals are treated differently: section 7.1 of the regulation allows a fine of up to $1,000 for each contravention of a bylaw that limits use of a strata lot as vacation or temporary accommodation (as of 23 October 2026).

Our advice for a 2- or 3-lot strata: write the bylaws for the building before the plan is deposited, and agree in writing how the owners will handle a tie on a repair or a levy. With so few votes, there is no majority to fall back on.