Voting in a Strata Corporation

 

The Strata Property Act sets out three voting thresholds and various criteria for voting within a strata corporation:

 

1) Majority Vote

 

Matters at general meetings are decided by a majority vote, unless the legislation or the bylaws require a 3/4 vote or a unanimous vote. The Act defines the term majority vote as, "a vote in favour of a resolution by more than 1/2 of the votes cast by eligible voters who are present in person or by proxy at the time the vote is taken and who have not abstained from voting."

 

The inclusion of the phrase "at the time the vote is taken" is critical. Similarly, when counting votes, the phrase "and who have not abstained" means that those who have abstained must be subtracted from the number of otherwise eligible votes.

 

Matters such as the approval of the budget, the election of strata council members, providing direction to the strata council and ratifying rules are examples of resolutions that require a majority vote.

 

2) Three-Quarter Vote

 

The Strata Property Act defines the term 3/4 vote as one "in favour of a resolution by at least 3/4 of the votes cast by eligible voters, who are present in person or by proxy at the time the vote is taken and who have not abstained from voting." This means that the number of abstentions must be subtracted from the number of eligible voters.

 

Common resolutions that require a 3/4 vote include cancelling a strata management contract, ammending bylaws, spending funds from the contingency fund, raising funds by a special levy, authorizing litigation in the name of the strata corportation, and approving a significant change in the use or appearance of common property.

 

3) Unanimous Vote

 

The Act defines the term unanimous vote as "a vote in favour of a resolution by all the votes of all eligible voters." This definition effectively requires the vote of every single eligible voter, not just those who are present at the time if the vote.

 

The most common resolutions that require a unanimous vote are resolutions to approve contracts that are not at arms' length to the developer after the first conveyance and before the first AGM, to approve a different formula for calculating a strata lot's share of expenses, to amend the strata plan to designate or remove designations of limited common property or common property, to change the Schedule of Unit Entitlement and to cancel the strata plan.