Legal

December 19, 2023 Published by British Columbia Chapter - By Kathrine Uppal

CRT Decisions: Email Meetings

From CCI BC Strata Connection Magazine, Volume 01, Fall 2023

On August 1, 2023, the Civil Resolution Tribunal issued a decision Cassey v. The Owners, Strata Plan VR 326 in which the CRT determined it was not appropriate for strata councils to act on decisions made by email until those decisions were ratified at the next property convened general meeting. In coming to this finding, the CRT also created an avenue for strata councils to hold “email meetings”. 

Ms. Cassey alleged that the strata council was having “secret” email meetings for the purpose of avoiding owner scrutiny and requested that the strata corporation be required to wait for a strata council meeting before action was taken on those email decisions. The strata corporation took the position that it would be impractical and overly cumbersome for the strata corporation to have to wait for a formal council meeting. 

The CRT reviewed the caselaw in this area and summarized previous court and tribunal decisions in making the following points:

1. An early court decision endorsed the practice of “informal meetings” of a strata council, however it said that decisions made at those informal meetings do not have validity unless and until the decisions are ratified at a formal council meeting (Kayne v. The Owners, Strata Plan LMS2374, 2007 BCSC 1610);
2. Two later court decisions confirmed that the Strata Property Act did not prohibit meetings by email. An email meeting that was held formally and minuted would produce valid decisions (Azura Management (Kelowna) Corp. v. Owners of the Strata Plan KAS2428, 2009 BCSC 506, and Yang v. Re/Max Commercial Realty Associates (482258 BC Ltd.), 2016 BCSC 2147);
3. More recent CRT decisions confirmed that email discussions between council members were like the “informal meetings” referred to in Kayne. If those discussions produced a vote on a strata matter, that decision would not be valid “unless and until” there was a vote regarding same at a council meeting.

The CRT followed this finding in the more recent case Jorgensen v. The Owners, Strata Plan NW 2685, 2023 BCCRT 831. Mr. Jorgensen was disappointed with the strata corporation’s approach to a repair and maintenance matter. He took issue with the timeline and communications from the strata council. The CRT reasoned that a strata council can only make decisions at council meetings and the strata corporation did not have a bylaw permitting email meetings (they only had usual council meetings as contemplated in the bylaws), therefore the strata council was restricted from making decisions between meetings as suggested by Mr. Jorgensen.

These developments around council decisions between meetings further clarified a line of caselaw that grappled with strata council decision making. The CRT’s findings confirm that strata decisions should be restricted to properly held and formally convened strata council meetings unless there is an emergency. A properly held meeting may include an “email meeting” if the strata’s bylaws allow for it. 

What if your strata corporation does not have a bylaw for email meetings?

At first glance, council members and strata managers may be under the impression that this will make governance and management more difficult if matters cannot be decided by email. While this may be the case in some instances, the finding also allows council members and strata managers to use the CRT’s findings to manage owner expectations around communication and addressing owner requests. Strata council members and strata managers should advise their ownership of the inability for decisions to be made between council meetings and that if those decisions are made and acted on, there is a risk that the decision will be invalid.

However, remember that decisions can still be made by email for emergency situations.

What if your strata corporation wishes to make decisions by email for matters that are not emergencies?

Strata councils should consider whether they want the ability to hold email meetings. If they do, they must consider the process in which those meetings will occur. In developing that process, strata councils may want to consider:

1. What is the “duration” of an email meeting?
2. How does an email meeting meet a quorum?
3. How will council members share their views, debate, and discuss subjects before making a decision?
4. Are there certain matters that will qualify for an email decision and other matters that will not?

An “email meeting” is, most importantly, still a strata council meeting, therefore the requirement for the meeting to result in a set of minutes is necessary.

Kathrine Uppal,
Partner, Bleay Both Uppal LLP

athrine Uppal, a founding partner of Bleay Both Uppal LLP, provides legal advice in a l matters related to strata law. Kathrine often acts for clients at the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Provincial Court, the Civil Resolution Tribunal and other administrative tribunals. Kathrine is a regular contributor to legal education and provides education seminars for strata management brokerages, through the Professional Association of Managing Agents, and Buildex.