Bylaw Infraction Hearings in BC: How They Work

If your council has ever fined an owner and watched the fine collapse at the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the cause was almost always a botched hearing. The s. 135 hearing process is the most procedural piece of bylaw enforcement in BC, and the most easily defeated when council cuts corners. The mechanics are simple, the deadlines are short, and the CRT has a long memory for stratas that don't follow them. Below is the playbook we use across the Sea to Sky to make sure council decisions stick the first time, with the receipts and timing you'll want if the file ends up in front of a tribunal vice-chair.

When a hearing is required

A hearing is not automatic. Section 135 requires council to give an owner or tenant written notice of the alleged contravention and a reasonable opportunity to answer, including a hearing if the owner or tenant requests one. That request triggers the timeline. If no hearing is requested, council can proceed to a decision based on the written response alone, and that decision is still valid.

Council must hold a hearing before imposing any of the following:

• A fine for a bylaw or rule contravention.
• A requirement to pay the strata's costs of remedying a contravention.
• A denial of access to a recreational facility (gym, pool, common amenity).

Notably, a hearing isn't required before issuing the written notice itself, before issuing a chargeback for damage caused by an owner, or before placing a lien for unpaid strata fees. Those are separate processes with their own procedures. We've watched well-meaning councils issue hearing notices for situations that didn't require one, wasting weeks and giving the owner ammunition for a procedural complaint.

The written notice of contravention

The notice is the foundation of the whole process. If it's wrong, everything downstream is wrong. A defensible s. 135 notice has six elements:

1. Owner's name and unit number. Sent to the owner's address for service on file.
2. Date of the alleged contravention. Specific. "Various dates throughout 2026" is not specific.
3. Bylaw section breached. Number and text of the bylaw or rule.
4. Particulars of the alleged conduct. What happened, who saw it, when. Vague allegations get overturned.
5. The owner's right to respond. In writing or by requesting a hearing.
6. Deadline for response. Typically 14 days from receipt.

The notice itself isn't a fine. Many owners don't know that and panic. A well-drafted notice will say clearly that no penalty has yet been imposed and that the owner has the right to respond or request a hearing before council makes any decision.

Conducting the hearing itself

Once a hearing is requested, council must hold it within four weeks of the request under s. 135(1)(e). The hearing is a council meeting (usually a special closed-session item) and only council, the owner (with any representatives), and any witnesses attend. The strata manager typically chairs the procedural part and keeps minutes.

A clean hearing runs in this order:

• Welcome and confirmation of attendees. Make sure everyone present is identified on the record.
• Council presents the case. Read the notice. Summarize the evidence: complaint records, photos, witness statements.
• Owner responds. Owner (or representative) presents their side. Council does not interrupt. Questions only after.
• Council questions, owner questions. Both sides may ask clarifying questions of witnesses present.
• Closing statements. Each side has a brief final word.
• In-camera deliberation. Council asks the owner to leave and deliberates in private.

The hearing itself does not include the decision. Council deliberates after the owner leaves, then issues a written decision separately. Trying to deliver the decision in the room is one of the surest ways to look biased on review.

The written decision

Section 135(2) requires council to provide a written decision as soon as feasible, and in any event within one week after the hearing. The decision must identify what council decided and why. A bare "council finds you in breach and imposes a $200 fine" doesn't meet the standard. The CRT has overturned fines where the decision provided no reasoning.

A defensible written decision includes:

• The bylaw section relied on, quoted verbatim.
• The facts council found, in plain language.
• Why those facts amount to a contravention.
• The penalty imposed and how it was calculated (single fine, continuing contravention, costs).
• The owner's right to dispute through the CRT.

Don't copy and paste boilerplate. The CRT reads written decisions carefully, and a generic decision is a gift to the owner's case. If your council struggles to write reasoned decisions, that's a job your manager should be doing. Every Avesta-managed building gets a manager-drafted decision for council review before it goes out.

Common procedural mistakes that lose CRT cases

A large share of CRT bylaw cases we read involve a procedural defect on the strata's side. The most common we see:

• No written notice. Council fined based on email exchanges or council minutes alone. The CRT has overturned fines for exactly this reason.
• Hearing denied or delayed past four weeks. Council booked the hearing for the next regular meeting six weeks out. Fine overturned.
• No written decision. Council told the owner verbally that they'd been fined. Fine overturned, refund ordered.
• Decision lacks reasoning. "Council finds you in breach." No facts, no analysis. Fine overturned.
• New evidence at the hearing the owner didn't see. Surprise photos or complaint letters introduced without prior disclosure. Fine overturned for breach of natural justice.
• Council member bias. A complainant sat on council during the hearing. Fine overturned and council member removed from the file.

Continuing contraventions and repeat hearings

For ongoing breaches (a tenant who keeps smoking on the balcony, a dog that keeps barking) the strata can impose continuing fines without holding a new hearing each time. The first hearing establishes the contravention. After that, council can impose additional fines for each week the breach continues, up to the regulatory maximum.

Each new fine should be supported by fresh evidence the contravention is continuing. A council that just keeps stamping fines without documentation will lose on review. We recommend a simple complaint log: date, time, witness, observation. That log becomes the evidence base for every subsequent fine and is invaluable if the file ever goes to the CRT.

For the dollar limits on these fines and how continuing contraventions stack, see our companion post on maximum strata fines in BC. For the broader picture of how bylaws differ from rules and which require a 3/4 vote to enact, see strata bylaws vs rules.

What council should do before the next hearing

If your council is preparing for a hearing right now, three things matter most. Get the notice right: six elements, full particulars, recorded service. Schedule the hearing inside four weeks and stick to the date. Write a reasoned decision and send it within seven days. Do those three things and the file will survive almost any CRT challenge. Skip any of them and you're inviting the owner to win on procedure regardless of the merits.

If you'd like the s. 135 templates we use across our Sea to Sky portfolio (notice, hearing agenda, decision letter) contact our office. We send them out for free. A properly handled hearing saves councils far more than it ever costs us to share the paperwork.