Maximum Strata Fines in BC and How to Apply Them

If your council has been told the maximum strata fine BC law allows is $200, you're hearing the right number, but the full picture is more useful. The regulatory cap depends on what kind of breach you're fining, whether it's a bylaw or a rule, whether it's a one-time event or ongoing, and whether the bylaw covers rentals (which gets its own elevated cap). Knowing the framework lets council fine effectively without overreaching, and avoids the most common reason fines collapse at the Civil Resolution Tribunal: a fine schedule that exceeds the statutory ceiling and gets struck down for the excess. Below is the full breakdown under SPA s. 132 and Regulation 7.1 with how each piece applies in practice.

The base fine limits

The Strata Property Act Regulation 7.1 sets the ceilings, full stop. No strata can fine above these amounts regardless of what its own bylaws say. The hierarchy:

The numbers haven't changed in over a decade and the province has not signalled an update. Most Squamish and Whistler stratas we manage set their fine schedules at the maximum for serious bylaws (parking, smoking, noise after midnight) and lower for minor issues (late filing of a Form K, missing common-property log entry). The fine schedule lives in the bylaws themselves and can be amended by 3/4 vote at any general meeting.

The bylaw-vs-rule distinction matters here. Bylaws are registered at the Land Title Office under s. 128 and require a 3/4 vote to amend. Rules are passed by council resolution and don't get registered. The rule fine cap is $50, so if you want enforcement teeth, write it as a bylaw, not a rule.

How rental restriction fines work differently

Rental restriction breaches get their own elevated regime. A strata that has limited or banned rentals through a properly registered bylaw under s. 141 can fine the owner up to $500 per week of breach. That's not per occurrence; it's per week the rental continues, which makes it the single most powerful fine tool in the SPA.

The math compounds fast: a non-compliant short-term rental running through summer can accumulate substantial fines over the season. CRT enforcement is correspondingly serious. We've watched cases where the strata won judgment for the full balance and lien-secured it against the unit, which then forced sale.

Note the recent provincial short-term rental rules layered on top of strata bylaws. Even where the province now restricts STRs directly, strata fines remain a separate, parallel enforcement tool, and stratas should not assume the province's rules replace their own bylaws. For more, see our STR bylaws post.

Continuing contraventions: where the real money is

For breaches that don't stop after the first fine (ongoing balcony smoking, persistent pet noise, an illegal short-term rental), Regulation 7.1(2) allows the strata to impose a fresh fine every seven days the contravention continues. There is no cap on the total accumulated fine.

The continuing-fine power transforms how council should think about bylaw enforcement. A single $200 fine is rarely enough to change behaviour. The credible threat of a $200 fine every week, which compounds quickly if uncured, is what motivates compliance. We tell councils not to advertise this aggressively but to use it consistently when the situation demands.

Special levy vs fine: don't confuse them

A common council mistake: imposing what gets called a "fine" but is actually a special-levy assessment. They're different instruments with different rules:

A levy is not a punishment. If council wants to recover the cost of fixing damage caused by an owner (say, the cost of repairing a wall the owner broke), that's a chargeback under s. 133, not a fine. Chargebacks have their own process and are not capped at $200.

Applying fines correctly, the procedural piece

A fine that follows perfect process and matches the bylaw schedule will stand. A fine that takes shortcuts will not, even if the breach is obvious. The procedural requirements live in s. 135 and we've covered them in detail in bylaw infraction hearings in BC, but here's the short version:

1. Written notice of the alleged contravention with full particulars
2. Reasonable opportunity to respond, including a hearing if requested
3. Hearing within four weeks of any hearing request
4. Written decision within one week of the hearing, with reasoning
5. Fine added to owner's account, payable per the bylaws

Skip any step and the fine fails on procedural review, regardless of the dollar amount being well under the cap. The CRT has issued dozens of recent decisions where the strata had a legitimate breach but lost because notice was inadequate or the written decision was missing.

When over-cap bylaws are still on the books

A surprising number of older Squamish and Sea-to-Sky stratas have bylaws on the books that exceed Regulation 7.1. We've seen $500 noise-fine schedules, $1,000 pet-fine schedules, and bylaws that "double the fine for repeat offenders" past the cap. None of these are enforceable above the regulatory maximum.

This usually traces to bylaws drafted by developers in the 2000s using a template that predates the current regulation, or bylaws drafted by amateur councils without legal review. The fix is straightforward: bring an amendment to the next AGM bringing the fine schedule to current limits and clarifying continuing-contravention rules. Until that amendment passes, council can still enforce the bylaw, but it has to apply the regulatory cap when imposing the fine, not the bylaw's stated number.

Practical defaults for council

If your strata is rewriting its fine schedule, here's the template we recommend across our Sea to Sky portfolio. Adjust to your bylaw structure but the dollar amounts work:

• Tier 1 (administrative). Form K not filed, owner contact info outdated. $50 fine.
• Tier 2 (nuisance). Excessive noise, garbage management, common-area conduct. $100 to $200 fine.
• Tier 3 (safety). Smoking on balcony, parking violations, BBQ misuse. $200 fine.
• Tier 4 (rentals). Short-term rental without consent, lease without Form K. $500 per week.
• Continuing breaches. All of the above, every 7 days.

Pair this with a clear complaint and hearing workflow (see bylaw infraction hearings BC) and the fine schedule becomes a real tool, not a paper threat. For the most common bylaw fights and how each tends to resolve, see common bylaw disputes in BC stratas. If your council wants help auditing your fine schedule against current Regulation 7.1 caps, reach out to our office and we'll send you the template we use for our managed buildings.