For years, BC strata corporations could vote to defer their depreciation report. That option is gone. Under Bill 44, compliant reports are now mandatory — and the first hard deadline is July 1, 2026. Here's what every strata council and manager needs to know.
The July 1 deadline
The deadline depends on where the strata is located:
- July 1, 2026 — strata corporations located wholly or partly in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the Fraser Valley Regional District, or the Capital Regional District.
- July 1, 2027 — all other BC strata corporations, located wholly outside those regions. Compliance is still mandatory; only the date differs.
- Reports must then be renewed at least every five years. A report older than five years does not comply.
- This affects 35,000+ BC strata corporations.
What changed — and when
- 2009 — BC Strata Property Act amendments introduced depreciation reports as a long-term capital-planning tool.
- 2014 — the province delayed enforcement and introduced a three-quarters-vote waiver, letting strata corporations opt out simply by holding a vote. Deferring became widespread.
- 2023 — Bill 44 closed the waiver loophole; compliance is now mandatory.
- July 1, 2026 — the hard deadline for the core regions: every eligible strata must have a compliant report on file.
Strata corporations that miss the deadline risk legal liability and real difficulty selling or refinancing units.
Who it applies to
Required to comply: strata corporations with five or more strata lots; all strata types — residential, mixed-use and bare land; new strata corporations (after two fiscal year-ends from the initial AGM); and buildings with an existing but non-compliant or outdated report.
The only exemption under the current regulation is for strata corporations with fewer than five lots. Stratas wholly outside the core regions have until July 1, 2027 — but must still comply. Importantly, there is no longer a three-quarters-vote waiver to defer.
What a compliant report must include
- A complete physical inventory of all common-property components and their current condition.
- Cost estimates to repair, replace or renew each component over a 30-year planning horizon.
- A funding plan — a recommended funding schedule including the current reserve (contingency) fund balance and required contributions.
- A qualified preparer: P.Eng., architect or architectural technologist, applied science technologist, AACI appraiser, certified reserve planner (REIC), or Professional Quantity Surveyor.
- Renewal at least every five years — an older report does not comply.
- Presentation to owners at the AGM, with the report retained in the strata's records.
What managers must do right now
- Audit your portfolio — identify every strata client without a depreciation report, or with one older than five years.
- Verify exemption status — confirm lot count for each client; fewer than five lots is the only exemption, and there is no three-quarters waiver.
- Communicate early — strata councils need time to budget, hold any required AGM vote, and engage a provider.
- Engage a qualified provider — lead times are critical. A report typically takes 6 to 12 weeks from engagement to delivery, which is tight against a July 1 deadline; we are at the point where delay risks missing it entirely.
- Document everything — keep records of when reports were commissioned, completed, and presented at the AGM.
The risk of waiting
- Legal liability — corporations out of compliance face potential action from owners or purchasers.
- Market impact — buyers, realtors and lenders increasingly require a current depreciation report before closing.
- Provider backlog — qualified preparers are booking months out; delay now risks missing the deadline.
- Owner expectations — councils are increasingly expected to maintain a funded reserve, and outdated reports undermine confidence.
Coming next: Electrical Planning Reports
BC strata corporations face a second major deadline. An Electrical Planning Report (EPR) assesses a building's electrical infrastructure and capacity, and is required under amendments to BC's safety-standards legislation supporting EV readiness. A qualified preparer is a P.Eng. or applied science technologist (a journeyperson electrician is eligible for smaller Part 9 buildings). The EPR is required under the Strata Property Act as amended (section 94.1). The deadline is December 31, 2026 for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the CRD, and December 31, 2028 outside those areas. Because the two deadlines fall close together, it often makes sense to address them in a single engagement.
How Reserve Plus can help
Reserve Plus prepares BC-compliant depreciation reports by qualified professionals, on time and on budget, and pairs them with myRPlanner (powered by StelorPM) so a static report becomes an interactive planning tool — reserve fund modeling, scenario planning and owner communications. We can also audit your strata portfolio and flag which clients need immediate action. With the summer backlog approaching, the time to book is now.