BC 55+ Strata Rules: What Buyers Need to Know

Yes — provincial rules require an exemption for a younger spouse or partner of a resident who meets the age requirement (or holds a legacy exemption). Children can also be exempt in defined cases: a child under 19 in the resident's care, and an adult child the resident cared for before that child turned 19.

Long-term rental bans no longer exist in BC — every strata rental-restriction bylaw became invalid on Nov 24, 2022. Two catches remain: the tenant still has to satisfy the 55+ age bylaw or an exemption, and a strata can still restrict short-term rentals (and the City regulates short-term rentals under Bylaw 5141).

Yes, in law: Regulation 7.01 exempts a younger spouse or partner of a qualifying resident, and several complexes state a one-resident rule themselves — Royal Court ("only one owner must be at least 55") and The Wedgewood ("only one resident needs to be over 55").

Ownership itself is not age-restricted — the bylaw governs who may reside. The Province states under-55s can own strata lots in a 55+ corporation but may not be able to live in them; a parent who is 55+ can be the resident.

Long-term rental bans no longer exist in BC — every strata rental-restriction bylaw became invalid on Nov 24, 2022, including any older "rentals not allowed" record for Manor Ridge. The tenant still has to satisfy the 55+ age bylaw or an exemption, and a strata can still restrict short-term rentals.

Mechanically, yes: the next buyer must also be able to live there under the bylaw — be 55+, be an exempt spouse/partner, caregiver or legacy case, or buy without living in the unit.

Long-term rental bans no longer exist in BC — every strata rental-restriction bylaw became invalid on Nov 24, 2022, whether or not the strata amended its bylaws. A strata can still restrict short-term rentals. The "rentals not allowed" lines in older building sources for this area are stale.

Mechanically, yes: the next buyer must also be able to live there under the bylaw — be 55+, be an exempt spouse/partner, caregiver or legacy case, or buy without living in the unit.

Yes, a younger spouse or partner is exempt when the other resident is a specified resident. The Province lists an exemption for a younger spouse married to, or living in a marriage-like relationship with, a specified resident who meets the age requirement or holds a legacy exemption. That exemption was part of the additional family exemptions that took effect May 1, 2023, alongside the children cases described on the same page.

What the page does state is that exemptions exist in relationship to a specified resident, that a corporation can specify further exemptions in its own bylaws, and that legacy residents keep their own caregiver and family exemptions. Read the specific corporation's filed bylaws and get legal advice for a survivorship case.

Yes, caregiver exemptions apply to live-in caregivers who provide care to another resident who is dependent on them due to illness, disability or frailty. The Province gives the example of an 87-year-old resident living with a 44-year-old caregiver. The caregiver exemption existed with the November 24, 2022 changes, before the wider family exemptions were added on May 1, 2023.

No, legacy exemptions protect a resident who was lawfully residing in the lot when the bylaw was passed and who continues to reside there. The Province gives a 36-year-old resident, and two sisters aged 22 and 25, as examples of residents who may continue living in the unit despite a new 55+ bylaw. Legacy residents are also entitled to the caregiver and family exemptions in the future.