Age restriction is one of important bylaws. However, it may be affected by the newly amended Strata Property Act. One strata bylaw provides the following:

Adult Occupancy
No owner, tenant or occupant shall permit any persons under 45 years of age, other than spouse of the owner including a marriage-like relationship to ordinarily reside in such strata lot. Any other arrangements must have the prior written consent of the Strata Council.

Is this bylaw enforceable?

BC Government states the following at Strata age-restriction bylaws – Province of British Columbia:

Overview of strata age-restriction bylaws

Strata corporations in B.C. can have a wide variety of strata bylaws, including strata bylaws which restrict the age of one or more strata residents to age 55+.

As of November 24, 2022, strata corporations can no longer have bylaws which restrict residents to other ages, such as restricting strata residents to age 19+, 25+ or 40+.

B.C.’s strata legislation for age-restriction strata bylaws talks about “specified residents”. A specified resident can be an owner, tenant or occupant who lives in the strata lot and who either meets the age requirement or has a legacy exemption.

People younger than age 55 can own strata lots in an age 55+ restricted strata corporation but they may not be able to live in the strata lot. Age-restriction bylaws apply to the residents of the strata lot, not the ownership. 

Some people may also be exempt from a strata corporation’s age-restriction bylaws through provincially required exemptions for legacy residents, caregivers and some family members.

The above-mentioned strata bylaw originally had an age restriction of 45+. However, as of November 24, 2022, the BC provincial government amended Section 123.1 of the Strata Property Act, to prohibit most age-restriction bylaws, except for those that restrict residency to 55 years of age or older. As a result, any existing age restriction below 55 (such as 45+) became unenforceable on that date.

Since this strata does not currently have a bylaw restricting occupancy to persons aged 55+, it effectively has no age restriction at all under the current law.

Remember: currently only 55+ age restriction is allowed for a strata corporation in BC with the exemption specified in Section 123.2 of the Strata Property Ace and Section 7.01 of the Strata Property Regulation.