Here is the short answer. Since late 2023, the law in BC says a strata corporation must not unreasonably refuse an owner's request to install EV charging infrastructure. That does not mean every request is automatically approved. A council can still say no for legitimate reasons, and the one the province itself gives as its example is that the building's electrical system does not have the capacity to support the charger. What the council cannot do is refuse for vague reasons, stall indefinitely, or apply a blanket no-EV-chargers policy.
If you own a strata unit in the Lower Mainland and want to charge an EV at your parking stall, here is how the process works, what your council is allowed to consider, and what to do if the answer comes back no.
What does the law actually say?
The rules arrived in two steps. In May 2023, amendments to the Strata Property Act lowered the voting thresholds for EV charging decisions. In December 2023, the supporting regulation brought in a formal owner-request process. The key line, in the Act itself, is this: the strata corporation must not unreasonably refuse to approve an owner's request.
Two things worth noting. First, nothing in 2024, 2025, or 2026 changed these rules, so what is described here is the current law as of October 2026. Second, "must not unreasonably refuse" is a real legal standard, not a suggestion. A council that rejects a properly made request needs a genuine reason, and that reason has to relate to the building, not to a general dislike of EVs or a reluctance to deal with the paperwork.
What it means for you: You have a legal right to make the request and to have it decided fairly. You do not have a right to an automatic yes.
When am I allowed to make the request?
There is a timing gate, and it matters right now. An owner can make a formal EV charging request once the strata has obtained its electrical planning report, or once the deadline for that report has passed.
For existing stratas in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the Capital Regional District, that report deadline is December 31, 2026. For existing stratas in the rest of BC, it is December 31, 2028. (Stratas created after the end of 2023 run on a different clock: their report is due within five years of the strata plan being deposited.) Stratas with fewer than five lots are not required to get the report at all, and for those buildings the request process is available as of December 31, 2026.
The electrical planning report itself is prepared by the professionals the province designates for that work. Our part is everything that follows from it: confirming the building's electrical capacity, planning the installation, pulling the permit, and doing the work. If your building already has its report, or the deadline has passed, the request window is open and that follow-on work is exactly what we do.
What it means for you: If you live in the Lower Mainland, the window opens at the end of 2026 at the latest. If your strata already has its electrical planning report, you can make the request now.
What has to go in the request?
The regulation is specific about what a valid request contains. You will need:
Your contact information and strata lot number
A description of the proposed EV charging infrastructure
The proposed location and your parking stall number or location
The name and contact information of a qualified contractor
The contractor's description of the work
The contractor's estimate of the cost and time involved
This is not a casual email to the property manager. It is a formal request with contractor documentation attached, which is why talking to an electrician before you approach the council saves a round trip. Once the council receives a complete request, it must decide within three months.
What it means for you: Get the contractor quote first, then make the request. A request that arrives with professional documentation attached is much harder to stall than a verbal ask at an AGM.
What reasons can a strata legitimately use to say no?
The Act tells the council what it may consider: whether the proposal is compatible with the building's existing or planned EV charging infrastructure and electricity management, and the capacity of the building's electrical system, both current and anticipated.
In practice, the legitimate refusals look like this. The building's electrical service genuinely cannot support another EV charger without an upgrade nobody has budgeted for. The proposed installation conflicts with a building-wide charging system the strata is already planning. The stall in question does not have the wiring path or the metering the proposal assumes.
What does not count: "we have never allowed it," "it might set a precedent," "the council does not want the hassle," or a silent non-answer. Those are the refusals the "unreasonably refuse" standard was written to catch.
One more structural point. If the installation is a significant change in the use or appearance of common property, that aspect needs a majority vote at a general meeting. That is a deliberately lower bar than the usual three-quarter vote, and it was set that way in the 2023 amendments specifically to stop EV charging proposals from dying on voting math.
Who pays for the installation?
You do, unless the strata agrees otherwise. The owner making the request is responsible for the expenses of the alteration. The council can also require you to agree in writing to reasonable conditions before it approves, such as approving the infrastructure, the contractor, and the materials; agreeing to modify or replace your installation if the strata later puts in building-wide EV infrastructure; and accepting joint and several liability if more than one owner makes a request. The province also lists paying costs in advance as an example condition a council may set, and if the strata ever does installation work itself under this process, it must be paid in advance by law and must refund any amount left over.
The ongoing electricity is a separate question. A strata can charge you a user fee for the electricity your charger consumes, but the fee has to be reasonable, it can be based on your consumption or set as a fixed amount, and it only applies if that fee is authorized in a bylaw or a rule. A rule imposing the fee has to be ratified by a majority vote at a general meeting. So if your council approves the charger but has no billing mechanism in place, expect that conversation to follow.
What it means for you: Go in expecting to pay for the full installation yourself, and ask early how the building plans to meter and bill your charging. The installation quote and the electricity billing are two separate negotiations.
Does it matter which parking stall I use?
Yes, and this trips people up. Where the stall is common property (or sits on land that is a common asset), the request process only works for a stall you already have the right to use to the exclusion of other owners. If your stall is common property that anyone can use, or it rotates, the request cannot attach to it.
There is a related rule worth knowing about, and the order matters. Once an owner has installed and paid for EV charging through this request process, the strata can grant that owner exclusive use of the common-property stall for up to five years. That five-year grant follows the installation; it is not a first step. Before any request, exclusive use of common property is an ordinary permission from the strata, which runs one year at a time and can be renewed.
What if the council unreasonably refuses?
You have a forum. Strata disputes in BC go to the Civil Resolution Tribunal, which can order a strata corporation to remedy a significantly unfair act or decision. An unreasonable refusal of a properly made EV charging request is exactly the kind of decision that test was built for.
One honest caveat: as of October 2026, there is no published tribunal decision applying the new unreasonable-refusal standard to an EV charging request, so nobody can tell you precisely how the tribunal reads that line yet. Older cases decided under the pre-2023 rules, some of which sided with stratas, do not reflect the current law and should not be treated as guidance. The remedy route is real; the case law interpreting it is still being written.
Before going anywhere near a tribunal, though, most refusals are resolved earlier. A written request with full contractor documentation, a reasonable tone, and a council that understands its legal position resolves the large majority of these. Councils most often refuse badly when they do not know what the law requires, which is fixable with information.
What should I do this week?
If you want an EV charger at your strata stall, here is the sequence:
Check your building’s electrical planning report status. Has the strata obtained it? If yes, the request window is open. If the December 31, 2026 deadline passes without one, it opens anyway.
Confirm your stall. Make sure you have exclusive use of the parking stall where the charger would go.
Get a contractor quote. You need the contractor's description of the work plus a cost and time estimate for the request itself, so this step comes before the paperwork, not after.
Put the request in writing. Include everything the regulation lists. Address it to the council through your property manager, and keep a copy.
Ask about metering and billing early. How the strata will charge you for the electricity is a separate decision that needs a bylaw or a ratified rule. Raise it now so it does not become the reason for delay later.
Our team installs EV chargers for strata owners across the Lower Mainland, and we prepare exactly the contractor documentation these requests require: the description of the work, the cost estimate, and the timeline. Talk to Reisinger Electric (https://electrician2go.ca) or call (778) 805-7074, and every job carries our 2-year warranty on all labour.
