Getting legal advice on stratas
Last updated on October 6, 2023Sometimes it is helpful to get legal advice on a strata issue. The provincial government does not provide legal advice.
On this page
Learn more about options for getting legal advice:
Contact a strata lawyer
Some lawyers specialize in strata-related issues. Lawyers who are knowledgeable about strata issues may advertise in or write articles for the publications and websites of strata associations.
Contact the Lawyer Referral Service
The Lawyer Referral Service helps British Columbians find a suitable legal professional to resolve their legal problem. Any B.C. resident can call the Lawyer Referral Service at 604-687-3221 or 1-800-663-1919, or use the 24/7 online booking service, to meet with a lawyer or a lower-cost articling clinician.
The three types of services can include 15 minutes of free consultation with a lawyer or up to 30 minutes of free consultation with a supervised articling clinician.
1. Regular Lawyer Referral Service
A person can receive 15 minutes of free consultation with an expert lawyer by following some specific steps.
- Call the Lawyer Referral Service telephone line at 604-687-3221 (in Metro Vancouver) or 1-800-663-1919, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.
- Briefly explain your legal problem. The BC Lawyer Referral staff will then provide you with the name and contact information of a suitable lawyer to help you.
- If schedules allow, your lawyer will provide you with 15 minutes of free consultation to determine your legal needs and how you can serve them. Your lawyer may charge you an hourly rate for any time exceeding 15 minutes.
- If you’d like further help from the lawyer, you can retain them at an agreeable rate of charge. There's no obligation for either party to continue after the free 15 minute consultation.
2. Online Lawyer Referral Service
An online referral for 15 minutes of free consultation with an expert lawyer if you: have a family, residential tenancy, employment, personal injury, wills, estates or trusts law issue (note this list of topics does not include strata ownership); have the ability to pay for a lawyer’s post-consultation services; are willing to work with a lawyer by telephone or video-conference; and can communicate in English.
3. Everyone Legal Clinic (lower cost representation services)
You can also receive an online referral to a supervised articling clinician at the Everyone Legal Clinic if you:
- Have a family, tenancy/strata, employment, wills/estates, civil, corporate, consumer or criminal law issue
- Have the ability to pay for the clinician’s fixed-fee representation services after an initial meeting
- Are willing to work with the clinician by telephone or video-conference and
- Can communicate in English
If you meet all of the above criteria, you can use the Clinic's 24/7 online booking service or Client Line (778-200-4478) to schedule an initial meeting with a clinician (for up to 30 minutes) by video-conference or telephone. The articling clinicians work under the supervision of practising lawyers, and provide legal services on a lower-cost, fixed-fee basis.
For more information about the three services, and links for booking, please see the Lawyer Referral Service website.
Consider Legal Aid
Legal aid is provided by Legal Aid BC. While priority is given to people with low incomes, information is available on the Legal Aid website for everyone.
- Find it fast: a strata housing site map listing all strata housing pages.
- Disclaimer: information on this website is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point; it is not a substitute for getting legal advice. Learn more about the website's purpose and limits.
- Content on the site is periodically reviewed and updated by the Province of British Columbia as per the date noted on each page: June 26, 2023.