Condo Insurance in Vancouver: Strata Gaps to Know

If you own a condo in Vancouver, Burnaby or anywhere in Metro Vancouver, you are covered by two insurance policies at once: the strata corporation's master policy and your own. Most owners have a rough sense of the first and a vague sense of the second. This post walks through what BC law actually requires the strata to insure, what falls to you, and the one gap that has cost local owners the most money in recent years.

What the strata policy is required to cover

Under section 149 of the Strata Property Act, the strata corporation must obtain and maintain property insurance on "common property, common assets, buildings shown on the strata plan, and fixtures built or installed by the owner developer as part of the original construction on the strata lot" (Strata Property Act, Part 9). That is a wide net. It takes in the roof, the hallways, the parkade, the building envelope, and the original guts of your unit.

The perils it has to cover are set out in the regulations: fire, lightning, smoke, windstorm, hail, explosion, water escape, strikes, riots or civil commotion, impact by aircraft and vehicles, vandalism and malicious acts (Province of BC). The strata must also carry liability insurance of at least $2,000,000, and the property coverage has to be written for full replacement value.

One detail surprises almost everyone. Under section 155, you are already a named insured on that policy, along with tenants and "the persons who normally occupy the strata lots" (Strata Property Act). The master policy is not something that belongs only to the strata council.

The word "fixtures" is where confusion starts

The regulation defines fixtures as "items attached to a building, including floor and wall coverings and electrical and plumbing fixtures," but not, "if they can be removed without damage to the building, refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, microwaves, washers, dryers or other items" (Province of BC).

Read that twice. Your original flooring and original plumbing fixtures sit on the strata policy. Your dishwasher does not. And there is a second filter on top: only what the owner developer installed as part of original construction counts. So if you or the owner before you tore out the builder grade carpet and put in engineered hardwood, that upgrade falls outside section 149. Section 152 lets a strata choose to insure fixtures that were not part of original construction. Some do. It is optional, not required.

What the strata policy will never do for you

The Province is blunt about this. "Strata corporation insurance does not cover personal liability, household contents, expenses for owners or tenants to live elsewhere after a loss, or paying the strata corporation's insurance deductible" (Province of BC).

So your own condo insurance is doing four jobs the master policy won't:

• Your contents. Furniture, clothing, electronics, the bike in the storage locker. The Insurance Bureau of Canada confirms the condo corporation's policy does not cover "personal contents, improvements to your unit, or liability" (IBC).
• Your improvements. The upgrades you made, and often the ones a previous owner made before you bought.
• Somewhere to live. Additional living expenses while your unit is being repaired after an insured loss.
• Your liability. Bodily injury or property damage you unintentionally cause to someone else.

Section 161 sets out what an owner is allowed to insure, and it is a longer list than most people expect: perils the strata does not insure, amounts in excess of what the strata insures, fixtures other than the original ones, improvements to original fixtures, lost rental value, and liability (Strata Property Act).

The deductible is the expensive gap

Here is the part worth slowing down for. Section 158(1) says paying a deductible on a strata claim is a common expense, shared through strata fees. But 158(2) adds that this "does not limit the capacity of the strata corporation to sue an owner in order to recover the deductible portion of an insurance claim if the owner is responsible for the loss or damage that gave rise to the claim" (Strata Property Act).

Responsible is not the same word as negligent. The Province's guidance for owners uses the example of a dishwasher water hose that prematurely breaks, notes that an owner may be required to pay the strata's deductible, and puts the current range of strata deductibles at "$100,000 to $750,000 or higher" (Province of BC).

That is why two coverages on a personal policy matter more than they used to. Deductible coverage responds when the strata comes after you for its deductible. Loss assessment coverage, which IBC describes as coverage that "pays your share ... of major property and liability losses" up to a stated limit and possibly subject to a deductible (IBC), responds when the loss gets spread across all owners. Neither is automatic, and the limits vary a great deal between insurers. That is exactly the kind of thing worth comparing rather than assuming.

Section 154 hands you a useful trigger. The strata must review its insurance annually, report on it at each annual general meeting, and "inform owners and tenants as soon as feasible of any material change in the strata corporation's insurance coverage, including any increase in an insurance deductible." When that notice lands in your inbox, treat it as a reason to call your broker rather than something to file away.

Water is what drives most of this

Water escape is on the mandatory perils list for a reason. In a stacked concrete building, one failed supply hose on the eleventh floor becomes a claim across five units.

Your personal water coverage is layered, though, and the layers are not all standard. IBC says a standard policy covers "sudden or accidental water damage caused by indoor plumbing, heating or air conditioning," while damage from sewer and drain backup "is typically not covered by a standard policy" and is sold as an option. Overland flooding, where rivers or dams overflow onto dry land, is also "typically not covered by a standard policy" and is offered separately by many insurers (IBC).

Ground floor units, garden suites and townhouse style strata lots in the lower lying parts of New Westminster and Coquitlam are where those endorsements earn their keep. IBC reported that severe weather caused more than $2.4 billion in insured damage across Canada in 2025, the tenth costliest year on record, and named December flooding in British Columbia among the year's notable events (IBC, January 2026).

What this doesn't tell you

A few honest limits.

Every strata is different. The Act sets a floor, not a ceiling. Your strata may insure more than section 149 requires, and your bylaws may allocate repair responsibility in ways the Act alone doesn't reveal. The only way to know is to read your building's actual insurance summary and bylaws.

"Responsible" is genuinely contested ground. Whether an owner is on the hook for a deductible in a specific incident turns on the facts and on the strata's bylaws. It is a legal question, not an insurance one, and nothing here predicts the outcome in your case.

Earthquake is not on the list of perils the regulation requires. Many BC stratas carry it anyway and many do not. Check, and check what the earthquake deductible looks like, because it is usually expressed as a percentage of building value rather than a flat dollar amount.

Deductible figures move. The $100,000 to $750,000 range is what the Province publishes on the page linked above. Your building's actual number appears on its insurance summary and Form B, and it may be well above or below that.

And none of this is a price. What you pay depends on your building, your claims history, your coverage choices and the insurer.

How to check your own gap this week

• Get the strata's current insurance summary and Form B, and write down the water damage deductible in dollars.
• Ask your broker for your policy's deductible coverage limit and your loss assessment limit, also in dollars.
• Add up your improvements honestly. Renovated kitchens in older Burnaby buildings are frequently underinsured.
• Confirm in writing whether sewer backup and overland water are on your policy.
• Compare your additional living expense limit against what a comparable rental in your neighbourhood actually rents for today.

Sources

• Province of British Columbia, *Insurance for strata corporations*, BC Strata Housing. Link
• Province of British Columbia, *Strata owner and tenant insurance*, BC Strata Housing. Link
• Government of British Columbia, *Strata Property Act*, S.B.C. 1998, c. 43, Part 9 (Insurance), sections 149 to 161, BC Laws. Link
• Insurance Bureau of Canada, *Types of home insurance coverage*. Link
• Insurance Bureau of Canada, *Water Damage and Flood Protection*. Link
• Insurance Bureau of Canada, *Severe weather-related insured losses in Canada exceed $2.4 billion in 2025*, January 20, 2026. Link

Milo Sarmiento is an independent insurance and investment broker based in Burnaby, and he compares coverage from Canada's major insurers. He speaks English and Tagalog. If you'd like someone to read your strata insurance summary next to your own policy and point out where the gaps sit, book a free no pressure call. No sales pitch, just a clear picture of where you stand.

*This article summarises published rules and research for general information, is current as of the date shown, and is not personalized financial, tax or legal advice.*