Volunteer on a Strata Council or Condo Board? Your Personal Exposure

Volunteering for a strata council or condo board is, on paper, an act of civic-minded tedium — a few evenings a month spent on reserve funds and noise complaints, done for free because somebody has to. Most directors who follow the rules and keep good records never face a personal claim over it, and that's the accurate common case worth saying plainly before anything else. The honest complication is that "the corporation is expected to indemnify me" and "I can't be personally named in a lawsuit" are two different statements, and volunteer directors regularly confuse them.

Can a strata council member or condo board director be sued personally in Canada?#

Yes. A plaintiff's lawyer pursuing a claim connected to the building — a slip-and-fall in a common area, a water-damage dispute, an allegation the board mishandled a repair or a bylaw enforcement — will commonly name every plausible defendant: the corporation, the property manager, and the individual directors who made or approved the relevant decision. Being named doesn't mean you'll ultimately be found liable. It does mean you need a legal defence, and that defence has to happen now, while the indemnification and insurance questions are still working themselves out.

Does the corporation's own insurance protect me automatically?#

Generally, yes for honest, good-faith conduct within your duties — but the word "automatically" is doing too much work if left unqualified. Ontario and BC both build the same basic shape into their legislation: the corporation is expected to stand behind directors acting honestly, and that protection has a defined edge.

Both frameworks share the same structural gap: indemnification and insurance respond to conduct genuinely undertaken in the role, done honestly. They are not a guarantee that you'll never be personally named, and they generally don't help at all if a court eventually finds you acted in bad faith.

What's NOT covered by that protection?#

Three situations sit outside the standard indemnification picture, and none of them are obvious to a first-time volunteer:

• A finding of dishonesty or bad faith. Both Ontario's Act and BC's Standard Bylaws draw the line here explicitly. If a court concludes you didn't act honestly and in good faith, the corporation's obligation to cover your costs generally disappears with that finding.
• Being sued as an owner, not as a director. If a dispute arises from something you did in your capacity as a unit owner — a boundary disagreement with a neighbour, your own unit's bylaw violation — the corporation's director protections generally don't apply, even if you also happen to sit on the board.
• The gap while it's being sorted out. Indemnification is often something the corporation confirms and pays after establishing that your conduct qualifies. If that determination is contested, delayed, or the corporation itself is under financial strain, a director can face real out-of-pocket exposure in the interim, not just in the eventual worst case.

How big is the corporation's own liability insurance, and does it cover me?#

In BC, the answer has an actual number behind it: the Strata Property Regulation requires a strata corporation to maintain liability insurance of at least $2,000,000, under the framework set out in section 150 of the Strata Property Act. That policy protects the corporation itself against claims for property damage and bodily injury — it's a substantial number, and it's real coverage, but it's the corporation's shield first. Whether and how far it extends to protect an individual council member personally named in a claim depends on the specific policy wording and the Standard Bylaws' good-faith protection described above, not on the $2 million figure alone.

Errors and omissions insurance written specifically for council members — closer to what's commonly called D&O coverage in the corporate world — is something a BC strata corporation may obtain. It is not a mandatory purchase the way the corporation's own liability policy is. Ontario's Condominium Act takes a similar "if reasonably available" approach to insuring directors and officers specifically, rather than making it an absolute requirement. In plain terms: ask your corporation directly whether it actually carries E&O or D&O coverage for individual directors, and get the certificate — don't assume the corporation's general liability policy automatically extends that specific protection to you personally.

Does my home policy or umbrella help fill the gap?#

Potentially, yes, and this mirrors exactly the layered protection a volunteer sports coach relies on, covered in full in You Coach Kids' Soccer. A Parent Sues. Now What?. The personal liability section of a homeowner, condo, or tenant policy commonly extends to unpaid volunteer activities, and board or council service is generally unpaid. A personal umbrella policy typically extends the same way, adding coverage above your home policy's limit specifically for volunteer exposure.

The honest caveat is the same one that applies to every layered-coverage scenario on this site: confirm it. Volunteer-director liability isn't always the first thing a broker thinks to flag when setting up a home or umbrella policy, and the moment to ask is before you accept a board seat, not after a demand letter arrives naming you personally.

What should I actually check before joining a board?#

A short, specific list turns a vague worry into something you can confirm in an afternoon:

1. Request the corporation's current insurance certificate. Confirm the liability limit and whether it includes any director-specific E&O or D&O coverage, not just general property and liability coverage for the building.
2. Ask whether the board follows a documented decision process. Meeting minutes, votes on record, and professional advice sought before major decisions are exactly the evidence that supports a "good faith" finding later, the same way a coach's certification and screening paperwork supports theirs.
3. Confirm your own home or umbrella policy's position on volunteer board service, in writing, rather than assuming it's automatically included.
4. Understand the difference between your role as owner and your role as director. Keep personal disputes about your own unit separate from board decisions where possible — mixing the two is exactly what erodes the "acting as a director" framing the indemnification protections depend on.

The bottom line#

Most volunteer directors who keep a paper trail, act in good faith, and confirm the corporation's insurance actually exists finish their term without ever personally paying for a claim — that part of the reassurance holds up. The part worth hearing before you agree to serve is that indemnification has an edge, insurance for directors specifically is often optional rather than mandatory, and being named as a defendant is a real event on its own, regardless of how the case eventually resolves. Ask for the certificate before the first meeting, not after the first letter.