June 25, 2020

Honourable , MLA Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Room 310, Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Sent by email: [email protected]

Honourable Carole James, MLA Minister of Finance Room 153, Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Sent by email: [email protected]

Dear Ministers,

RE: Strata insurance

On behalf of 23,000 REALTORS® and 11 real estate boards, thank you for taking steps to deal with the high cost of strata insurance in BC. Thank you, also, for recognizing the complexity of this issue and taking the time to gather research and consult.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) has appreciated working with your staff and other stakeholders to be part of the solution. Like you, we are concerned about the impact of high strata insurance costs and we are committed to continue to work on this issue.

BCREA is eager to see the Form B Information Certificate amended to include strata insurance information, so we hope that will happen soon after Bill 19 receives Royal Assent. We also appreciate the increased transparency measures requiring strata corporations to inform owners of insurance changes and insurers to give more notice to strata corporations of changes to coverage costs or an intent not to renew.

On the other hand, many of the changes introduced on June 23 will require additional consultation, and we trust that you and your teams will maintain your collaborative approach now and through the fall when we see more findings from the BC Financial Services Authority. BCREA is especially interested in ongoing dialogue about circumstances

Hon. Selina Robinson, Hon. Carole James Page 2 June 25, 2020 in which strata corporations are not requires to get full insurance coverage, insurance responsibilities of strata owners and strata councils and depreciation reporting requirements.

Please contact me directly to discuss any of this further ([email protected]; 604.742.2798).

As you know, BCREA is the professional association for BC Realtors, focusing on provincial issues that impact real estate. Working with the province’s 11 real estate boards, BCREA provides continuing professional education, advocacy, economic research and standard forms to help Realtors provide value for their clients.

To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.

Yours sincerely,

Trevor Hargreaves Vice President, Government Relations and Stakeholder Engagement

Copies: , MLA – Kamloops-South Thompson ([email protected]) , MLA – Prince George-Valemount ([email protected]) , MLA – ([email protected]) Blair Morrison, BC Financial Services Authority ([email protected]) Kaye Krishna, Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing ([email protected]) Lori Wanamaker, Deputy Minister of Finance ([email protected]) Doug Page, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing ([email protected])