Condo bylaws prohibiting pets don’t apply to working dogs.

Provincial legislation introduced last month makes this clear as part of measures boosting the rights of people who rely on trained canines in their daily lives.

The changes are contained in Bill 17, or the Guide Dog and Service Dog Act, which will replace the Guide Animal Act. It will update provisions in the current law regarding access to public spaces, transit, and housing by people with disabilities.

Once passed, the legislation will prevent disagreements between strata councils and residents with working dogs, a situation that Rob Sleath is familiar with.

Sleath is chair of the advocacy coalition Access for Sight Impaired Consumers (ASIC). He also sits on the national board of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

“I have advocated on behalf of people who live in stratas where there is a no-pet policy, and it’s a difficult situation because the strata takes the position, ‘That’s a pet,’ and we have to explain to them the difference between a pet and a working guide dog,” Sleath said in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight.

Bill 17 is making its way through the B.C. legislative assembly, and it is welcomed by two organizations representing strata councils in the province.

Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C., noted that the proposed legislation bolsters protection for people with disabilities under the Human Rights Code.

“It’s providing some cleaner and clearer definition for the public,” Gioventu told the Straight by phone. “We have strata corporations who have intentionally attempted to deny people to live in buildings if they have service dogs.”

Conflicts involving working dogs have led to complaints being brought before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

With Bill 17 amending the Strata Property Act to exempt working dogs from no-pet policies in condos, these fights won’t be necessary, according to Sandy Wagner, president of the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association.

In a phone interview with the Straight, Wagner described how misunderstandings arise: “An owner says, ‘I have a certified guide dog.’ Strata says, ‘So? It still says no pets.’ ”

In addition to clarity about pet rules in stratas, the proposed legislation also strengthens tenancy rights in rental homes.

Under current legislation, landlords cannot deny tenancy to either a blind person who has a guide dog or others with a different disability who use a service dog.

According to ASIC’s Sleath, Bill 17 goes a step further by providing that retired working dogs can stay with their owners who are either renters or condo property owners.

“That was a big problem with the old act because when these dogs retire, if the handler was living in rental or strata accommodation, they could be asked to remove the dog or the dog could be evicted,” Sleath said. “And that’s basically like asking a family member to leave the premises because they’ve stopped working or they’ve become too old.”