Are doorbell cameras legal in Canadian condos?
A doorbell camera in a house points at your own porch. The same camera on a condo unit points at a shared hallway used by every neighbour on your floor — and that difference is exactly why condos need their own answer to this question, not the same one that applies to a single-family home.
Why condos are different from single-family homes
A single-family home’s front step is exclusively yours. A condo hallway is common property shared by every unit on that floor — which means a camera pointed at your own door is, almost unavoidably, also pointed at a space other people have a reasonable expectation of moving through without being recorded.
What BC strata rules actually require
British Columbia has the clearest guidance on this specific scenario. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has required strata councils to formally authorize camera installations that capture common areas, and has specifically addressed doorbell cameras monitoring shared hallways as falling under this requirement. Other provinces don’t have identical guidance, but the underlying privacy principle — common areas have real, if limited, privacy expectations — applies more broadly than just BC.
Ontario, Alberta, and the rest of the country don’t have BC’s specific regulatory guidance on doorbell cameras in shared hallways, but that doesn’t mean anything goes. Condo corporations across Canada commonly govern this through their own bylaws rather than provincial privacy law directly, and many buildings have adopted policies on cameras in common areas regardless of what province they’re in. The safest assumption anywhere in Canada is the same: check before you install, don’t assume silence in the bylaws means it’s automatically fine.
What your camera actually captures
Most doorbell cameras have a wide field of view by design, meant to catch a package on the step or someone approaching from an angle. In a condo hallway, that same wide angle typically captures the doors of one or more neighbouring units and anyone walking past them — not because of any intent, but because of how the hardware is built. This is worth understanding before installation, not after a complaint.
How to get it approved
Check your strata bylaws or condo corporation rules first — many buildings already have a specific policy on this exact scenario. Request written approval rather than relying on a verbal understanding with the property manager. Position and adjust the field of view to minimize hallway capture where the camera’s settings allow it — some models let you mask or crop specific zones out of the recorded frame.
Installing in a condo? We help confirm placement before we drill anything.
Frequently asked questions
Not universally, but many do, and BC has specific regulatory guidance requiring strata authorization for cameras capturing common areas. Check your specific building’s bylaws.
Many models support privacy zones or view masking in their settings — worth checking before or after installation to reduce what’s captured beyond your own door.
Most buildings will refer it to the strata council or condo corporation to review against existing bylaws. Having written approval in place beforehand avoids this becoming a dispute.
Yes — a hallway is exactly the kind of shared space where conversations between other residents are likely, raising the same federal audio-recording concerns covered in our guide to security camera audio law.
Not legally — the same common-area privacy principles apply to any camera capturing shared condo space, regardless of whether it’s marketed as a “doorbell” camera or a general security camera.