A strata is a community before it's a corporation.
Our mission: help every strata corporation run as a healthy community: open about its money, ahead of its upkeep, fair in how it decides, and free to choose who helps run it.
Why strata living gets a bad name
Most stories about living in a strata start the same way. A special levy nobody saw coming. A leak reported twice before it reached the unit below. A decision made years ago whose reasons left with the council that made it. Neighbours end up arguing about what happened instead of deciding what to do next.
Very little of that is about difficult people. It is about information that arrived late, sat in one person’s inbox, or left with the management company. That part can be fixed.
What we're working toward
Strata living people recommend: neighbours working from the same facts, repairs made before they become emergencies, and a building each council leaves in better shape than it found it.
A volunteer who serves a year on council should be able to hand over to the next one without starting from scratch. Owners should be able to see what they owe and what was decided without chasing anyone. And the people who live there should be the first to say it’s a good building to live in.
Five commitments
What we believe a healthy strata needs, and what ManageStrata does about each one today.
1. Open by default
Trust in a strata comes from people seeing the same thing. Disputes shrink when the record is easy to read and hard to rewrite.
In ManageStrata today. Every owner sees their own balance and each charge and payment behind it. Minutes and announcements reach owners directly, votes are tallied as they come in, and votes, approvals and ledger entries can't be edited afterwards.
2. Ahead of things, not behind them
The costly problems in a building are usually the ones noticed too late: a lapsed certificate, a missed inspection, a reserve that can't cover the roof. Prevention is cheaper than repair, and calmer than a special levy.
In ManageStrata today. Every statutory date for your province sits on one calendar, with a reminder before each is due. The contingency reserve is planned against the depreciation report. Suggestions flag things like a contractor whose insurance has lapsed, each with its reason, and wait for someone on council to act.
3. Healthy on every side
A healthy strata is more than balanced books. Money, upkeep and people need looking after together, because trouble in one soon becomes trouble in the others.
In ManageStrata today. The operating fund and contingency reserve are kept apart, every lot has its own running ledger, and the books are matched against the bank statement. Repairs are followed from reported to done. Announcements reach owners, and tenants of rented lots. Meetings run to your province's own notice periods and vote thresholds, so a vote is fair and can be seen to be fair.
4. Free to choose how you're run
Each corporation should decide how it is managed: by its own council, with a property manager, or a mix of both. It should be able to change its mind later. The tools a council depends on shouldn't belong to one management company and leave when the contract ends.
In ManageStrata today. ManageStrata works alongside the manager you have, or without one. Your council can end a manager's access and invite the next one without losing anything, and both changes are logged. A council that turns over at the AGM hands the next one a working record, not a box of binders.
5. The record belongs to the corporation
Your documents, decisions and books belong to the corporation. Not to us, and not to your manager. You should always be able to take them with you.
In ManageStrata today. Every record belongs to one corporation and can't be reached from another. Your data stays in Canada, and you choose how long each kind of record is kept. Any document downloads exactly as it was uploaded. A full export of the books and records isn't built yet. It is the next piece of this commitment, and this page will say when it's ready.
What we won't do
Sell your information
We don't sell personal information: not owners', not tenants', not anyone's.Make the decision for you
Anything ManageStrata drafts shows where it came from and waits for a person on council to approve it.Tie you to a manager
ManageStrata isn't bundled with any management company. Changing yours doesn't mean changing how your strata keeps its records.
Start with your own building
If this is how you want your strata to run, bring your council in. It’s free up to 4 lots, and larger buildings can try it free for 30 days.