Guide · Updated June 2026 · 10 min read
Strata property management in BC
Everything a British Columbia strata corporation needs to operate well — whether you hire a management company or self-manage. This guide covers the council’s duties, Strata Property Act compliance, finances, and the tools that make self-management practical.
In short
Strata property management is the operation and administration of a strata corporation: maintaining common property, managing the operating fund and contingency reserve fund (CRF), enforcing bylaws, holding annual general meetings, and meeting obligations under BC’s Strata Property Act. In British Columbia it can be done by a hired strata management company or self-managed by the owners’ elected strata council.
What is strata property management?
When you own a unit (a “strata lot”) in a condo, townhouse complex, or duplex in BC, you automatically belong to a strata corporation — the legal entity that owns and runs the shared parts of the property. Managing that corporation well means looking after five things at once: maintenance of common property, money (two separate funds), governance and meetings, bylaw enforcement, and statutory compliance.
Those responsibilities sit with the elected strata council. The council can delegate day-to-day work to a professional strata management company, or handle it themselves — what’s called a self-managed strata.
Self-managed vs. professional management
Most small BC stratas can be self-managed. Roughly a third of the province’s strata corporations have 10 units or fewer, and more than a quarter have four or fewer (see BC strata statistics), where a management company’s monthly fee is hard to justify. The trade-off is time and organisation — which is exactly what good software removes.
City by city, see what running a strata looks like in Kelowna, Vernon, Kamloops, Penticton, Victoria, Burnaby, Surrey, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Langley and Chilliwack.
| Consideration | Self-managed | Management company |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Software only ($0, then $3.96 a unit or less) | $25–$60+ per unit |
| Control & transparency | Full — owners run it | Delegated to a third party |
| Response time | Immediate (you decide) | Depends on the firm |
| Compliance expertise | Tooling + guides fill the gap | Provided by the manager |
| Time commitment | A few hours / month | Minimal for the council |
| Best fit | Duplexes & small/mid stratas | Large or complex buildings |
- Monthly cost
- Self-managed: Software only ($0, then $3.96 a unit or less)
- Management company: $25–$60+ per unit
- Control & transparency
- Self-managed: Full — owners run it
- Management company: Delegated to a third party
- Response time
- Self-managed: Immediate (you decide)
- Management company: Depends on the firm
- Compliance expertise
- Self-managed: Tooling + guides fill the gap
- Management company: Provided by the manager
- Time commitment
- Self-managed: A few hours / month
- Management company: Minimal for the council
- Best fit
- Self-managed: Duplexes & small/mid stratas
- Management company: Large or complex buildings
What strata management involves
Whether self-managed or not, the corporation must keep the governance machinery running. The core recurring duties are:
- Governance & meetings — calling the AGM with proper notice and quorum, running votes, and recording compliant minutes.
- Rules — knowing the difference between bylaws and rules and enforcing them consistently.
- Records & disclosure — issuing Form B and Form F on request, a frequent friction point in BC sales.
Strata Property Act compliance in BC
Compliance is where self-managed councils feel the most pressure — and where the stakes have risen. The headline item: BC’s depreciation report requirements, which now require strata corporations of five or more lots to obtain one and renew it every five years. Alongside that sit the contingency reserve fund contribution rules and a calendar of meeting and notice obligations.
Finances: fees, reserves & levies
A strata runs two funds: an operating fund for day-to-day costs and the CRF for major repairs. Owners contribute through strata fees, and when the CRF can’t cover a big project, the council raises a special levy. Clean, auditable books for both funds are a legal expectation — not a nicety.
Software for self-managed stratas
The right software turns the list above into a routine your council can actually keep: it tells you what’s due before the date, keeps the operating and contingency reserve books straight, runs the AGM and writes up the minutes, and answers questions about your own documents. A council member approves the work before it counts. For a feature-by-feature breakdown, see what to look for in self-managed strata software and our comparison of the leading options for BC.
ManageStrata is purpose-built for self-managed BC stratas.
Know what’s due, keep the books straight, run the AGM, and ask your documents a question — free up to 4 lots.
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