What Does a Strata Management Company Actually Do?

Ask ten owners what their strata manager does and you'll get ten different answers. Some think it's just bookkeeping. Some think the manager runs the building. Both are wrong.

A professional strata management firm in BC is the operational arm of the strata corporation. The council still makes decisions; the manager executes them, advises on options, and handles every transaction the corporation enters into. Below is the full inventory, broken into the four service domains.

Financial administration

This is the most visible part of the job and the part most likely to be regulated. Under BCFSA's licensing rules, strata management firms must hold all client money in separate trust accounts, audited annually, with strict reconciliation requirements.

What's actually delivered each month

• Strata fee billing and collection: producing monthly invoices, tracking pre-authorized debits, processing cheques, recording payments to each owner's ledger.
• Arrears administration: reminder notices, demand letters, lien filings on title, and (in extreme cases) coordinating with the corporation's lawyer for forced sale.
• Accounts payable: vetting every invoice received against the corporation's contracts, getting any required council approval, paying from the operating trust.
• Monthly financial package: an income statement, balance sheet, accounts receivable aging, and bank reconciliation circulated to council before each meeting.
• Annual budget preparation: usually a month-long process: gathering quotes for next year's contracted services, projecting utility costs, modelling reserve fund contributions, and presenting drafts to council before the AGM.
• Year-end and audit: closing the books, preparing draft financial statements, and supporting the corporation's auditor through to issuance of the AGM-ready financial statements.

Governance & meeting administration

Every formal meeting of the corporation has notice rules, quorum rules, and minute requirements set out in the Strata Property Act. Get them wrong and a decision can be challenged at the Civil Resolution Tribunal years later.

Council meetings

Most stratas hold 6–12 council meetings per year. The manager prepares the agenda from a running issues list, attends the meeting (typically 60–120 minutes), drafts minutes, circulates the draft for approval, and finalises the record. Decisions become action items on the manager's task list before the next meeting.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The Act requires the AGM within two months of the corporation's fiscal year-end. The manager handles statutory notice (typically 14 days, longer for some resolutions), prepares the financial package and budget, accepts proxies, runs the election, scrutineers the votes, and produces the certified minutes.

Special General Meetings (SGMs)

Convened mid-year for time-sensitive matters: usually a special levy, a major repair authorisation, or a bylaw change that can't wait. The manager handles the same notice and minute work on a compressed timeline.

Bylaw enforcement

When a council instructs the manager to enforce a bylaw, the manager issues the warning letter, hears any owner response, and recommends fines or escalation. The manager doesn't decide on enforcement (the council does) but the manager runs the process and keeps the records that withstand a CRT challenge.

Building & contractor coordination

This is the most variable part of the job. A 12-unit townhouse strata generates very different operational work from a 250-unit concrete high-rise.

Routine maintenance

• Scheduling and supervising contracted services: cleaning, landscaping, window cleaning, garbage and recycling, elevator service, fire safety, generator testing.
• Tendering new contracts when current ones expire (typically every 3 years).
• Issuing access for trade visits and tracking warranty work.

Capital projects

For larger work (roof replacement, building envelope, balcony rebuilds) the manager coordinates the consulting engineer, distributes tender packages, supports council through contractor selection, manages the contract, processes progress draws, and reports against budget.

Emergency response

The 3am water leak. A licensed firm provides 24-hour coverage so that a flooded suite reaches a real person who can dispatch a restoration company within an hour. This is one of the clearest reasons many councils prefer a licensed firm to self-management.

Insurance

The corporation's insurance broker handles placement, but the manager handles the operational side: gathering renewal data, coordinating appraisals (typically every 3 years), filing claims, and following claims through to settlement. With BC strata deductibles for water damage often exceeding $50,000, claims management is consequential.

Compliance & advisory

The Strata Property Act has been amended several times in the past five years, and 2024–2026 brought significant changes around depreciation reports and short-term rentals. Tracking the changes and translating them into action is part of the manager's job.

• Depreciation reports: commissioning, reviewing, and now (post-2024) maintaining the five-year cycle.
• BC Registry filings: the corporation's annual report.
• Sales documentation: producing the Information Certificate (Form B), Form F (certificate of payment), and bylaws/minutes packages on request, usually with strict turnaround.
• Legal liaison: coordinating with strata lawyers on bylaw drafts, CRT proceedings, and disputes.
• Educational updates: briefings to council on legislative or regulatory changes (this guide is one of those).

Where it intersects with council work

The boundary between manager and council can be confusing. The general rule:

• Decisions are the council's: budgets, contractor selection, bylaw enforcement choices, capital project authorization.
• Execution and documentation are the manager's: paying invoices, sending notices, drafting minutes, monitoring the trades.
• Advice is shared: the manager surfaces options and risks; council weighs them and decides.

Most well-functioning relationships work this way for years. The breakdowns happen when councils ask managers to make decisions (a recipe for unrecorded liability) or when managers make decisions without council direction (a breach of agency).

For a deeper look at how to evaluate whether your firm is delivering all of this, see our guide on choosing the right strata management company, or read the broader strata management guide.