Blog

Managing Employees in Strata Corporations: The Expanding Role of Strata Managers

As we wrote about in Part 1 of this series, the role of a strata manager has never been more complex. The role of strata managers in British Columbia has significantly evolved, especially as employment laws and workplace regulations have become increasingly stringent. Traditionally, strata managers focused on property maintenance, finances and resolving resident concerns. However, today’s regulatory landscape has transformed their responsibilities, requiring them to navigate complex human resources (HR) tasks, ensure compliance with legal requirements, and manage the growing expectations of Strata Councils, which are often composed of laypersons with limited HR expertise.

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As election seasons approach, strata corporations in British Columbia must be aware of their responsibilities to ensure that residents can fully participate in the democratic process. Whether it’s a provincial, federal, or municipal election, legal obligations must be met to facilitate canvassing and the display of election signage. Below, we outline these responsibilities and reference the relevant sections of the applicable legislation.  As always, we are not a substitute for legal advice- but the legislation provisions are fairly clear and must be followed even if you may prefer not to have canvassers within your property, or election-related signage displayed on it.

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The Increasing Complexity of Strata Management: Navigating Climate Change Regulations

This will be the first of several blog posts on the evolving landscape of strata management in British Columbia. As the industry changes, strata corporations and management companies face new challenges that are driving up costs and reshaping the way we do business. Whether it’s the increasing complexity of the job relating to evolving regulatory frameworks, a shortage of skilled professionals, or the growing number of strata corporations, these factors are making it necessary for us—and others in the industry—to be more knowledgeable, experienced, and professional with our service offerings. This places a necessary upward pressure on pricing, which we’ve written about in the past. Strata councils themselves, often made up of volunteers, are also feeling the strain as they are asked to take on more responsibilities in this increasingly complex environment.

In this post, we’ll focus on one of the leading factors contributing to these changes: climate change-related regulatory compliance.

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The Provincial Government has announced Order in Council 204-2024, which was deposited today (April 22, 2024).

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We have written in the past about Court judgements reiterating the necessity for Employers to ensure their workplaces are free of harassment and bullying.  There is no question that all workplaces must be entirely free of such behaviour.  As an Employer, Stratawest has always taken our obligation to prevent abusive behaviour toward our staff very seriously and that includes those staff we work with at properties we manage. We have a zero tolerance policy for it when it occurs.  Our field is relatively challenging in this regard- as noted in our previous post on the subject we recognize that emotions will be charged when dealing with people’s homes which are almost always also their primary investment.  We try hard to be respectful of individuals who are often coming to us with a challenging issue on what may be one of their worst days, i.e. experiencing a catastrophic loss in their home.  We also try hard to ensure that appropriate limits are placed on the tone of communication directed toward us.  Unfortunately, this sometimes means taking steps such as outright prohibiting individuals from calling and/or visiting our office and demanding that all communication be in writing.We take whatever action is required to correct the situation and protect our workplace environment and we encourage all employers to do the same.

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From time to time, we try to share relevant seminars with our clients so that they can get a more in-depth analysis of major issues facing Strata Corporations.  Our friends at CCI BC (of which we are a proud long time seminar) will be hosting a free webinar addressing what they descirbe as “Dealing with an Aging Building”.  Topics will include how to identify and manage major deficiencies, discussing real life examples that highlight the challenges of dealing with an aging builidng, and providing an overview of the strata wind up process.

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Our 13^th Annual Stratawest Christmas Toy Drive & Fundraiser for Harvest Project was a massive success this holiday season. We were able to provide 20 bikes through Obsession Bikes & Bikes for Tykes to Family Services of the North Shore along with carloads of toys delivered to the North Shore Christmas Bureau, and raised over $20,000 AGAIN for our friends at Harvest Project to help continue their amazing work in our community- extending a hand up, not a hand out.

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With the explosive growth of Electric Vehicles being sold over the last few years expected to continue well into the future, supported by a government ban on the sale of gasoline powered vehicles by 2035, multi-unit residential buildings including Strata Corporations will face escalating pressures to accommodate the home charging of these cars.  Like it or not, EVs are not going anywhere.

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Earlier this year, the Civil Resolution Tribunal decided on a case that has notable implications for Strata Corporation operations here in the province of British Columbia.  You can read more about the decision here, and the decision itself is available at the CRT website here.  The case spins on the use of email as a means of communication and crucially, decision making, for Strata Councils. 

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In January 2023, the Provincial cabinet produced Order in Council No. 32 which amended portions of the Strata Property Act relating to the minimum contributions to the Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF).

A phased approach was taken at the time, allowing Strata Corporations to amend their budgets accordingly.  That phased window is now closed, as November 1st brings the Order into effect for all Strata Corporations.

Going forward, every Strata Corporation (regardless of their current CRF Balance) must contribute 10% of their Operating fund (in the Order it notes “contributions”, ie. the Strata Fee portion) to the Contingency Reserve Fund.

In other words, if your Strata anticipates $1,000,000 in Strata Fees to be collected in your budget, then you must allocate at least $100,000 to the CRF.  The previous provision, allowing Strata Corporations with a pre-set minimum balance in their CRF to opt out of a contribution has been removed.

Our friends at CHOA have put together a helpful article on this subject which you can find here if you’d like to read more: https://choa.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/700-020-CRF-contributions-increase-Nov-1-2023.pdf

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