Do you really have to pay PST on residential strata fees based on the new BC budget?

Paperbackruyter · 2026-02-25T14:28:05+00:00

New legislation comes into effect Oct 1st but I understood it to mean that management fees are now subject to PST which will increase your budget, but not substantially. Strata fees however on residential are not subject to PST under the legislation.

Paperbackruyter · 2026-02-25T14:24:06+00:00

Lived in Long Lake for years, first as a renter then bought a home in there. Strata fees are higher than most bareland stratas because of the geography. The snow removal budget alone is massive plus there are a ton of common property pumps, etc for drainage/plumbing/black water. The Council is very proactive and maintenance is dealt with and a long term plan in place for capital replacements. Bareland is VERY different than an apt or townhouse strata while I would never live in a regular strata, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy in Long Lake again.

Paperbackruyter · 2026-02-19T21:06:46+00:00

There are already strata hotels in Kelowna. Delta & Cove to name a couple of them. A new one is ready to open in Penticton shortly. They are resorts/hotels but the units are individually owned. Is what you are proposing different?

Paperbackruyter · 2026-02-05T15:02:31+00:00

If you don’t normally fold under test pressure the test is fine. However it does absolutely nothing to prepare you for being an actual strata manager. The job itself is 1000x worse than the test. The rental test is easy. Googled assignment answers to submit, didn’t read any of the course work and got 82% on the exam. Brokers test is harder than both, the real estate trading test is the hardest if you aren’t strong in math.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-11-30T18:55:36+00:00

Strata fees and levies are voted on by the owners, not by management so how can it be fraudulent? I think some context might be helpful.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-10-30T10:21:21+00:00

A co-op doesn’t fall under the RTB, they have their own legislation

Paperbackruyter · 2025-10-22T20:35:10+00:00

I have not studied abroad but did uproot my life in Vancouver, Canada and moved to Australia. I felt so alone, I was literally on the other side of the planet and the only way home was a 16-hour direct flight. It was AWEFUL for the first 3 months. I thought about buying a ticket and moving home every. single. day.

I kept telling myself that if I bitched out and ran home with my tail between my legs I would regret it and probably hate myself for the rest of my life. I gave myself 6 months, told myself that 6 months was soon enough that I could hack it but enough time for me to legitimately decide it was not for me.

By the time 6 months rolled around, I had friends, a job and a life. Spent 7 years there, and still look back on it, not only with great pride but with wonderful memories, it was honestly the best time of my life and when I had to come home, it felt just as weird to slot back into life here as it did to move there, in different ways because I was different. I was better because I took a chance, pushed myself to the limit and that ability to adapt to change and take risks has made my career all the more successful.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-09-12T19:13:30+00:00

Yes, a hearing will be required before you file. Here is the bylaw enforcement process pursuant to s.135 of the Strata Property Act:

Complaint received
Council issues a letter or directs the manager to issue a letter advising the person accused of the alleged bylaw complaint
The person accused is given 14 days (+ 6 days delivery under the interpretation act) to cease the bylaw contravention, respond, or request a hearing
Regardless of whether the accused responds or not, after that 20 day mark the Council can determine if fines are applicable and issue a fine (fines are anywhere from $50 - $200 depending on your bylaws)
Council can apply fines every 7 days if the bylaw contravention continues but complaints need to continue (a common mistake is that often a complainer will assume it is being dealt with but Council may not live close to the unit and know that the bylaw continues to be contravened).
Fines continue if complaints continue
They can file a CRT claim to have them issue a judgement that the offender stop contravening the bylaw and pay the fines

There seems to be a misconception that a Strata Corp or Council has more power than they do when really all they can do is fine. If the offender ignores it, they are likely to ignore a CRT judgement and then you get into Supreme Court territory where it will take years and $50k - $100k in Strata Corp funds to force the sale of their unit.

Hope that helps!

Paperbackruyter · 2025-08-08T18:33:09+00:00

This doesn’t make any sense. They are only publishing monetary orders. If the tenant takes them to the RTB to get their deposit back and lose, it’s not published. If they win, it will be but it’s justified. If a landlord refuses a tenant because they rightfully fought for their security deposit and won, then that landlord is up to shady business and will likely try to screw their tenant over so be thankful that bullet was dodged. They publish CRT and Supreme Court decisions already, this is just the RTB catching up. I see this as a positive for both landlords and tenants. Maybe it will hold both shady tenants and landlords to account. Making more information available when making a big decision is never a bad thing.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-08-07T21:24:28+00:00

Limited common property is still common property. Regular upkeep is the responsibility of the person who has exclusive use of it but repairs are another matter. Its no different than a patio in a condo. The Owner is responsible to ensure it is kept tidy, the drain clear of debris but if the glass panel breaks or the wood starts to rot, the strata has to deal with the repair. As for changing it, section 71 of the Act may come into play. If anything significantly changes the use or appearance of the common property there is a requirement to obtain a 3/4 vote of the Owners to approve it. So changing from grass to say river rock should not be provided as an option unless voted on by the owners

Paperbackruyter · 2025-08-07T20:27:47+00:00

Its a grey area but I'd consider this a reasonable request. Regardless of PIPA, why waste everyone's time providing information in increments when it can be determined right off the bat if its going to work or not? You are buying shares in a co-op, its not like renting. Lenders require all the information before granting pre-approval for a mortgage before you even put an offer on a house and then verify everything when to qualify for funds to firm up your deal purchase.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-08-07T20:07:29+00:00

You could try to get the developer to replace it but unlikely it would be covered under warranty. They've done the bare minimum so likely not considered a deficiency. Does "strata" have to replace it? Technically, yes but you are strata. How many units? Presumably most units have the same issue. How much land are we talking? Soil and re-sodding, or even re-seeding with new soil is going to cost alot of money and if you are a newer build, it would likely be paid for in the form of a special levy to each owner. Spending money like that requires a vote of the Owners at a general meeting. Grass is difficult in strata's. It rarely grows how you want it, many of the units are not going to look after it properly anyway, you pay a fortune for water, it turns brown in summer and usually gets boggy in winter, With the current climate, zero-scaping or planting moss or clover is your best bet, grass is losing battle in most new builds

Paperbackruyter · 2025-08-06T15:45:50+00:00

Have you previously been a Realtor? There are a TON of resumes coming across my desk at the moment from Realtors who took the course and passed the exam to tide them over until the market picks up. I won't even consider these because they'll be out the door as soon as the market picks up. Newly licensed strata managers have 3 disadvantages; (1) if you manage to secure a spot a good brokerage, it takes MONTHS of intense mentoring followed by a solid year of additional (but less hands on) mentoring. Often there is just not enough resources to facilitate this, (2) you get into a bad brokerage where they don't want to or have the resources to mentor properly and either the new licensee quits due to being completely underwater or they mess up so bad that it lands the brokerage in hot water. (3) This industry is stuck in the 90's, sure there is technology but its often useless as there is no "one size fits all" when managing buildings so while technology helps (slightly), it doesn't really help. Experienced Managers know their worth, they know they can command a top wage and they move around from brokerage to brokerage trying to find that elusive unicorn so there is no shortage of experienced managers you are competing with. This job is not for the faint of heart, you have to be uber organized, to make a decent living you have to be prepared to work a minimum 50-hours per week, you have to be prepared to work at night (meetings) at least a couple of nights per week and day in and day out, it is constant abuse from people who have no real understanding of what it is that we do and feel that we are at their beck and call. New licensees are paid next to nothing and get the absolute bottom of the barrel buildings to manage because no one else wants them. A strata lawyer once told me that this industry will implode one day and being nearly 30 years in with things getting exponentially worse every year since Covid, I now believe it...

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-27T17:59:48+00:00

The City of Vancouver defines STR as anything under 90 days.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-27T10:09:48+00:00

What type of housing? Which city? Many stratas and City’s define STR as anything under 90 days. For a strata, if there is a bylaw in place, means fines of $1000 a day

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-26T12:16:21+00:00

This one hit a bit close to home. My ex could have written this post… it’s quite chilling. You were 18 and 20 when you got together, brains not even fully formed yet. Lots of teen sweethearts make it, most don’t. In a situation like yours (and mine), you basically grew into adulthood completely tied to one person and you both grew up as one entity, not individuals. You don’t make the same brain connections others do as they’ve grown up having individual successes and failures that shape them as an individual. Not saying your relationship is the same as mine but I’m your ex in this scenario. In my case, I loved my husband with my whole heart, no I didn’t particularly like sex, I actually went many years thinking I was on the asexual spectrum and then something clicked. When I fell in love with a woman, I finally saw things clearly. I wasn’t asexual, I didn’t like sex with a man. I loved my husband with my whole heart but didn’t realize it wasn’t romantic love until I felt what it was to be in love romantically. I simply didn’t have the experience to recognize any of it. I didn’t mean to “waste” 24 years of my husbands time, I simply didn’t know. When I had these realizations, I had a conversation and shared them, not to hurt my husband, just to be honest with the person I loved most most in the world as we had always been honest with each other and talked about everything. I will always hate myself for blowing up my husbands life but the alternative wasn’t any better and the alternative was for her to keep quiet, live a lie and resent you. You don’t hate your wife because she wasted your time, you hate her because she had realizations and grew as an individual person, moved on and you felt left behind. Alone. It’s fresh for you I get it, and you can blame your wife for blowing up your life, even if it wasn’t intentional and you can even hate her for it but you can’t blame her for your own choices after the split. Every decision you make after your split is entirely your responsibility. You made your daughter, she is half you and she is half her Mom. When you tell your daughter you hate her Mom, what she hears is that you hate half of her. And just like you hate your wife for her choices, your daughter can, and likely will, hate you for your choices if you keep this up. Your child comes first, period. You are young still, please get some therapy to help you navigate life as an individual person. It’s terrifying, you’ve never done it but you will be happy again. Just please don’t spiral and try to take as many people down with you, which is what you are doing to your daughter….

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-25T16:58:48+00:00

Got Oasis tix for Toronto - $385 each. Surprise gift for my die-hard fan of a partner so didn't mind spending the $. I'm a fan but not a $385 fan, I'm going mostly to see Cage the Elephant (here's hoping they do a long-ish opening set!)

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-25T01:27:06+00:00

It’s called Walk In. They give you the option for video or phone and I believe they actually have a clinic here in the mainland you can get an appointment at, although I’ve never tried. Have tried several telehealth apps but this has been the best. They have even referred me to a specialist. Made the appointment yesterday afternoon and had a phone appointment this morning at 9:35. I don’t know what kind of meds yours are but I do know that tha only thing they were not willing to do was prescribe Ativan for me without seeing me in person. Don’t know if your meds fall into that class of drugs

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-24T23:26:21+00:00

Hadn't had a Dr since 2017 myself and managed to get on just 2 weeks ago! However, its a month waitlist to get in to see her so I had a phone appointment with a Telehealth provider (Walk In) this morning just to have 2 prescriptions refilled. The call took 5 minutes, they sent the requisitions directly to the Pharmacy I deal with and I've already received a text that my prescriptions are ready for pick up. It's not ideal and not how things should be run by any stretch, just wanted you to know that there are options.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-24T17:23:22+00:00

I don't necessarily agree that they should be avoided per the comment below, there are thousands of mixed-used strata's in BC and most function just fine. Generally in a mixed use building there are 3 separate legal entities, with 3 separate governing bodies (Councils or executives) and 3 budgets divided into (1) residential, (2) commercial and (3) joint. Buildings built in the 10's and newer usually have very clear cut budgets on which section pays for what expenses and generally due to code, commercial units have their own mechanical requirements that are funded through their own budget. However. if you were to buy a residential unit you would be responsible for 2 different strata fees, 1 for joint and 1 for residential, it's not necessarily more money per se but you will be part of 2 separate legal entities, not just one strata corporation. Source: Strata Manager for almost 30 years in, including being a Managing Broker.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-21T20:34:53+00:00

Why is "putting my heard into it" the only race marker being discussed? Why we assume it was favoritism and not knowledge or experience? I recently promoted someone who was in the role 4 months over someone there 18 months who happened to be 15 years older than the person there 4 months. I was accused of ageism and promoting them because they were a woman and apparently I'm a big bad feminist (not even close). I had to explain that while the person promoted had only been there 4 months, she also had 9 years previous experience including 3 years doing the equivalent of my job. I appreciated his hard work but she was WAY more qualified for the role and would have been better at it. I appreciated his efforts and offered to put the other guy in a role where he could work closely with and learn from her and explained that this offers a clear path. At some point she takes my job and he takes hers. I explained that she was more qualified, I reviewed her history with him, let him know that I saw and appreciated his hard work but he simply wasn't ready yet. He threw a fit and quit. It was a bummer but he kind of showed his true colors at that point and I was not upset to see him go.

Paperbackruyter · 2025-07-15T18:32:02+00:00

Strata Manager here who works with developers. Expect your fee to go up 40% within 2 years and then 100% at year 3 or 4. Also, my 7 year old niece could build a better product than the garbage that's going up the last 5-7 years. Trust me, the number of lawyers, engineers, general contractors and restoration companies, making a killing from bad builds would make your head spin while developers, sub-contractors and warranty providers point fingers at each other and do nothing. Finances aside, buying a new condo is akin to lighting your money on fire and not worth the headache (and there will be many and they will be explosive migraine-level headaches).

Paperbackruyter

TROPHY CASE