Council

We appreciate you.

In case no one has said that recently, we want you to know that you play a crucial role in the success of the Strata Corporation. As we primarily work with you, it's top of our minds to communicate that you matter to your community and to us.

The role of a Strata Council is demanding and can be extremely challenging. How you choose to lead sets a tone for the life of the community and the health and wellness of the owners. You must be an impartial judge, compassionate ear, an observant and inquisitive manager, attentive to detail and you must do it all while also working a full time job. Whew!

We take our role as your support very seriously. We know you have many obligations and wear a lot of hats, and we strive to take the guesswork out of the big things, providing reliable service and timely advice.

Below we have compiled some useful information which is a good refresher for those who are experienced council members, and a great introduction to those just getting started. It will help you understand your role and provide some great resources for you to do additional research if you need to.

Please feel free to reach out anytime if you need help!

What is the role of the Strata Council?

The Act states that the Strata Council’s role is to: “exercise the powers and perform the duties of the strata corporation, including the enforcement of bylaws and rules”.

to act as the managing body for the strata corporation;
to make daily decisions that enable the strata corporation to operate smoothly; and
to operate within any restrictions created by the Act, Regulations, bylaws, or a majority vote of the owners.

The Strata Council can hire a Strata Manager to perform some or most of the functions of the Strata Council. However, if a Strata Council has delegated its powers to a Strata Manager, the Strata Council is still ultimately responsible for ensuring that its obligations under the Act are fulfilled.

The Superintendent of Real Estate worked with Ministry of Housing and Social Development several years ago to publish a series of guides which discuss the SPA and the Regulations. Guide 4 called "The Role and Responsibilities of Strata Councils" is worth a read.

Council positions, are they mandatory?

There are 5 council positions that are mandatory. They are President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Privacy Officer. Other liasons can be assigned to responsibilities like maintenance or gardening, but they are not required. Below are more in depth descriptions of each role and the CHOA bulletin "Setting Role Descriptions for Council Members" is a great resource as is the Canadian Condominium Institute's article called "Volunteers and Committees".

We also suggest reviewing the following CHOA publications:

President

This role should not be understated. You are a facilitator, tie-breaker and de facto HR and how you chose to run both council meetings and general meetings makes a huge difference to the attitude of other council members and owners. You are usually the main point of contact with your Strata Manager and need to ensure information is disseminated to the right people. You will be required to check your email often and take phone calls at inopportune times. This is a big role, and you should not take it unless you are prepared to invest your time.

The CHOA bulletin called "Checklist: Responsibilities of the Council/Corporation and Management Company" is extremely useful and we highly recommend reviewing this prior to your first council meeting.

Your responsibilities include:

Convening council meetings & general meetings
Insurance : review, appraisals, claims
Chairing meetings
Setting draft agendas for council meetings
Emergencies/restoration
Receiving hardship applications
Representing the Corporation in legal actions or arbitration
Supervising the management contract

Vice President

This role generally doesn't require a lot of time investment; however, you need to be ready to step into the shoes of the President at any moment, and they are big shoes to fill. It is a good idea to make sure you understand the President's role fully before agreeing to take the role of Vice President. If they are ever unable or unwilling to act, you will be required to do so.

If needed, your responsibilities include:

Convening council meetings & general meetings
Insurance : review, appraisals, claims
Chairing meetings
Setting draft agendas for council meetings
Emergencies/restoration
Receiving hardship applications
Representing the Corporation in legal actions or arbitration
Supervising the management contract

Secretary

If you accept this role, we will assume that you are really good at organizing, have great attention to detail and are a stickler for the rules. All these things are definite attributes and we will celebrate them if demonstrated.

The CHOA bulletin "Setting Meetings and Agendas" is very useful and contains an example of how to write minutes if you need a few pointers.

Your responsibilities include:

Minutes of all meetings
General Correspondence
Form B record information
Notice Packages
Alteration agreements
Suite Records
Owners/Residents list
Form K / Form C
Rental list
Section 35 Information requests

Treasurer

The role of the treasurer is one of the most demanding positions. While it is beneficial if your treasurer has some experience, knowledge or education in financial operations, any council member with patience and a willingness to commit the time to reviewing monthly invoices, receivables, the financial statements and bank statements, will provide a valuable service for your owners.

With the thousands of transactions management companies process each month, you can anticipate occasional incorrect postings and allocations; however, errors are easily corrected. To enable the treasurer and council to meet their obligations, they must be provided with a complete set of monthly reports that include a detail of all receivables, a print out of the invoices paid to cross reference with service contracts, utilities, purchases and service calls, a copy of the bank statements for all accounts including investments and special levies, and a reconciled monthly financial report. These are the essential tools of the treasurer. While it is normal to delegate the financial management and collections to the strata manager, it is still the responsibility of the strata council to review the financial documents and transactions.

The CHOA Condo Smarts article "The role of the council treasurer" is a good resource.

Your responsibilities include:

Financial Reports
Receivables: fines, liens, orders for sale
Form B/F financial information
Budget Monitoring and Reports
Audit reports
Year end financial statements
Section 35 financial info request
User fee collections and records
Special levies
Contingency Reserve Fund
investments
expenses
refunds/surplus
final reports
collections
expenses
loans
year end reports

Privacy Officer

Strata Corporations have an obligation to tell owners and tenants what information they collect and retain, how they manage it, who is responsible to protect it, and how their information is accessed. The Strata Corporation is the entity who collects and manages the personal information, and the privacy officer is the appointed person responsible to ensure a Strata Corporation’s privacy policy and procedures are being followed.

The CHOA Condo Smarts article "What does the privacy officer do?" is a good resource as is the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) publication called "Privacy Guidelines for Strata Corporations and Strata Agents".

Additional Resources

There are a wealth of knowledge and resources available to Strata Council's and it can be overwhelming knowing where to start. The below links will take you to sites that will likely become common references for you as a Council Member. We hope you find this useful and don't forget, your Strata Manager is one of your resources too!