How to Choose a Condo or Strata Management Company | CompareCondoManagers.ca

A condo or strata corporation is a statutory legal entity under provincial law. It has mandatory obligations — funding a reserve, holding annual general meetings, producing audited financials, maintaining records — and your management company is the firm you hire to help the board meet those obligations. That's different from hiring a contractor to fix the roof. If you hire an unlicensed roofer, the consequence is a bad roof. If you hire an unlicensed management company, or one that misses statutory deadlines, the board members themselves can face personal liability.

This guide walks through the hiring process in the order you should actually follow it: credentials first, fee structure second, operational depth third, contract terms last.

Step 1: Verify the licence before reading a single proposal

All three provinces require management companies to hold an active provincial licence. This is not optional and it is not a technicality — operating without one is illegal, and it removes the regulatory protections your corporation is entitled to.

Check the public registry for the province where your building sits:

Ontario: The CMRAO public registry lists every licensed Condominium Management Provider and individual manager. It shows licence type, status, any conditions, and disciplinary history. Use our CMRAO lookup guide for step-by-step instructions.
British Columbia: The BCFSA licences strata management companies as brokerages under the Real Estate Services Act. Confirm the firm holds a strata management brokerage licence specifically — a property management licence covers rental properties, not strata. See our BCFSA lookup guide.
Alberta: RECA has required condo manager licensing since December 1, 2021. Use RECA ProCheck to verify the firm's brokerage authorization. See our RECA ProCheck guide.

A licence can be active, expired, suspended, or revoked. "We're renewing it" is not an acceptable answer. An expired licence means the company is currently operating illegally. Do not proceed.

One more point for BC boards: the managing broker of the strata management company holds personal regulatory accountability for every licensee under that brokerage. Ask who the managing broker is and confirm they are listed on the BCFSA registry.

Step 2: Check the disciplinary record

Each regulator publishes formal decisions. A single resolved complaint from five years ago is not the same as three complaints in the last two years — read the decisions, not just the count.

Ontario: The CMRAO publishes discipline decisions. The Condominium Authority Tribunal (CAT) handles governance disputes and management companies occasionally appear as parties — decisions are public at canlii.org.
British Columbia: The BCFSA publishes consent orders and suspension notices. BC's Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) handles strata disputes; decisions are also on CanLII. Our directory shows CRT cases where a management company is named as a party.
Alberta: RECA publishes enforcement decisions. Alberta's licensing is newer (December 2021), so fewer historical decisions exist — absence of a record is less reassuring here than in Ontario or BC.

Our directory compiles discipline records and tribunal cases from public sources for Ontario, BC, and Alberta firms. It is not exhaustive — always cross-check against the regulator's own published decisions before signing a contract.

Step 3: Understand what the fee quote actually covers

The per-unit monthly fee in a proposal is rarely the all-in cost. Before comparing proposals, you need the full schedule of charges.

In Ontario, base management fees for a Toronto-area building typically run $35–$60 per unit per month. For a 100-unit building, that's $3,500–$6,000/month. The low end of that range sounds attractive until you add the extras.

Common add-on charges that appear separately from the base fee:

Contractor invoice markups: Many firms charge 10–15% on top of every contractor invoice they process. For a building with active maintenance, this can exceed the annual management fee. Some firms include project coordination in the base fee and charge no markup — ask explicitly.
After-hours board meeting fees: Meetings held outside business hours are often billed at hourly rates. If your board typically meets evenings, budget for this.
Project management fees for capital work: Major repairs or common element upgrades often trigger a separate project management fee on top of the base contract.
Status certificate preparation (Ontario): Under s.76 of the Condominium Act, the corporation must issue a status certificate within 10 days of a request. Some firms include this in the base fee; others charge $100–$300 per certificate.
Site inspection fees: Visits beyond whatever the contract defines as standard may be billed separately.
Document preparation and record requests: Producing copies of records for owners or during disputes can be billed per hour.

Ask every firm for a complete out-of-scope charges schedule — in writing, as part of their proposal. Then ask for a one-year cost estimate based on your building's typical activity (number of contractor invoices, board meetings, approximate capital project spend). The firm whose proposal looks cheapest at the headline level sometimes lands third once you add the extras.

Price alone is not a sound basis for a decision. A 100-unit Ontario building paying $3,500/month for a firm with overextended managers and no back-office support can face far larger costs later — missed reserve fund contributions, late filings, emergency repairs that could have been prevented by routine inspections. The premium for a well-staffed firm is usually $500–$1,500/month and worth having the conversation about.

Step 4: Evaluate credentials — what actually matters

The licence is the legal floor. Credentials above that floor are signals of professional depth, not guarantees.

Ontario

The CMRAO issues two licence types. A General Licence requires two or more years of full-time condo management experience — the holder can manage independently. A Limited Licence is for managers with under two years of experience and requires supervision. Ask which type the manager assigned to your file holds.

Above the licence baseline, the voluntary RCM designation (Registered Condominium Manager, from ACMO) requires three consecutive years of management experience with primary responsibility for a condo, five advanced certificate courses, and two professional sponsors. An RCM on the team signals commitment to professional development beyond the minimum — useful context for boards evaluating a firm without the time for deep due diligence.

At the firm level, ACMO 2000 certification means the company itself has been audited: it must manage at least three condominiums or 500-plus units total, employ a senior manager with an RCM designation, and meet operational standards for staffing, financial controls, and office infrastructure. There are relatively few ACMO 2000 certified firms in Ontario. Finding one significantly reduces the due diligence burden. The ACMO 2000 certified firm registry is public.

One note on the CAO: the Condominium Authority of Ontario handles condo governance disputes and owner education. It is not a licensing body for management companies — do not confuse it with the CMRAO.

British Columbia

BC has required strata management licensing since 2006 — longer than any other Canadian province. Education for new licensees runs through UBC Sauder School of Business Real Estate Division. SPABC (Strata Property Agents of BC) and PAMA (Professional Association of Managing Agents) are industry associations — membership is not a regulatory requirement, but firms that belong tend to be more engaged with industry standards.

The PAMA CPRPM designation (Certified Professional Residential Property Manager) exists in BC. As with the RCM in Ontario, it signals professional engagement above the licence minimum.

Alberta

RECA's condo management licensing launched December 1, 2021. Pre-licensing education is delivered by ACMEC (Alberta Condominium Management Education Consortium), founded by CCI North Alberta, CCI South Alberta, and the Alberta Real Estate Association. The Alberta market is less mature in regulatory terms than Ontario or BC — the RECA public registry check is especially important because you cannot rely on a long history of published disciplinary decisions to fill gaps.

Across all provinces

CCI (Canadian Condominium Institute) is the national industry association. Its ACCI designation is most commonly held by lawyers, engineers, accountants, and insurance professionals who serve condos — not typically by property managers. If you see ACCI on a management company's marketing, it is not a management company credential. What CCI offers that is genuinely useful for your board is director education courses through provincial chapters, widely considered the best available training for volunteer directors.

A firm licensed in one province is not licensed in another. Do not assume a company with a strong Ontario track record can operate in BC — they need a separate BCFSA brokerage licence.

Step 5: Assess operational depth

A management firm's credentials and price tell you very little about day-to-day execution. These questions do.

Manager-to-building ratio

No Canadian industry standard formally sets the maximum, but general experience suggests a well-supported residential condo manager can handle 100–200 units — or a small number of distinct buildings — without service degrading. The question is not just how many buildings the assigned manager currently carries, but how much back-office support exists: administrative staff, maintenance coordinators, after-hours dispatch. A firm with excellent ratios but no admin support is no better than a firm with a large portfolio and good infrastructure. Ask both questions.

Property management software

Ask what platform they use and whether you can see a sample monthly report package before signing. Platforms used by Canadian condo and strata managers include Yardi Breeze Premier (enterprise-grade, with a dedicated Canadian condo/strata product at yardibreeze.ca), Condo Control (Toronto-developed, widely used across Ontario and BC with resident portals and compliance tracking), Buildium, and AppFolio.

Why this matters: when you eventually switch management companies, the outgoing firm's software database is one of the most contested items in the handover. If they run a proprietary system, "all records within 15 days" may mean PDFs — not a usable data export. Address this before signing.

Monthly financial reporting

At minimum, a board should receive monthly: an income statement with actual-versus-budget year-to-date, a balance sheet, a budget variance report with written explanations of significant variances, an accounts receivable aging report (who is behind on common expenses), and a bank reconciliation. If a firm's sample reporting package does not include all of these, ask why.

Reserve fund and depreciation report handling

This is a major differentiator that most boards overlook during the hiring process.

In Ontario, the board must commission a reserve fund study from a licensed engineer or architect at least every three years. The board must review it within 120 days of receipt and adopt a funding plan. The management company does not commission the study or make funding decisions — but it tracks the plan, flags shortfalls, and makes sure monthly contributions are actually going into the reserve fund account as directed. A management firm that does not mention the reserve fund in its proposal, or that conflates operating fund and reserve fund, is a red flag.

In BC, as of July 1, 2024, all strata corporations with five or more strata lots must obtain a depreciation report every five years. If you are acquiring a BC strata with a history of waiving the depreciation report requirement (which was permitted before 2024), treat it as a serious warning sign — years of deferred maintenance may be waiting. Ask the management firm you are evaluating how they handle the depreciation report cycle and what their process is for flagging a Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF) that is underfunded relative to the plan.

Ask any candidate firm: how do you flag it when the reserve fund or CRF is underfunded relative to the current study? What is your process when a board proposes a special assessment to cover a shortfall?

Step 6: Ask these specific questions

These are not screening questions — they are diagnostic. The answers reveal how a company actually operates.

"Show us your current CMRAO/BCFSA/RECA licence number and we'll verify it right now." A firm that resists this, or asks why you need it, is a firm to cross off the list. Verification takes two minutes.
"How many buildings does the manager assigned to our file currently handle?" Get the number of buildings and the total unit count. Then ask how many administrative staff and maintenance coordinators support that manager. A 15-building portfolio with a two-person admin team is very different from 15 buildings with no support.
"Walk us through exactly what happens after hours when a pipe bursts in the parkade — who handles it, what decisions do they make without calling us, and what does it cost us?" This question reveals after-hours dispatch structure, decision authority, and — critically — whether there are emergency call-out fees that don't appear in the base contract.
"Give us a complete list of charges NOT included in your base management fee." A firm with nothing to hide produces this list readily. Vagueness here is informative.
"What property management software do you use, and what format will you provide our data in if we terminate the contract?" Ask to see a sample monthly report package. Ask explicitly whether the software export is in a format a new management company can import — or whether it is PDFs only.
"What is your procedure when the manager assigned to our building leaves the company mid-contract?" Staff turnover is normal. The answer should describe a transition protocol, not just "we'll assign someone new."
"Have you or any of your individual managers ever been disciplined by CMRAO, BCFSA, or RECA? If yes, tell us about it." Cross-check against the regulator's published decisions. A firm that says "no" when the record shows otherwise has told you something important.
"Can you give us three references from boards of similar-sized buildings you've managed for three or more years — and can you also give us one reference from a board you no longer manage?" The last part is the useful one. Current clients have a relationship to protect. Former clients have no incentive to be polite.

Step 7: Red flags to take seriously

An expired, suspended, or revoked licence. "It's being renewed" is not a status. Check the registry yourself.
Refusal to provide an itemized out-of-scope fee schedule. If they won't put their charges in writing before you sign, they definitely won't volunteer them after.
Contractor markup not disclosed in the proposal. A 10–15% markup on all contractor invoices is common; finding it buried in page 8 of the service agreement is a problem. Undisclosed markups can exceed the management fee on an active maintenance year.
References only from current clients. Ask for a reference from a board they no longer manage. If they can't produce one, or claim all former clients are unreachable, that is notable.
Per-unit fees significantly below the market range. In Ontario, a proposal for a 100-unit building at $20–$25 per unit per month is not a deal — it means the manager will be stretched across far too many buildings to give yours adequate attention, or the add-on charges will more than compensate. Sustainable management costs what it costs.
Verbal promises that don't appear in the written proposal. If the salesperson says "of course we include that" but the contract is silent on it, the contract governs.
An auto-renewal clause with a short cancellation window. A clause requiring written notice 60–90 days before the renewal date is standard. A 120-day window in a contract that renews automatically is a trap — you will miss it. Calendar the date the moment you sign.
In BC: a strata management firm that also wants to serve as caretaker or superintendent. Under the Strata Property Act, a single firm cannot hold both roles without a 3/4 vote of the strata corporation. Be cautious of firms that bundle these services by default — the concentration of operational control is a governance risk.
No mention of the reserve fund or depreciation report in the proposal. A management firm pitching for your contract and not addressing your largest long-term financial obligation is either not paying attention or hoping you aren't.

Step 8: Contract terms to address before signing

Management agreements are negotiable. The firm that refuses to discuss contract terms is telling you how it will handle disputes later.

Term and notice: A one-year initial term is standard in BC. Ontario commonly runs one to two years. Require 60–90 days' written notice to terminate, from either party. Push back on auto-renewal clauses that lock you in for a full additional term if you miss a narrow cancellation window.
Termination without cause: You should be able to exit the contract for any reason with proper notice, not only for "cause." A management firm that insists on a for-cause-only termination clause has unfair leverage.
Record handover: Under Ontario Reg. 123/17, an outgoing management company must transfer all corporation records within 15 days of contract termination. That is a legal floor, not a guarantee of cooperation. Records that commonly cause friction: the property management software database in a usable format, reserve fund investment account access, vendor contract originals, and email archives. Specify the format in the contract — not "all records," but "all records including a full data export in [format] from the management software."
Software data export clause: Address this before signing, not when you are trying to leave. If the firm uses a proprietary platform, get a written commitment that you will receive a complete data export in a format importable by standard property management software.
Fee change notice: Require 90 days' written notice of any fee increase. Cap automatic annual increases at a specified percentage (CPI or a fixed number).
Insurance verification: Errors-and-omissions insurance and general liability are not optional. Ask for certificates of insurance annually and confirm your corporation is named as an additional insured.
Developer-placed contracts (BC): If you are a newly registered strata corporation where the developer selected the management company, the Strata Property Act provides automatic termination of developer-entered management contracts — the earlier of four weeks after the second AGM or the contract's cancellation date. You are not obligated to renew. Evaluate the company on its merits before the termination date passes.

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