How Your Strata Agent Got to Be So Smart

It’s not easy to become a Strata Agent.

By law, anyone wishing to provide strata management services in BC must be licensed under the Real Estate Services Act of BC. A few exceptions apply, such as self-managed strata corporations and resident caretakers.

Earning a Strata Agent license involves a number of steps, including:

Passing the Strata Management Licensing Course, offered by the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. This course covers a broad range of realty, financial, legal and professional topics in great detail, including the Fundamentals of Law, Professional Ethics, Title Registration, Strata Properties and Cooperatives, Effective Negotiations, Purchasing, and Insurance and Risk Management. Typically, the course takes approximately 6 months to 1 year to complete, with all tuition and related fees paid by the candidate.

Once the licensing course has been completed and the final exam passed, the prospective agent may submit a License Application to The Real Estate Council of BC, which then conducts a thorough criminal record and credit check. If these background checks are satisfactory, the candidate is granted a license.

The newly licensed Strata Agent then begins an initial two-year internship, which forbids working independently of a Managing Broker. 

Once the initial 2 year internship is completed, the candidate’s qualifications are reviewed and renewed every two years by the Real Estate Council of BC. For this reason, Strata Agents at Ascent engage in ongoing training to ensure they stay current with legal, insurance, liability, and building health issues.

Strata Agents are also required to hold Errors and Omissions Insurance (plus any optional insurance they choose) which is typically at their own expense.