VISOA board and staff from left: John Grubb, Geraldine Svisdahl, Wendy Wall, Cindy Young, André De Leebeeck. © Photos by Stephen Sisk
VICTORIA – Strata living can be difficult to navigate for condominium and other strata owners.
That’s what the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA) is there for, and the organization has been doing that for five decades.
“2023 is a big year for us, as it’s our 50th anniversary,” says Wendy Wall, who has been President of the volunteer group for four years, and has been a board member since 2013. “VISOA is a non-profit, volunteer-run, member-funded society, so it’s our members who have sustained the organization for 50 years and believe in its purpose: We’re strata owners helping strata owners.”
VISOA is the oldest organization of its kind in Canada. In the 1960’s, strata properties presented a new form of ownership, with the first strata plan on Vancouver Island filed in Port Alice in 1968. The Greater Victoria Association of Strata Owners was founded in 1973 with the mission of helping strata owners understand legislation and manage their properties.
While its name has changed several times – becoming the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA) in 1998 – its purpose has remained the same: Providing education, support, and advocacy for owners of condo, townhouse, bare land, and commercial strata units.
President Wendy Wall and Vice President John Grubb. ©
In the 2000’s, VISOA expanded its services to assist strata owners and councils across BC through digital communication.
“Our Strata Support Team is the heart and soul of VISOA, answering over 1,000 questions per year,” Wendy states. “Our members are often going through some complex and stressful situations. They often remark that they couldn’t have managed without the knowledge and support of our dedicated volunteers.”
Membership is growing, and BC has far more strata councils to educate than condominium boards in other provinces. While Ontario has 19 per cent more units, BC has 26.9 per cent more corporations. As of March 31, 2023 the Condominium Authority of Ontario reported 12,000+ corporations and 825,000 units, while the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC reported 32,344 filed strata plans and 690,980 active strata lots. This is due to the fact that more than 50 per cent of the strata corporations in BC are 2-4 units in size.
The number of small stratas is expected to increase significantly in the coming years due to the provincial government’s new Housing for People Plan. Traditional single-family detached lots across BC will be rezoned to allow construction of small-scale, multi-unit housing developments such as duplexes and triplexes.
“This adds up to a growing need for education, particularly for strata council members,” Wendy notes. “Whether 2 units or 200 units, strata corporations must comply with the Strata Property Act, Personal Information Protection Act, Human Rights Code, and other legislation. For owners with busy lives and little knowledge or experience, it can be overwhelming.
“There aren’t enough strata managers to fill the need. It’s estimated that less than 20 per cent of stratas have professional management to help volunteer council members fulfill their statutory obligations.”
The key to VISOA’s success?
“Helping one another is a commitment to our community whether it’s a duplex strata or a strata of hundreds of units,” she says. “This isn’t a paycheque for us. We’re volunteers who understand how challenging strata living can be.”
By Mark MacDonald
