The short version
Three steps. Hard filters remove firms that shouldn't be in your match set. A scoring pass ranks the rest by building fit, capacity, and reputation. A human curator reviews the top candidates and writes the reasoning council sees. Some requests first receive a preliminary council shortlist. Strata Match confirms capacity before any introduction or contact detail is shared with a firm.
Algorithm shortlists. A person curates. Both layers matter.
Hard filters
A firm is excluded if:
- Its BCFSA licence isn't active
- It had a BCFSA disciplinary action in the last 24 months
- It appears on the Strata Match dropped register
No firm can pay past these. No exceptions.
How Strata Match ranks
The scoring pass covers six things, weighted by what you told Strata Match: portfolio type fit, size fit, geographic reach, capacity (are they accepting new clients), reputation, and pain-point fit. Missing data gets a neutral score, not a penalty. Your match card shows which signals were verified and which Strata Match couldn't confirm.
The human step
After the algorithm, a curator reviews the top ten and checks the evidence behind each candidate. If council needs to approve the direction first, Strata Match sends a preliminary shortlist record that names the fit signals and the gaps still pending. Before any introduction, Strata Match contacts the selected firms to confirm current intake, manager availability, and the right procurement contact.
If a firm declines or doesn't respond during the introduction check, Strata Match replaces it or tells council the gap before contact details are shared.
The fee calculator
Nine inputs in, a realistic fee range out. The base range comes from Canadian strata budget analysis, cross-checked against BCFSA public records. A scope multiplier adjusts for service level, amenities, and meeting load. The result is a range for a building like yours, not a verdict on your firm. Use it to decide whether to investigate, not whether to switch.
How Strata Match is paid
Councils pay nothing for the matching, now or ever. When a match leads to a real conversation between a firm and a council, there's an exchange between that firm and Strata Match which covers curation labour. A firm that participates in the exchange and a firm that doesn't sit identically in the directory and in match order. The exchange covers operations; it doesn't buy visibility. No retainers, no paid rank, no featured placements.
What Strata Match never does
- Sell rank, badges, or match-set placement
- Surface a firm the Strata Match team wouldn't pick for its own council
- Scrape data Strata Match can't legally access
- Store individual reviewer names under PIPEDA
Sources
Per-firm checks:
- BCFSA: licence register and discipline record (the BC regulator)
- OrgBook BC: corporate registry entry, status, and registration history
- PAMA and SPABC: industry association membership
- Google Business: public reviews, review count, open/closed status
- The firm's own website: specializations, portfolio claims, service areas, team indicators
- CanLII: Civil Resolution Tribunal rulings (scaffolded, pending access)
Reference and governance:
- CHOA: governance guidance for BC strata councils
- Strata Property Act: primary legal source
- Canadian strata budget analysis: main benchmark source (~8,000 budgets, filtered for BC buildings)
