General information only — not legal, tax, financial, or real-estate advice. Verify with a licensed BC professional before acting.
A freehold strata is the most common form of strata ownership in BC. Each owner has a freehold (fee simple) interest in their strata lot and an undivided share in the common property, governed by the Strata Property Act, SBC 1998, c. 43. Freehold strata differs from leasehold strata (where the underlying land is leased from another owner) and from bare-land strata (where each strata lot is a portion of land, not a portion of a building). Freehold strata includes most BC condominium apartments, townhomes and duplexes.
In a freehold strata, each strata lot is typically an air-space unit inside a building; common property (roof, hallways, exterior walls, land) is shared. In a bare-land strata, each strata lot is a portion of the land itself — the building on that lot is typically the owner's individual responsibility.
Most Canadian residential lenders finance freehold strata units on similar terms to detached homes, though they may review the strata's depreciation report and financial statements. Verify with your mortgage broker.
Verify the specific statutory language, thresholds, deadlines and current guidance directly with the governing authority: