# Questions to Ask Your Strata Manager About the New PST

> If your BC strata has a property manager, here are practical questions to ask about how the October 2026 PST change affects your invoices and budget.

Published: 2026-05-09  
Author: Andrey (OpenStrata Team)  
Topics: Strata councils, BC strata basics, Residents

## Key takeaways

- The October 1, 2026 PST change is a provincial tax, so your manager collects it where it applies rather than choosing to add it.
- Ask which of your services become taxable, whether your management fee is affected, and how PST will show on invoices and statements.
- Clear answers help council budget accurately and explain any changes to owners.

## Why to ask now

If your strata works with a property manager, the October 1, 2026 PST change is worth a short conversation before budget season. The tax is provincial: your manager is required to collect it where it applies, not choosing to add it. A few clear questions will help council budget accurately and explain any changes to owners. Here are the ones worth asking.

> Note: This article is general information only and is not legal or tax advice. Tax rules can change and depend on your strata's circumstances, so confirm details with a qualified accountant or tax professional and the BC government's guidance.

## Questions about your fees

- Will our management fee have PST added, given that we are a residential strata?
- If we are a mixed-use building, how will PST be applied to our fee?
- When will any change take effect, and how much of this budget year does it affect?

## Questions about other services

- Which of the services you arrange for us, such as accounting, engineering, or security, will now include PST?
- For engineering work like our depreciation report, will PST apply to the full fee or a portion?
- Are there services we pay for that are not affected?

## Questions about invoices and budgeting

- How will PST appear on our invoices and financial statements?
- Can you help us estimate the added cost for next year's budget?
- Should we adjust our operating budget or contingency planning to account for this?

## Keep the tone collaborative

It helps to treat this as shared problem-solving rather than a complaint. Your manager did not create the tax and cannot waive it, and they are working through the same uncertainty about final regulations that councils are. Asking clear questions, and writing down the answers for the next council, is the most useful thing you can do. For the underlying details, see [how the new PST could affect your strata's budget](https://openstrata.ca/blog/how-pst-affects-strata-budget-2026/index.md).

## Keep the answers on record

The answers to these questions are worth keeping where the whole council can find them, not just in one member's email. Storing the manager's guidance, updated invoices, and your budget notes in one place means next year's council does not have to ask again. That kind of continuity is what OpenStrata is built for.

## Questions and answers

### Is my strata manager adding PST by choice?

No. The PST is a provincial tax introduced in Budget 2026. Your manager is required to collect it on taxable services and cannot waive it. Treating it as shared problem-solving tends to work better than treating it as a complaint.

### Will our management fee go up because of PST?

For residential stratas, the management fee itself is widely expected to stay exempt, though this was not formally confirmed by name as of mid-2026. Ask your manager directly, especially if your building is mixed-use.

### What should we budget for?

Ask your manager which services become taxable, commonly accounting, engineering, and security, and for help estimating the added cost. Then build that into next year's operating budget.

### When does the change start?

October 1, 2026. If your budget year is already underway, only the months from October onward are affected.

## More from OpenStrata

- [All BC strata guides](https://openstrata.ca/blog/index.md): Browse every published OpenStrata guide.
- [OpenStrata features](https://openstrata.ca/features/index.md): See how the platform supports BC strata councils.