DCHP-2

strata DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• 1 n. — also in compounds, British Columbia, Housing

  collective ownership of real estate, e.g. ownership of one unit in a collectively managed building.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term strata evolved from the general definition of "layer", since a strata title usually involves multiple owners with claims to horizontal subdivisions of a multi-storey building on one lot. British Columbia's Condominium Act introduced stratas as an alternative real estate option in 1966. Chart 1 indicates that strata council is most common in Canada, with some occurrences in Australia. The term is almost exclusively used in British Columbia (see Chart 2).
  COD-2 lists the term as "[attributive] esp. BC & Austral. " (s.v. strata (3)).

• 2 n. — also in compounds, British Columbia, Housing

  the collective management body governing jointly-owned real estate.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — This meaning is derived from meaning 1 and is expressed either in compound forms , e.g. strata council, strata corporation or in the shortened form strata (see the first 2013 quotation).

  • Outside British Columbia, condo association or related terms are more widely used than strata council.