Burnaby's strata landscape is one of the most complex in Metro Vancouver — dozens of towers at Metrotown, waves of new builds at Brentwood and Lougheed, and a long tail of townhome stratas across South Slope and Highgate. Key control matters here. This guide covers what strata councils and individual owners need to know about rekeying, master key systems, and fob access.
Burnaby has seen substantial strata development over the past two decades. The Metrotown precinct alone contains some of the largest strata corporations in BC, with hundreds of units per building and corresponding complexity around who holds what key to what door. The Brentwood Town Centre redevelopment has added thousands more strata units since the mid-2010s, and Lougheed continues to grow. Meanwhile, the city's older stock — the townhome stratas in Highgate, South Slope, and Edmonds — operate differently, with a mix of traditional keys, shared amenity access, and aging hardware that may not have been rekeyed in years.
Whether you're a strata council member trying to understand your key control obligations, an individual owner who just bought a resale unit, or a property manager coordinating move-out procedures, this guide covers the practical realities of locks and keys in Burnaby strata.
This is the most common question we get from Burnaby strata owners and council members. The short answer:
For most Burnaby strata move-outs and standard key-control situations, rekeying is the right call. A full lock change is usually only warranted when there's hardware damage or a deliberate upgrade in security grade.
This is where most strata councils in Burnaby get into trouble. When an owner sells a unit — or a rental tenant vacates — there is no reliable way to know how many copies of the suite key exist. A tenant may have had extras cut at a hardware store. A previous owner may have given keys to family members who never returned them. An unauthorized copy may exist somewhere entirely unknown.
BC's Strata Property Act does not mandate rekeying between owners or tenants, but responsible strata management — and many strata bylaws — address key accountability. Best practice for Burnaby strata councils:
Individual owners buying a resale unit in Burnaby should strongly consider rekeying their suite door before moving in, regardless of what the seller claims about key accountability. It's a small cost relative to the peace of mind, and we do these routinely across Metrotown, Brentwood, and the Highgate townhome corridor.
Larger strata buildings — particularly the multi-tower developments at Metrotown and the newer Brentwood builds — typically operate on a master key system. In this setup, individual suite keys open only that suite, while a grand master key (held by the strata manager or building maintenance) opens all suites for emergency or maintenance access.
A well-designed master key system does several things at once:
The key phrase here is restricted keyway. If your Burnaby building's master key system uses a standard keyway that any hardware store can cut, your key control is essentially decorative. A proper commercial-grade system uses a patented or restricted keyway where key blanks are only supplied to authorized locksmiths. We set up and service these systems for Burnaby strata corporations — contact us to assess your existing setup.
Many Burnaby buildings — especially those built after the mid-2000s — use electronic fob or card access for common areas: lobby, parkade, amenity rooms, and sometimes elevator floors. This system is separate from your suite lock and managed by the building's access control platform, not by a locksmith.
What this means practically:
For townhome stratas in Burnaby — Highgate, South Slope, Buckingham — fob access is less common, and the key control picture is closer to a single-family home: you have a key to your front door and possibly a shared amenity key. Rekeying after purchase or tenancy change applies the same way.
We work with Burnaby strata councils, property managers, and individual owners on:
Strata work is different from a residential callout in one important way: we often coordinate with property managers rather than individual owners, and documentation matters. We provide receipts and basic service records for every strata job. If your strata council needs a licensed locksmith on file for ongoing work, get in touch — we're familiar with the management companies active across Burnaby and can work within your existing approval processes.
Further reading and the services most relevant to strata key control in Burnaby.
Pick-, drill- and bump-resistant cylinders with keys that can’t be copied at the hardware store. Cut, pinned and registered in-shop.
Residential Security Container (RSC) burglary classification: a key-locked security container designed to provide entry…
Car keys are priced by vehicle. Pick what you need and we’ll collect your make, model & year to text you an exact quote.