Ask a Vancouver strata council what their security problem is and you will usually hear three things: the parkade, the front door, and the bikes.
They are connected. Fix the door properly and the other two improve.
Tailgating is the whole problem
Almost every secured building in Vancouver gets entered the same way. Somebody walks in behind a resident.
No fob is cloned. No lock is forced. A person holds a door open because holding doors open is what polite people do.
This is why access hardware alone never solves it. A card reader cannot tell that two people went through on one swipe. Cameras record it happening and change nothing.
What stops tailgating is a person at the door who notices, or residents who have been given permission to stop being polite about it. Usually both.
The parkade
Parkades generate the most complaints and the most insurance claims in Vancouver residential buildings.
The pattern is consistent. Entry happens on a tailgated vehicle or a propped door. Then it is bikes, storage lockers and whatever is visible inside cars.
Three fixes, in order of cost:
Lighting. Dead bulbs are the cheapest failure to fix and the most commonly left. Walk your parkade at 11pm rather than at noon.
The pedestrian door. The vehicle gate gets attention; the person-sized door beside it often does not latch properly.
Patrol passes. Randomised, logged, at varied times. A fixed 11pm pass is a schedule anyone can work around.
Our strata security guide covers the council-level view in more depth.
Concierge, or just a desk?
A lot of buildings have someone at the front. Fewer have decided what that person is for.
The test we suggest to councils: it is 9pm, and somebody follows a resident through the door without a fob. What is your front desk person supposed to do?
If the answer is phone somebody, you have a reception desk. That is a legitimate choice, as long as you made it deliberately.
If the answer is approach, establish who they are, and either admit or remove them, then write it up, you have security. That person needs a licence, training and an employer carrying insurance for it.
Our concierge versus front-desk comparison sets out the difference.
What Vancouver buildings actually buy
Patterns we see most often across Metro Vancouver stratas:
Smaller buildings, under 50 units. Usually no staffed desk. Access control hardware, good lighting, and randomised overnight patrol. Cheapest arrangement that works.
Mid-size towers. Evening and overnight concierge coverage, because that is when the lobby is the vulnerability, with daytime handled by the property manager.
Large or mixed-use. Staffed desk through the day for service and deliveries, licensed concierge security evenings and overnight.
Buildings with a specific problem. Short-term intensive coverage while an issue is dealt with, then step down. This gets underused. You do not have to sign a year.
Costs, and how councils get them wrong
Concierge security sits at the lower end of guarding rates, generally from around $28 per hour, because it is not high-risk work and continuity keeps it competitive. Our cost guide has the ranges.
The mistake councils make is comparing that hourly figure to what they would pay a part-time employee.
Those are different numbers. The contract rate includes licensing, supervision, cover when the person is sick, liability insurance and reporting. Hiring directly means the strata absorbs all of it, including finding someone at short notice when the regular person cannot come in.
For most buildings, that relief problem alone settles the question.
Before the council votes
Get the business licence number and worker licences. Ask for the insurance certificate rather than a figure in an email. Ours is $2M CAD in comprehensive general liability.
Ask who supervises and how often they attend in person. An unsupervised concierge drifts, and councils usually find out months later.
Ask what the incident reporting looks like. You want something you can put in front of an insurer.
And ask whether any part of the contract is subcontracted. Get it in writing.
Our guide to choosing a security company in Vancouver covers the rest.
Talk to us
Fireball Security works with property managers and strata councils across Metro Vancouver and British Columbia. Operating since 2020, 100+ licensed guards, 100+ clients in 11 cities, $2M CAD in comprehensive general liability.
See Vancouver, request a quote, or call 250-899-6620. We are happy to come to a council meeting.
