Admittedly, when posting on Self-Storage Talk, I have a yankee's perspective, as do all of the U.S.-native members of the community. But self-storage is a global business with new developments and opportunities springing up all over the world. In fact, some developers will tell you the hotbed for self-storage development is not, in fact, in the United States but in other locales, one of which is our neighbor to the north: Canada. So, as part of our ongoing strategy to engage a worldwide audience on SST, the largest online community in the industry, we recently launched the Canada forum at http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/canada/ for members to delve into specifically Canadian topics.
As I understand it, operating a self-storage facility in Canada is much like operating one in the United States, but certain issues arise where the rules, protocol and strategies are quite different. As I mentioned above, development is taking off in Canada because of the tremendous room for growth, as opposed to the well-documented development slowdown in the States. Self-storage lien laws are not clearly enumerated in each province as they are in each state. Taxes are levied in much different ways. Even important business management facets such as consumer behavior and preferences vary slightly in Canada, which affects marketing, expansion, facility features, etc.
For these reasons, it's important Canadians have a place to share issues important to them specifically, which is why we created the new area on SST. It's also why the Inside Self-Storage World Expo, Oct. 4-6, in Tacoma, Wash., will have an entire education track dedicated to Canada.
The forum already has a contingent of tremendous Canadian posters. Madman is a moderator who owns three facilities and hails from the Vancouver area. Other strong contributors include CindyM, leelastore and SpacemanBill. (I'm sure I'm forgotting a legion of others, which I apologize for.) These people have varying industry roles, in places ranging from Ottawa to the Comox Valley in British Columbia.
If you're a Canadian self-storage pro looking for a fun, free way to connect and share online, you should join the community at http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/register.php. And even if you're not from Canada, you also can join at no cost and start posting and interacting. We hope to get to know you very soon.