Kimberly Sterling
Development Approvals
Kim is a senior executive and entrepreneur with 20 years’ experience in the real estate sector. She has a proven track record in operations management, serving as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of StoreSmart Self-Storage, a successful startup, and later as Chief Operating Officer of a multi-family residential REIT.
In the storage industry, Kim built expertise in capital raising, financing, reporting, due diligence, acquisitions, and land development, working with municipalities and other agencies to overcome zoning and permitting issues. Through the experience of scaling the business into a significant portfolio and its sale in 2021, Kim gained additional expertise in corporate development, restructuring, tax planning, and board and shareholder relations. At the REIT, Kim deepened her proficiency in property and asset management, leading projects such as the development of a long-range capital planning tool that delivered critical insights into projected asset performance. Thanks to her earlier background in IT as a Project Manager, Kim understands how to leverage technology to streamline operations and enhance service delivery and has led significant IT projects over the course of her career. These include Interactive Voice Response Systems for government and business, a voter ID program for a Canadian political party (one of the earliest ever deployed in a general election), and enterprise-level property management software conversions.
Kim’s experience also extends to strategic communications and government relations. As Chair of the Canadian Self-Storage Association’s Lien Law Committee, she interfaced with government and guided the industry through regulatory frameworks, helping to shape best practices.
Kim excels at navigating complex challenges by mitigating risks, developing contingencies, and communicating with clarity to stakeholders. Informed by her education and early political experience as Election Readiness Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Party, she brings a sharp political lens to problem-solving and strategic decision-making.
Kim holds a BA (Honours) in Political Science from the University of Calgary.