The Scrivener - Fall 2024 - Volume 34 Number 2

THE EDUCATION OF BC NOTARIES

2024 Grad Class

• Probate Applications

• Legal Advice to Executors

• Testamentary Trusts

• Living (inter vivos) Trusts

• Incorporations

Editor-in-Chief Val

BCNA

Administrative

Production

email: scrivener@bcnotaryassociation.ca

website: www.bcnotaryassociation.ca

Sixteen Types of Aboriginal Interests in Land that May be Encountered by Notaries and Lawyers in British

Professor

Dr.

Marny Morin

Hilde Deprez

Ikjot

Mojdeh Afifi

Long and Winding Road

Strata Property Orders Elaine T. McCormack, Emily Sheard

Strength and Security for Property Ownership in BC Al-Karim

POSTAGE

photo:

BC Notaries’ Education Serves the People of British Columbia!

Î I have been greatly looking forward to this edition of The Scrivener, where we focus on the education of BC Notaries. The evolution of education requirements has provided British Columbians with increased access to highly skilled and personalized noncontentious legal services in their communities throughout the province.

Completion of the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) to help determine a student's suitability to practise law is now an additional requirement for entrance to the Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies Program at Simon Fraser University. Their completion of the University graduate program, followed by practical training (PET) delivered by The Society of Notaries Public (the current regulator of the profession), is a requirement prior to receiving a Royal Commission as a BC Notary Public.

Practising Notaries are required to complete annual continuing education requirements. The British Columbia Notaries Association (BCNA) delivers comprehensive continuing education opportunities specific for BC Notaries and their support staff. Those accredited programs provide continuing education credits and help ensure your Notary is constantly updated on the best practices and changes in legislation that affect the services they provide to the public.

Royal assent of the Legal Professions Act in May 2024 brought with it expanded scope of practice

opportunities for Notaries. While some of the competency requirements will be set out in future regulation, the ability to draft Wills in trust up to the age of 25 has come into effect. The change has positive implications for British Columbians when seeking to have a Notary prepare their Will. The BCNA has been proactive in offering continuing education opportunities to address that change, with insight from Geoffrey White, KC, and Hilde Deprez from The Society of Notaries Public Practice Advisory Line (PAL).

This Fall the BCNA is undertaking a renewal of our strategic plan, specifically mapping the path forward for the 2025 – 2027 period. We have encouraged all our members to participate in the survey that was circulated to solicit their direct input. That process will include interviews with stakeholders and partner organizations and a workshop with Board and other participants. Strategic Planning will build a road map for our future direction as we move toward the regulatory transition to Legal Professions British Columbia where Notaries will be regulated together with lawyers and paralegals.

Although months away, it won’t be long until the team here at the Association office turns our attention to our Annual Conference taking place April 11 – 13, 2025, at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel. Please save the dates.

I hope you enjoy The Scrivener while you are on break from raking leaves!

CHAD

The Ongoing Education of BC Notaries

Î Welcome to the Fall of 2024. I hope you enjoyed your Summer. The Education of BC Notaries has greatly evolved over time, thanks to the continued effort of our Notary members and staff to constantly improve.

For the BC Notary profession to expand its noncontentious legal offerings to the public, it was clear that education was the path to success. For individuals wanting to apply to join the profession, The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia, the body regulating Notaries in the public interest, set the education standard of an undergraduate degree and other qualifications.

The next step in the education process to become a BC Notary Public is successful completion of the 2-year postgraduate Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) Program from Simon Fraser University.

And it doesn’t end there . . .

Following the MA ALS degree, you will have intense Practical Training. Ongoing mandatory continuing legal education (CLE) hours must be completed every year to maintain the competence to practise. The continuing education is delivered through the British Columbia Notaries Association (BCNA).

CLE is an essential component of the Notary Public’s professional development to ensure that our legal practitioners adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of the law. CLE is designed to provide Notaries with opportunities to expand their knowledge, enhance their skills, and stay informed about recent legal developments, thereby reinforcing the value of continuing legal education throughout their Notary careers.

One of the primary benefits of CLE is its role in keeping our legal professionals up-to-date with changes in laws and regulations. The legal landscape is dynamic—with new statutes, case law, and regulatory guidelines emerging regularly. By participating in CLE, our Notaries ensure they are equipped with the latest knowledge crucial for providing excellent representation to their clients.

Moreover, CLE fosters a culture of lifelong learning in our profession. The practice of law requires an understanding of the current legal framework and the ability to think critically and adapt to new challenges. Through CLE, Notaries can engage with other legal professionals, participate in discussions, and explore innovative approaches to the issues Notaries face on a day-to-day basis.

Most recently, the legislation that currently governs the scope of practice of BC Notaries was amended to expand the Will options that the profession can offer to the people of BC. Already the BCNA has begun to offer continuing education on this new scope of work and will build-out that program as we move forward with further scope-of-practice enhancements coming in the near future.

In conclusion, Continuing Legal Education is a vital extension of our legal education that emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning, ethical practice, and skillenhancement. By engaging in CLE, Notaries Public can adapt to changes in the law, refine their abilities, and uphold the integrity of the profession.

Ultimately, CLE benefits the individual Notary and strengthens the broader noncontentious legal system and promotes public trust in the Notary profession in British Columbia.

DANIEL BOISVERT

For BC Notaries, Education is Vital and Fun

Î Our annual Education Conferences are held in various parts of the province. It has always been impressive to observe the large number of happy BC Notaries and staff who come together at BCNA Education Conferences. After the Notaries and staff enjoy learning together, they network in evening social events with colleagues and our industry partners.

Generational careers are numerous in the profession—Notary parents and their adult offspring often span several generations. The same is true for their clients. BC Notaries are known for creating longterm professional relationships with families to manage their Personal Planning documents, for example W.R.A.P. W ills, R epresentation A greements, Advance Health Directives, and P owers of At torney.

As you will learn from reading this edition of The Scrivener, BC Notaries are highly trained to handle many nonlitigious matters, including real estate conveyancing for the purchase and sale of homes and land. Please see the list beside this article.

Generational careers are numerous in the profession—Notary parents and their adult offspring often span several generations. The same is true for their clients.

This magazine has ably served as an education tool over the years, featuring well-researched, interesting articles so helpful to our Notary members and of course our thousands of other readers.

Soon it will be 2025.

Here’s a bright idea: Start the New Year by creating or updating your Will and your other Personal Planning documents. Perhaps put that goal at the top of your list of New Year’s Resolutions—or better yet, act today!

Your local BC Notary will be pleased to assist you to complete those essential legal documents. It’s easier than you think!

A. PROPERTY MATTERS

1. Residential and Commercial Real Estate Transfers

2. Mortgage Refinancing Documentation

3. Manufactured Home Transfers

4. Easements, Covenants, and Rights of Way

5. Builder’s Liens

6. Subdivisions and Statutory Building Schemes

7. Zoning Applications

B. PERSONAL PLANNING

1. Wills Preparation

2. Powers of Attorney

3. Representation Agreements

4. Advance Directives

5. Wills Notice Searches

6. Estate Planning

C. NOTARIZATION/DOCUMENTS

1. Affidavits for All Documents required at a Public Registry within BC

2. Certified True Copies of Documents

3. Execution/Authentications of International Documents

4. Notarizations/Attestations of Signatures

5. Insurance Loss Declarations

6. Personal Property Security Agreements

7. Statutory Declarations

8. Authorization of Minor-Child Travel

9. Letters of Invitation for Foreign Travel

10. Passport Application Documentation

D. BUSINESS

1. Business Purchase/Sale

2. Commercial Leases and Assignment of Leases

3. Contracts and Agreements

E. SOME BC NOTARIES PROVIDE THESE SERVICES.

1. Marine Bills of Sale and Mortgages

2. Marine Protests

3. Marriage Licences

4. Mediation

5. Real Estate Disclosure Statements

There are Notaries to serve you throughout British Columbia For the BC Notary office nearest you, please call 1-604-676-8570 or visit www.bcnotaryassociation.ca.

Note: Not all Notaries provide all services listed. Please check with your Notary before making an appointment for services.

VAL WILSON

From the Beginning

In 2001, as CEO of The Society of Notaries Public of BC, my goal was to develop a Notary education program to upgrade our entrance program, at that time held at the University of British Columbia.

I had started to meet with the Adult Education department at Simon Fraser University regarding a postgraduate degree program for Notaries. The SFU staff mentioned I might want to talk to Dr. Rob Gordon to see if he or the School of Business at SFU would be interested in developing more robust entrance and legal education for prospective BC Notaries.

By way of background, Dr. Rob had written the text for Representation Agreements, one of the key Personal Planning documents in our province that became law, required reading, and the ultimate study book on the subject for our Notary students.

The SFU staff made arrangements for us to meet and yes, Rob was interested! We embarked on a 3- or 4-year adventure to put together the postgrad Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) Program. Rob was a man

of great Intelligence and great stature with a voice to match, a love of life, and the desire to help others. He also had a healthy ego and an unbelievable work ethic.

We spent countless hours planning the new education structure and assembling a team to get the program designed and off the ground—with the help of a few lawyers, including academic Bob Reid, Todd McKendrick, George Cadman, and Notaries from the Board of The Society of Notaries Public of BC.

Following the report from our first Strategic Planning session, Rob got down to work presenting the idea to management at SFU. After they approved it, Rob and I set out to put the education plan into place, find the space and the professors, and generally decide what needed to be taught. In addition to the Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) Program, we needed a Practical Training program for the Notary grads. As Notary Marny Morin had some experience involving the past two Notary education programs, one at UBC and one at Open Learning, it was decided to recruit Marny to assist us in putting the Practical Training program together. Marny met with Rob and me and Rob

again offered his outstanding experience and input.

During our meetings, Rob and I got to know each other quite well. Our conversations naturally gravitated to our family, interests, hobbies. and life outside of work. He subsequently attended many of our BC Notary conferences as a guest speaker or panel member. Providing education for our members always appealed to him; he approached the opportunity with great zeal and passion.

Gaining Momentum

I knew Rob Gordon almost 30 years. He first spoke to me about the Program at SFU, when MA ALS was practically just a twinkle in his eye.

Rob asked if I might be interested in teaching a legal research course in the new Program. Rob’s attitude was that I was a lawyer and former legislator and he believed I could and should develop and teach the course. And so I did . . . and have done so ever since.

That was one of the great things about Rob; he had a way of being gruff and no-nonsense (that always appealed to me) and at the same time he was tremendously supportive. With Rob,

Wayne Braid

Professor Graeme Bowbrick

Dr. Rob Gordon

Bob Reid

Todd McKendrick

George Cadman

Marny Morin

you always knew where you stood and he “had you r back.”

Rob ensured MA ALS was rigorous in substance and he had a talent for recruiting good people to teach . . . including of course Dr. Margaret Hall, into whose capable hands the Directorship of the Program passed after Rob’s ret irement.

Rob’s vision and hard work in establishing the MA ALS Program has been to the benefit of the entire Notary profession. It’s no exaggeration to say his work has touched a significant majority of Notaries practising today. That was just one of Rob’s many impressive professional accomplishments.

Simon Fraser University Update

The gifted individuals who have been involved with the Program along the way have been key to its success to date. That will continue to be the case as we move into the future. The most influential character in the story to date has been Dr. Robert Gordon. Without his vision and efforts, there would be no MA ALS Program as it currently exists.

He and I first connected through our interest in legal issues affecting older adults when I was Director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies at the BC Law Inst itute.

Fast-forward a few years and Dr. Gordon approached me to gauge my interest about teaching a course in the MA ALS Program as a “Visiting Professor.” Thus began my introduction not only to the MA ALS Program, also to the world of Notaries Public in British Columbia. Taking up his

suggestion that I might enjoy teaching in the MA ALS program ultimately changed the course of my career and therefore, my life. He really had magic; it’s my great luck that our paths crossed.

Dr. Gordon passed away unexpectedly in Spring 2024. At his memorial, I was moved by the many stories about the impact he had on many people’s lives, often in decisive ways.

This coming year will be an exciting one as the Endowed Professorship gets underway. I look forward to keeping you posted with new developments as they occur.

September 2024 brought with it a new cohort of Notary students in the Master of Applied Legal Studies Program, the 17th cohort to pass through the Program since its initiation.

I have had the opportunity to spend the first week of September with Cohort 17 and am impressed with their engagement, intelligence, and curiosity. I am looking forward to following their progress in the Program over the coming months, and in what I am sure will be their successful professional careers to come.

We are welcoming some new instructors to the Program.

y Property 1 will be co-taught by two Visiting Professors from Capilano University: Michael Begg, and Karen Yip. They are excited to be working with our students and bring with them a wealth of knowledge.

y Contracts will be taught this year by Krish Maharaj, a Visiting Professor from the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law (where he also teaches contract law). Michael, Karen, and

Krish will continue to strengthen our programming in their areas. We are fortunate to have those experienced legal educators joi ning us.

September 1, 2024, was also the date the Endowed Professorship in Applied Legal Studies, established by The Society of Notaries Public of BC, came into effect. I am delighted to have been appointed the initial holder of the Professorship.

In that capacity, I will be continuing my work as the Director of the MA ALS Program. In addition to teaching, that role includes faculty recruitment and hiring and ongoing program development. Neither the law nor the nature of legal practice stands still—the latter includes the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence; we in the MA ALS Program need to constantly revisit how we can scaffold student success both in the short and longterm.

To that end, feedback from “the field”—the experience of Notaries in practice—is invaluable and, in connection with a planned “soft re-launch” of the Program this year (in connection with the creation of the Endowed Professorship), we will be planning our first MA ALS alumni event. As the Endowed Professorship gets underway this Fall, we will be establishing an Advisory Committee with representation from outside of Simon Fraser University (including the Notary profession), whose input will assist us in program development.

Dr. Margaret Hall

Michael Begg

Karen Yip

Krish Maharaj

The

Evolution

of the

Notary Education Program 1986 — Present

Educating and training a competent Notary Public takes a village and a range of activities to develop and enhance their knowledge, skills, and competencies. Academic and practical learning experiences promote growth and continuous improvement. By investing in the training of a new Notary, we strive to equip them with the tools they need to be successful and to provide a level of service expected by The Society, their peers, and their clients.

Our education program has evolved significantly over the years. When I studied to become a Notary, there was no face-to-face or online course instruction, no instructors, and no mentors. We didn’t know who the other students were at the time. It was a self-learn course administered by the then-Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. The materials were largely taken from the Real Estate Licensing course of the day and a compendium of statutes relevant to Notary practice.

There were weekly units of study with an assignment at the end of each; the assignments were graded by an unnamed entity in the Sauder School. Once the assignments were successfully completed, the student was required to write six statutory examinations set by a Board of Examiners appointed through the office of Ministry of the Attorney General of BC. If you successfully completed those six examinations, you were commissioned in the Supreme Court of British Columbia as a fully trained, competent Notary Public.

There was no mentoring requirement. There was no formal practical training. The day before I was to be commissioned with my class of graduates, we met together for the first time since writing the six examinations. A member of The Society’s Board of Directors spent the day telling us what it would be like in practice and went over the rules of regulation. I must confess the only thing I remember from that day was her telling us to hang a mirror in a staff area of the office so we could check our appearance before meeting with a client. I guess it was practical enough because I remember it to t his day.

There was no credential attached to the academic training we took at UBC, other than the right to practice as a Notary Public in British Columbia. That right required a “Seal” and those Seals were restricted by number and location; there was little to no opportunity to practise with another Notary, either as a partner or as staff.

As a result, most of the students who applied to be Notaries were familiar with the field. Many were lawyer- or Notary-trained conveyancers. Some were Realtors or insurance agents. One of the requirements to be accepted into the program was the student had to have at least 5 years’ experience “in a related field.”

The education program was overhauled in about 1995. That was a revision to the UBC course that updated the existing materials, added additional materials specific to Notary practice, and organized and modularized the materials and assignments. A Certificate of Completion was added by UBC and given to those who completed the program. Two weeks of practical training seminars were added to allow students to learn from experienced practitioners how to apply their academic knowledge. It was an improvement.

A much bigger change came because of an education strategic-planning session we held in 2004. We set ambitious goals for the future of Notary education to

y increase the quality and quantity of face-to-face instruction to reinforce and enhance written education materials;

y require mandatory mentoring (articling) with existing Notaries;

y design an academically attractive course that would increase our opportunity to select the best possible prospective members;

y design a course that might be attractive to existing members to increase their knowledge in new areas of law; and

y design a course that would allow us to provide remedial training to existing members as needed to enforce established and regulated professional and ethical st andards.

In setting this mandate, everyone we met with agreed that our course was long overdue for accreditation and that a revision like the one we contemplated would fall short without it. Without academic accreditation, it would be harder to attract quality students who would be willing to commit the time and pay the fees required to deliver such a course.

We looked at our options and there were several. The most attractive to us was a move to SFU’s Integrated Studies Program that would provide a Diploma credential. The proposition went to Dr. Rob Gordon at the SFU Criminology Department; that led to a meeting with Dr. Gordon who told us the timing was perfect for a program like ours to fall into the parameters of their new Professional Development Program. That red-letter meeting led to our current Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies Program as the prerequisite credential for entry to our practical training program.

That change came at the same time as the Trade, Investment, and Mobility Agreement (TILMA) was entered into by the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. It required the removal of the number-and-location restrictions of BC Notaries and opened the door to expanding The Society’s membership base.

Marny Morin

More than 12 years have gone by since our education program was taken over by SFU and the first class graduated. Today, more than 65 per cent of our membership has earned the MA ALS Program; our membership has grown from roughly 280 active members in 2008 to about 430 today.

Since the first graduating class in 2010, our practical training program has seen incremental improvements that required 5 weeks of in-person classroom-session training delivered in two blocks, 3 weeks of mentoring with an approved Notary Public, and the six statutory admission examinations.

The new Notary Education Program (NEP) increased the in-class practical training sessions from 5 weeks to 8 weeks and the mentoring requirement from 3 weeks to 6 weeks. The course is now delivered after students complete their MA ALS degree and runs over 6 consecutive months. Students attend in-person classes for 4 weeks in January and 4 weeks in April. In February and March, students complete their 6 weeks of mentoring. Examinations still include the statutory admission exams required by the Notaries Act under the auspices of the Board of Examiners, but also include four skills assessments.

y Oral skill assessment in taking Will inst ructions

y Oral skill assessment in advising clients in a property purchase/ mortgage

y Practical assessment in the preparation of documents for a property tra nsaction

y Practical assessment in the drafting of a Will, Power of Attorney, and Representation A greement

Core subjects of our NEP program include the following.

y A comprehensive course on the practical aspects of personal planning

y Introduction to basic conveyancing

y Advanced conveyancing focusing on real estate contracts and legal advice necessary in property transactions

y Notarial P rocedure

y Jurisprudence

y Electronic File Man agement

y Trust Accounting

y Business and Practice

y Estate Administration

y Cyber Security Awareness

y Anti-Money Laundering and FINTRAC obl igations

y Small Business Conveyancing

Experienced Notaries, lawyers, and industry professionals deliver those courses.

I am very proud of the evolution of our program over the years and of my part in the design and implementation of each stage. Notaries today are professionally educated and great strides have been taken to ensure we graduate competent Notaries confident in their knowledge and skills and ready to continue their learning as BC Notaries Public. It remains to be seen how or to what extent our education program will change again under the new Legal Professions Act. Whatever the changes may be, the public of this province are well served by their local Notary Public.

1600 – 1095 West Pender Street

Vancouver, BC V6E 2M6

Phone: (604) 689-3281

Fax: (604) 685-6494 www.macfuj.com

QUANG T. DUONG GORDON J. KEHLER

IAN M. KNAPP

MACKENZIE FUJISAWA LLP BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS

Hilde Deprez

The BC Notary education-andapplication process in place when I was commissioned in 2001 was very different from today. The Notary Preparatory Course, as it was then called, was offered through distance-learning via the University of British Columbia.

In essence, we received multiple big binders with the course material divided into modules. We had to navigate through them and complete and submit many assignments, all within a set timeframe. Each marked assignment provided a measure of our gained knowledge and understanding of the module as well as an assessment of our overall progress.

Once we had completed all the modules, and provided we had reached the required overall marks for all our assignments, we were allowed to write the six statutor y exams.

Distance-learning was a form of self-education. There was no videolearning, no online course platform or digital course material, no chatgroups. We had no teachers bringing the contents of the modules to life against the backdrop of real-practice examples and experiences. Instead we worked through all modules on our own. It was just the student and those “bi nders.”

With no virtual or in-person classrooms, we were isolated from our fellow students. Many students felt a need to set up their own study group, a platform where they could compare notes, discuss, share concerns, and offload their worries and stress. For many, those study groups resulted in lasting friendships; they continue to be each other’s support systems now, in their respective Notary practices.

It is nothing short of remarkable how the Notary education platform has changed since then, a relative short period of time . . . a great achievement. It is testimony to how highly education is valued by The Society of Notaries Public and how important it is to the Notary profession.

To think that Notary students now go through the postgraduate Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies Program at SFU, followed by the NEP, delivered in-house at The Society, with access to mentorship, is light-years away from the old distance-learning model.

The education platform changed with the evolution in technology and continues to change the way education is accessed, delivered, and received. As well, technology now allows for continued dialogue among students, professors, teachers, and mentors. Going through the education process today is no longer self-education in isolation.

For several years now, I have been 1 of 2 presenters of the Wills and Personal Planning teaching segment in the NEP. Teaching that course is a team effort. It runs over several full days, in-person in a classroom setting. Teaching in tandem with a colleague is not only more manageable and fun, it is a must.

There is a lot of ground to cover in the obvious topics: Wills, Powers of Attorney, Representation Agreements, and Advance Health Care Directives, but the education goes way beyond that. I often think of it as an octopus with its tentacles reaching into different aspects of law and touching all aspects of the life of every client.

Wills and Personal Planning deal with the reality of life, the vulnerability of life, the highs and the lows, the musts and must-nots, the should-haves but did-nots, etc.

Our hope is that during the course, we bridge the gap between academic knowledge and how the legal principles and doctrines present themselves in the day-to-day reality of our clients’ lives and our Notary practices. The goal is

to provide the students with an in-depth overview from a practice standpoint so they will be able to apply their knowledge as they go into mentorships and their own practice.

Teaching as a team allows the teachers to create a constant interaction and dialogue between themselves and the students. We can share different practice experiences and the more that can be shared, the more that will assist the students with a larger framework of reference to be better prepared to help their clients.

After all, when assisting clients with Wills and/or Personal Planning, no two clients are alike. Each is different, as is the required approach. Having the knowledge and flexibility to navigate each situation, so it is tailored to the client’s unique circumstances, is an absolute necessity to ensure the client can make informed decisions that will impact their assets and their interpersonal relationships during their lifetime and later their estate and their legacy.

The NEP course itself consists of reviewing legislation and/or case law, interactive discussion with students, and real-time drafting exercises. They are always interesting as we then put them up (no names) on the big screen for shared review and discussion. It shows students that one fact pattern does not result in identically drafted documents. Instead, various students will generate different draft documents. That always makes for an interesting conversation.

At the conclusion of our course presentation, the students are to complete a written assignment based on a fact pattern we provide. Later on, there is an oral exam component where the students are individually assessed by an examiner on how they conduct a Will interview . . . with the student playing the role of the Notary and the examiner the role of the client.

It is an intense, in-depth course; we hope we provide the students with a platform to work from as they go into the reality of a Notarial practice and feel empowered, able to apply the newly acquired knowledge, and that they have

all the tools in their toolbox to address their clients’ concerns and questions, able to draft the required documents and provide their clients with often muchsought-after and needed peace of mind.

I have also learned from the students and continue to do so. Teaching is not one-way. On the contrary, it is crosspollination; in the process we all learn and come out the better for it. Teaching has also given me the opportunity to get to know my new colleagues-to-be who are joining our profession.

I send a warm Hello and Thank You to my Notary colleagues Lorne Mann, with whom I so enjoyed teaching this class for several years, and to Morrie Baillie who has been the “other 1 of 2” with me since last year! It has been, and continues to be, a wonderful experience.

The education I received in 2023 MA ALS Program at Simon Fraser University, combined with the NEP training from The Society of Notaries Public, has been instrumental in shaping me into a competent and effective Notary Public in British Columbia.

The programs provided a comprehensive foundation, blending academic rigour with practical skills, essential for the multifaceted role of a BC Notary.

At SFU, the Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies Program

offered a thorough curriculum that delved into key areas of law, ethics, and the various legal processes relevant to Notarial practice. The Program’s emphasis on real-world application ensured I not only understood the theory but could apply the knowledge to everyday sce narios.

Courses covering contract law, property transfers, Wills and estates, and legal research were particularly beneficial, providing a deep understanding of the legal framework within which BC Notaries operate. The faculty, composed of experienced legal professionals and academics, provided invaluable insights and mentorship that further enhanced my learning experience.

At SFU, the professors were keen at delivering information particular to the work of a Notary Public in BC. I appreciated that because I often found during other education programs, the “general” studies are taught and then the student and soon-to-be-professional is left to think about how that would truly look in practice.

The education I received at SFU was commendable for that exact reason. For example, one course at Simon Fraser University particularly stood out to me because it focused on the smaller, often-overlooked topics essential to a BC Notary's practice. That course was unique in its approach, as it addressed the practical day-to-day aspects of Notarial work that are often omitted from broader course materials and syllabi.

We delved into areas like Builders Liens , Notarizations, and understanding corporate entities—topics that, while not extensive enough to warrant individual courses, are crucial for a well-rounded practice. The materials provided us with a foundational understanding of the subjects, ensuring we knew what questions to ask and where to begin in our dai ly work.

The training with The Society of Notaries Public complemented my academic education by focusing on the practical aspects of the profession. Here, I was able to hone my skills in

client interaction, document preparation, and the precise execution of legal duties. The Society’s program emphasized the importance of accuracy, attention to detail, and the ethical responsibilities inherent in the role of a Notary Public. Through workshops, seminars, and hands-on experience, I was able to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world practice, ensuring I was well-prepared to handle the complexities of the profession.

The practical training and mentoring provided by The Society of Notaries Public perfectly complemented what we learned at Simon Fraser University. The concepts and topics covered at SFU were reinforced by The Society and, more important, we were given the opportunity to practice those skills with our peers, including exercises such as conducting proper client intakes, preparing estate planning documents, drafting contracts, and reviewing our work with the entire class. That approach ensured we were all actively engaged with the learning.

I believe that type of education is quite unique to SFU and The Society of Notaries Public as it allows students to directly apply their academic knowledge to daily scenarios. Learning from seasoned Notaries and having the chance to ask practical questions made the education experience particularly va luable.

Another unique aspect of the program is its small class-size of 25-30. That created a more intimate and supportive environment. Our close-knit community fostered strong connections among peers and colleagues, enabling us to support one another.

The Program provided us with a valuable network that continues to benefit us in our professional lives. The sense of community we developed allows us to seek advice and ask questions in our daily practice that is crucial given the ever-evolving nature of the laws with which we work. Continuous education and support are as vital as the foundational knowledge we gained during our t raining.

Ikjot Bhogal

Lorne Mann

Morrie Baillie

Overall, the education and training has been pivotal in preparing me for a successful career as a BC Notary. The combination of in-depth legal education and practical skill-building has equipped me with the confidence and competence needed to serve my clients effectively. The Program’s comprehensive approach ensured I was well-versed in the law and adept at navigating the responsibilities and challenges unique to Notarial practice in British Columbia. That solid foundation has been key to my growth and success as a Notary Public, enabling me to provide high-quality service to my community.

After graduating, I acquired an existing Notary practice where I have successfully built client relationships and developed a business model—skills emphasized in our Program. I continue to apply the knowledge and skills I gained, both theoretical and practical, in my day-to-day work. There isn't a single aspect of my education that hasn't been directly relevant to my practice.

Give Back through Mentoring!

After accepting a request to “mentor” a Notary student or newly commissioned Notary, I was delighted to meet Mojdeh Afifi from Notary Cohort 12, when she was writing the challenging Notarial exams.

With her process completed successfully, I invited Mojdeh to my West Van office to spend time with me. She and her family reside in West Van. Our working association easily developed into a friendship . . . a win-win all around, for Mojdeh and myself and my clients. These days/weeks, when I’m

not always available for a client, Mojdeh generally is. I’m grateful she’s sharing the workload with me.

Two years ago in August 2022, our well-known and respected 2-term President Notary Ken Sherk passed away, leaving a big gap in West Vancouver’s Notary services. Mojdeh was here to help provide services to many of Ken’s longtime clients.

As a practising BC Notary office, we are always busy, even when the real estate market is quieter. Operating a successful Notary practice anywhere in the province is a full-time commitment, to say the least, but it’s essential that we all seriously consider “mentoring.”

Thankfully, many BC Notaries have been active mentors in past years. There is a great need for even more Notaries to step forward to offer that important service.

During my start in the profession in 2005, I was most grateful for the time Laurie, Trish, Susan, and countless other Notaries gave me. Please be ready, willing, and able to give back in the form of mentor ing!

My Unique Journey

In the journey to becoming a BC Notary Public, everyone has their own experiences and challenges. With my engineering background, English as a second language, and the pandemic, I feel my journey was rather bumpy.

Engineers are trained to see black and white; it takes effort to change the mindset

to see gray areas as a legal professional. To get accepted into the education program, a law-related upgrade was inevitable for me. After receiving Accounting and Legal Studies Certificates from Capilano University, I finally started my Notary education in September 2019. My cohort faced many unprecedented learning conditions.

Completing a Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies is a substantial part of Notary education in British Columbia; it is a genuine postgraduate degree program fully sanctioned by Simon Fraser University and its standards. MA ALS topics and course contents prepared us for the possible future expansion of the BC Notaries’ scope of our practice. With Bill 21, we are getting closer to enjoying the fruit of that tree.

After MA ALS, my legal knowledge, writing skills, and research skills improved considerably. I was ready for my 4 weeks of the Notary Education Program where experienced Notaries took time from their busy schedules for mock interviews and hands-on practices. Each grad observed a Notary practice in action for 3 weeks—a brilliant idea.

MA ALS and the NEP provide foundation courses that convey skills, a deeper understanding of the law, and a taste of Notary life.

I consider myself lucky that Kate Manvell, seasoned BC Notary and former Canadian Citizenship Court Judge, mentored me. Kate became my mentor, colleague, and great friend.

In conclusion, I am grateful for the tireless effort of the many people who make BC Notaries’ education possible and greatly appreciate the generosity of the Notaries who accepted me into their offices during the pandemic, to observe, learn, and work.

I am also thankful for the support of my fellow Cohort members on our social media group and the support of PAL (the Professional Assistance Line).

BC Notary education does not end with the commissioning ceremony. We continue to learn from each other each and every day.

Kate Manvell

Mojdeh Afifi

Ken Sherk

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UOY YREVE PETS FO EHT

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Continuing Education for Notaries Public of BC

TO OUR 2024 SPONSORS THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 S THANK YOU

The BC Notaries Association develops and provides continuing education (CE) opportunities for Notaries Public throughout the province. For each reporting year, which currently operates July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, BC Notaries Public are required to obtain 12 Continuing Education Credits.

The Association offers several continuing education opportunities throughout the year that include both credit and noncredit. Twice per month, a learning opportunity is offered in the form of a virtual “Lunch and Learn” where Notaries can learn about a variety of topics during their lunch. Many of the Lunch and Learns are topics provided by BCNA sponsors. The Association also offers more than the required 12 CE credits throughout the year, virtually and in-person.

Upcoming Continuing Education Credit

Topic: The AI Revolution: Are You Ready?

Presenters: Joshua Weaver

Platform

a global network

of professionals with public r support business

gulatory

CEO Chad Rintoul and Manager of Continuing Education Trista Zamany work closely with the Continuing Education Liaison Committee to determine new topic ideas and suggestions for new speakers or developing areas of learning. The Continuing Education Liaison Committee is comprised of Notaries in different areas of the province, including a Liaison Notary from the BCNA Board of Directors and from the Practice Advisory Line (PAL). The diversity of representation assures we are aware of all topics that could be covered across the province.

After topic ideas and presenters have been determined, any Continuing Education Credits must be approved by The Society of Notaries Public of BC. A full description of the requested session is provided to Marny Morin, Society Secretary and Director of Education Programs, who approves the number of CE Credits and whether the education fits into the scope of practice of BC Notaries.

thanks to for their c

The BCNA Annual Conference offers the majority of in-person Continuing Education Credits throughout the year. The topics are established and determined well in advance. Other topics are offered throughout the year through the ZOOM platform.

If you have questions about the BCNA Continuing Education program, please contact Trista Zamany at tzamany@bcnotaryassociation.ca.

When: Tuesday, November 19

Time: 10 am

Duration: 1 hour

CE Credit: 1

Registration Opens Mid-October

Description: Artificial Intelligence is not just coming—it's here, and it's reshaping the knowledge-working landscape. This talk cuts through the hype to show you how AI is already transforming our day-to-day work. Discover how embracing AI can slash your workload while expanding your capabilities. But beware: With great power comes great responsibility. We'll navigate the ethical minefields and show you how to stay ahead of the curve without losing your professional edge.

Presenter: Joshua Weaver is a coach, attorney, and technologist currently serving as the Director of the Texas Opportunity & Justice Incubator (TOJI). At TOJI, Joshua leverages his background in law and technology to help attorneys build sustainable practices for underserved communities. As a legal innovator, Joshua is dedicated to improving the practice of law by helping attorneys leverage better tools and strategies.

WITH YOU

Joshua is a nationally sought-after speaker on topics related to Emergent Legal Technology, Access to Justice, Cybersecurity and Disaster Preparedness, and Legal Innovation.

Chad Rintoul

Trista Zamany

Josh Weaver

Upcoming Continuing Education Sessions

YREVE PETS FO EHT YAW

Lunch and Learns

THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 SP THANK YOU

HTIW UOY

TO OUR 2024 SPONSORS

Topic:  LTSA Updates

Presenter: Larry Blaschuk, Registrar of Land Titles at the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (LTSA)

When:  Wednesday, November 6

Time:

Where:

Description: Join us for an update on a variety of topics related to land title practice including policy updates, recently launched and new initiatives, system enhancements, and more.

Presenter: Larry Blaschuk is Registrar of Land Titles at the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (LTSA), responsible for ensuring the integrity of records in the land title register.

Larry joined the LTSA in 2008 from private practice as a solicitor and as corporate counsel with one of BC’s leading registration service providers. He has extensive real estate and corporate/commercial practice experi ence, serving both commercial and residential clients throughout his career.

Outside of the LTSA, Larry is active in the community, coaching track and field since 2006, and attending the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic Games and numerous World Athletics Championship with his athletes.

Topic:  Real Estate Fraud and Title Insurance

Presenter: Senior Business Development Manager

When:  Wednesday, November 20

Time:  12 noon

Where: ZOOM

The tform connects a global network of professionals with public records to support business tra tory

Description: Incidents of real estate title fraud are all too common in Canada; homeowners and lenders are proving to be irresistible targets for fraud artists. Join us as we discuss the current fraud climate, popular schemes, and common red flags that will help you prevent fraud attempts that lead to financial losses and big headaches for your

ks to the N heir contin

Presenter: John Gellard joined Stewart Title in 2019 as Business Development Manager in the Vancouver Lower Mainland area. An alumni of the University of British Columbia, he carried out mortgage lending as a financial advisor at the Royal Bank of Canada prior to joining Stewart. John is a proud member of the Mortgage Investment Association of BC and the Risk Management Association of Canada, and has been licensed by the BC Insurance Council since 2019.

As a Business Development Manager, John has spoken on the topic of title insurance to the BC Notary community and other industry stakeholders in past events; he is excited to share his expertise again in this education session.

Market Update and Private Wealth Overview

Daley Madu, CFP, CIM, TEP

Investment Counsellor, Dixon Mitchell

Wednesday, December 4

12 noon

ZOOM

Description: Join us as we dive into the latest market trends and essential strategies in private wealth management. We’ll provide a concise market update, analyzing current conditions and emerging trends, and discuss their impact on investment portfolios. We’ll also explore key private wealth management strategies for growth, risk mitigation, and optimizing financial plans to meet clients' evolving needs.

Presenter: Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Daley pursued his degree in Economics at the University of Victoria before returning home to begin his career with a prominent Canadian bank. His initial foray into banking was followed by a transition to investment management with a major independent investment manager based in Calgary.

Daley’s journey into the investment industry was catalyzed by the 2008/2009 financial crisis that exposed widespread issues in investment practices and advice. That experience fueled his passion for providing transparent, prudent, and unbiased financial guidance. In 2021, Daley joined Dixon Mitchell to further his commitment to helping individuals and families grow and manage their

WITH YOU EV

As an Investment Counsellor at Dixon Mitchell, Daley leverages his extensive experience to offer clients clear, strategic advice for managing their financial futures.

John Gellard

Larry Blaschuk

TO OUR 2024 SPONSORS THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 THANK YOU

TO OUR 2024 SPONSORS THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 THANK YOU

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BC Notaries Class of 2024 Installation Ceremony

In the Supreme Court of British Columbia BEFORE THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SCHULTES

Vancouver, BC September 19, 2024

CNSL QUANG DUONG: In the matter of an application for enrollment. Justice, I’m appearing on behalf of this year’s class of Notarial candidates. Thank you for graciously agreeing to preside over today’s Installation Ceremony.

THE COURT: My pleasure.

CNSL Q. DUONG: It’s a distinct privilege to present to you these fine candidates. Also in attendance today are esteemed executives of The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia: Mr. John Mayr Executive Director and Ms. Marny Morin Secretary. We’re also joined by the candidates’ family members and friends whose support has been invaluable throughout their journey.

THE COURT: Don’t worry about little ones crying; it adds to the family flavour.

CNSL Q. DUONG: Justice, each of these candidates has successfully completed the comprehensive 2-year Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies Program from Simon Fraser University’s School of Criminology. They have undergone a rigorous selection process, passed the prescribed statutory examinations, and paid prescribed fees. In every respect, they have fulfilled the necessary qualifications to become Notaries in this province. With your permission, I would like to deliver the pledge of The Society of Notaries to the candidates

I pledge myself to the advancement of the Notarial profession in British Columbia by all proper means available to me. I pledge myself to seek and maintain an equitable, honourable, and cooperative association with fellow members, other practitioners, and with all others who may become a part of my business and professional life. I pledge myself to place honesty and integrity above all else and to pursue my practice with diligent study and dedication in order that my service to my clients shall always be maintained at the highest possible level. I pledge myself to

comply with the principles and objectives of The Society, as set forth in its bylaws, rules, and code of ethics, and professional conduct.

I will now read each of your names and ask that you indicate your agreement with the pledge by stating “I so pledge.”

Justice, would you like to administer the oath of office?

THE COURT: Yes, after I call your name, please, as you prefer, either say I so affirm or I so swear, the choice is up to you. I’ll read [the oath] first and then go through your names.

I do swear that I will not make or attest any act, contract, or instrument in which I know there is violence or fraud, and in all things I will act uprightly and justly in the office of a Notary Public.

If you would have a seat for a moment, I have some remarks for you, if that’s alright, Mr. Duong.

CNSL Q. DUONG: Absolutely, Justice.

THE COURT: Good morning, and good morning to everyone who has come to support you today. It’s a great honour for me to preside over your Installation Ceremony. As you can appreciate, most of the people who appear in this Courtroom are not very happy to be here, and at the end of the case, they may not be too happy with me either, so it’s a real treat for me to preside over not just an important ceremony, but a very happy occasion in your lives.

Today marks the final stage of all your studying and hard work to become Notaries, and the beginning of a new stage of your lives as you go out to serve the public in your new role. You deserve enormous credit for your efforts, as do all those who have given you their love and support to help you meet this goal. I am sure they are having a special day as well, with their pride for your accomplishment.

I see from your references that you are all very smart, accomplished people, from a wide variety of life experiences and work backgrounds. I expect that you have already given some thought to how you want to carry out your practice as a Notary. I think the best additional advice that I can give you is contained in the pledge that you took a few minutes ago—place honesty and integrity above all else, and pursue your practice with diligent study and dedication.

These are not just fine-sounding words. The transactions that you will be carrying out and the documents you will be creating or dealing with can literally be life-changing for the people involved, and you must be trustworthy and knowledgeable at all times if you are to serve those people effectively. Without honest and diligent Notaries, our system simply cannot function. So, if anyone ever tries to persuade you to do something that is less than straightforward, or it ever seems convenient to take a shortcut instead of following the proper steps, please remember the pledge and the oath or affirmation that you gave today, and the values that you have committed to, and let them govern your actions. In fact, as in every profession, it is actually those who have the greatest integrity, and the highest standards, who are the most

successful in their practices. That is what I recommend that you aspire to. In other words, you will do well by doing good. I wish you all long, interesting, and fulfilling careers as Notaries, as you experience the deep satisfaction that comes from serving the public as members of an honourable and essential profession. Best of luck.

Pursuant to section 11 of the Notaries Act, having taken your oath of office, and upon being satisfied that you have satisfactorily passed the required examination and paid the prescribed fee, you are now to be enrolled by the Registrar as a member of The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia and be entitled to practise as a Notary Public.

I don’t think it would be contrary to Court dignity if there were to be some applause.

CNSL Q. DUONG: Thank you, Justice.

THE COURT: Thank you very much. We will adjourn.

Congratulations, Class of 2024!

Î Today marks the pivotal moment we are recognized as BC Notaries— the culmination of years of hard work and dedication.

As we celebrate our graduation and our commissioning ceremony, it is important to reflect on the journey that brought us here.

Two years ago, we made the decision to pursue the postgraduate Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies at SFU with the intent to become BC Notaries. That laid the foundation for our f utures.

After the MA ALS degree, we completed the 6-month Notary Education Program (NEP), a rigorous process that tested our knowledge, integrity, and dedication. We faced complex legal scenarios as part of our assessments, navigated our mentorships with deep care for practical learning, and refined our skills under the scrutiny of our educators. Together, we navigated the academic challenges that led to t his day.

Beyond the technical skills, this journey has taught us the value of perseverance, teamwork, and support from our families and friends. Our support system included mentors who guided us, our fellow classmates who shared our experiences of challenge and triumph, and the loved ones who stood by us. Their belief in our potential was unwavering.

More than a professional milestone, our success is a responsibility that demands precision, a profound understanding of noncontentious law, and a passion for serving the public.

We are not just custodians of legal documents; we are guardians of truth and integrity. Our legal work has the power to impact lives and help people. It is a privilege and a responsibility that we carry forward with pride.

As we look to the future, we will embrace with enthusiasm the opportunities that lie ahead; we will continue to learn, grow, and contribute to our communities with the highest standards of professionalism and compassion.

Congratulations to all of us, and here’s to making a difference in the world. BC Notaries—a Tradition of Trust!

Valedictorian Mariam Faizi

2024 BC Notary Grad Awards

4 th Annual Wayne Braid Award

IIn recognition of achieving the highest mark in Personal Planning Examinations

Winner Eleanor Chan

Presented by Vicki Van As

17 th Annual

Prof. Robert Reid Award

In recognition of achieving the highest marks on the Property Examinations

Winner Xiaojing Zheng

Presented by Hassan el Masri

10 th Annual Simon Fraser University Award

In recognition of achieving the highest marks in MA ALS Program at SFU

Winner Erica Lau

Presented by Margaret Hall

24 th Annual Stanley J. Nicol Award

In recognition of achieving the highest marks on the Notarial Procedures Examinations

Winner Natalie Williams

Presented by Hassan el Masri

37 th Annual Dr. Bernard W. Hoeter Award

In recognition of achieving the highest marks on all Admission Examinations

Winner Natalie Williams

Presented by Hassan el Masri

REIBC RI AWARDS 2024

Î June 27 marked an extraordinary event at the exquisite 50th Parallel Winery Estate, Kelowna, BC. The evening was dedicated to celebrating distinguished individuals who have exemplified exceptional leadership and innovation in the real estate industry. The annual RI Awards is a grand affair where REIBC members come together to honour achievement in various categories.

In a remarkably short period, the 50th Parallel Winery Estate has won an impressive array of international awards, surpassing many other wineries. Every aspect, from the sights to the sensations, is meticulously crafted to showcase the exceptional wines and the unique terroir from which they originate.

Our hope was our guests would meet, connect, and form community with all those present. Everyone had total freedom to choose where they sat, providing guests with opportunities to make new connections!

The professional RI designation is for individuals who have demonstrated a high level of education, experience, and expertise in the field of real estate, having met the rigorous standards set by REIBC and proven their commitment to excellence and ongoing professional development. The standards typically include a combination of qualifications, including a certain amount of relevant work experience and recognition. RI members are respected and trusted to provide valuable insights and guidance to their clients and colleagues. Our members have access to a network of like-minded professionals, providing opportunities for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and growth.

The awards evening acknowledges their hard work and inspires others within the industry to strive for greatness, providing a platform for individuals to showcase their accomplishments to a wider audience, including fellow professionals, potential RI members, and industry leaders.

TAMARA DA SILVEIRA

2024 RI Awards held at 50th Parallel Estate, Kelowna

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of four major awards. The copper and cedarwood medals created for this occasion are remarkable pieces of art, each meticulously handcarved by the talented Indigenous artist

RI Award for EMERGING LEADER

John McCarthy, RI: Recipient

Catherine MacKinnon, RI: Finalist

Damien Roussin, RI: Finalist

Roxane McCallum from Mission, BC. Cedarwood holds great spiritual and ceremonial significance in Indigenous cultures. Its distinct aroma and natural beauty bring a sense of warmth and reverence to the stunning medals.

RI Award for INGENUITY

Tiffany Simmons, RI: Recipient

Ellen Hsu, RI: Finalist

We also honoured REIBC’s PastPresident Cindy Nesselbeck for her incredible work and legacy as a resultsoriented real estate professional. Her extensive involvement in the organization includes President from 2022 to 2023, President-Elect from 2021 to 2022, Secretary Treasurer from 2020 to 2021, and Governor from 2017 to 2024.

Winners of the prestigious RI awards beaming with joy, celebrating their remarkable achievements: from left Tiffany Simmons, John McCarthy, Jillian Mann.

RI Award for LEADERSHIP

Our congratulations to each award finalist and recipients. Their outstanding contributions help shape the future of our industry.

Jillian Mann, RI: Recipient

Beau Rossel, RI: Finalist

Gregory Steves, RI: Finalist

Andre Gravelle, RI: Finalist

RI

Medal of DISTINCTION

Sandra Cawley, RI: Recipient

Bruce Turner, RI: Finalist

Daniel Jones, RI: Finalist

and addiction— one life at a time

“Because of UGM, I know now that I don’t have to do it alone. I never thought we could live in a place where we're so loved, we're so cared for, and people want to see me and my son do well. I can't think of a better place to grow; I'm forever grateful to be here.”

The Exciting and Rewarding Life of a Roving Notary in British Columbia.

Î Ever dreamed of a job that lets you travel, meet fascinating people, and save the day?

Welcome to the adventure-filled life of a Roving Notary in British Columbia. It isn’t your grandparent’s 9-to-5 grind; it is a whirlwind tour of BC’s finest offices as you help fellow Notaries keep their practices running smoothly.

Buckle up—it's going to be a thrilli ng ride!

Imagine zooming through the jaw-dropping landscapes of British Columbia, from the hipster havens of Vancouver to the sleepy, picturesque towns nestled between mountains and sea. As a Roving Notary, you’re not just sitting behind a desk, you’re embarking on an ongoing road trip. Forget the office view: Your view changes every week!

And the cherry on top? Staying in Notary houses while their owners are away. Those homes range from quaint cottages to modern mansions, each with its charm. One week you’re sipping coffee on a mountain-view deck, the next you’re lounging in a coastal villa. It's like being a Notary-themed Airbnb guest, but you get paid instead of the other way around.

Imagine the satisfaction of knowing your work is making a significant difference. As a Roving Notary, you step

in to assist Notary offices across BC, keeping things running smoothly while the regular Notary is away.

The

variety of experiences hones your skills and makes you adaptable. One day you’re handling a high-stakes real estate deal, the next you’re helping finalize someone’s estate plans. You become the Swiss Army knife of Notaries, ready for any challenge thrown your way.

Your presence allows Notaries to take breaks, focus on complex cases, or even explore new business opportunities, knowing their practice is in good hands. It's a win-win situation that brings immense professional satisfaction and camaraderie within the Notary community.

There is a growing need for more Roving Notaries, especially in rural areas. The demand presents a golden opportunity for those looking to expand their horizons and embrace a dynamic career. By becoming a Roving Notary, you are stepping into a role in high demand. Your flexibility and willingness to travel make you a valuable asset. You’re not just filling a role; you’re meeting a critical need, ensuring that communities across BC have access to Notary services when they need them most.

Being a Roving Notary is like attending a never-ending networking event, minus the awkward small talk. You’re constantly meeting new Notaries and expanding your professional circle. Each office has its own flavour; some are laid-back and quirky; others are all business, no nonsense.

The variety of experiences hones your skills and makes you adaptable. One day you’re handling a high-stakes real estate deal, the next you’re helping finalize someone’s estate plans. You become the Swiss Army knife of Notaries, ready for any challenge thrown your way.

Sure, being a Roving Notary comes with its challenges. Constant travel can be exhausting and adapting to new environments requires flexibility. But who needs a monotonous routine? The excitement of new places and faces keeps you sharp and engaged.

IRINA BARTNIK

On a personal level, this job offers incredible flexibility. Want to take a few days off to explore a charming town you’ve always wanted to visit? Go for it. Professionally, you’re gaining experience at an accelerated rate. You’re not just a Notary, you’re becoming a seasoned pro with a treasure trove of stories and experiences.

If you would like to have a Roving Notary take care of your office, ensure your office is well-organized and has staff that can assist with files. Plan to hire a Roving Notary at least a year in advance.

Not everyone can be a Roving Notary; it requires experience in the field so this job is not for new Notaries. An experienced Notary considering retirement would be an amazing asset as a Roving Notary.

So, there you have it—the wild, wonderful, and rewarding life of a Roving Notary in British Columbia. It’s a job that combines travel, heroics, and a dash of chaos. For those who crave adventure, love meeting new people, and want to make a real difference, this career path offers endless opportunities and laughs. Plus, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to be the Notary world’s equivalent of a rock star?

IRINA BARTNIK notaryinbc@gmail.com

Wills and Estate Planning for Indigenous Clients Living on Reserves

Î Legal professionals assisting Indigenous clients with Wills and estate planning need to be alert to the different legal frameworks that may apply, depending on whether the client lives on- or off-reserve.

This article mentions key considerations in advising on and drafting estate planning documents for clients living on-reserve, but that is by no means exhaustive. Addressing the unique needs of the individual client or estate may require consideration of numerous complexities arising from the interplay of the Indian Act , provincial law, and the laws of the client’s First Nation.

Note on Terminology

The term “Indigenous” is an overarching term for First Nations, Inuit peoples, and Metis in Canada. For the purposes of estate planning and administration, however, the Indian Act applies exclusively to Indigenous peoples who are members of a First Nation and who have status under that Act. “Indigenous” in this article, therefore, will be used to refer to that particular defi nition.

The term “Indian” is antiquated and carries racist connotations, yet it is the term used in the Indian Act that holds specific legal meaning. This article will use “Indigenous person with status” to refer to those who meet the definition of “Indian” in t he Act.

The Indian Act uses the term “band” to refer to a group of Indigenous persons with status for whom a reserve of land has been established, for whose benefit funds are held by the Crown, or that is otherwise declared to be a band by the federal government. For most purposes, “band” can be taken to mean the same as the client’s First Nation, but it is important to determine the specific band of which a client is a member.

The Indian Act uses the term “band” to refer to a group of Indigenous persons with status for whom a reserve of land has been established, for whose benefit funds are held by the Crown, or that is otherwise declared to be a band by the federal government. For most purposes, “band” can be taken to mean the same as the client’s First Nation, but it is important to determine the specific band of which a client is a member.

Status and Residency

Your first task in advising or assisting an Indigenous client is whether the client has “status,” meaning the client is registered or entitled to be registered under the Indian Act . The Indian Act will apply to the Will and estate of an Indigenous person who (i) has status and (ii) is “ordinarily resident” on reserve land. Status is determined by family descent, while residency depends on the individual’s intention to live on- or off-reserve.

While succession and estate administration are governed by provincial law insofar as non-Indigenous peoples and Indigenous peoples who do not reside on-reserve are concerned, the federal government has jurisdiction over Wills, intestacy, and the administration of estates of Indigenous persons who have status under the Indian Act and ordinarily reside on a reserve. Those federal powers are expressed in sections 42 to 50(1) of the Indian Act .

IGNACIA MENDEZ

Different Will requirements

The Indian Act only requires that a Will be in writing and signed by the testator. Unlike provincial legislation, a valid Will under the Indian Act does not require witnessing by persons who are not beneficiaries or the spouse of the testator. It is best practice, however, to follow the formal requirements for execution and witnessing of a Will under provincial law in case the testator dies while living off-reserve. The Will should also mention the band to which the testator belongs and the testator’s membership number.

The Minister of Indigenous Services is involved in several stages of the estate administration process. For example, before a Will that is subject to the Indian Act can take effect, the Will must be sent to the Minister for approval along with a death certificate for the testator. The Minister also has considerable discretion to assign an executor when the Will does not appoint one, and to declare a Will void on grounds that are broader than the ones for holding a Will invalid under provinci al law.

If an Indigenous person with status who ordinarily resides on-reserve dies without a Will, the intestacy provisions of the Indian Act will apply rather than those of WESA (Wills, Estates and Successio n Act).

Administering Real Property

Particular focus needs to be given to how interests in real property can be passed down on reserves. Reserve land is held in trust by the Crown for the communal use of the band. That has serious implications in the context of individual land holdings because members of the band can have only a possessory interest in the land, as opposed to a legal and beneficial title as is the case off-r eserve.

With the Minister’s approval, the testator’s band can allocate a plot of land for the member’s exclusive use through a certificate of possession (CP). That possessory interest can be passed down only to members of the same band.

There are very few alternatives available to testators wishing to leave their possessory interest in reserve land to someone who is not a member of the band. A surviving spouse who is not a member of the deceased’s band may remain in the family home for 180 days after the deceased’s date of death under the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act , (“Family Homes Act” ) and sometimes an order allowing a spouse to remain in the family home beyond the 180 days may be obtained under that Act. A prepaid lease to a nonmember to occupy reserve land may be an option, depending on the circumstances, but that requires the approval of the band council and the Minister and must be entered into during the testator’s li fetime.

from the Indian Act that may alter how matters must be dealt with.

For instance, there are 17 First Nations with their own communityspecific matrimonial real-property laws implemented under the Family Homes Act across Canada. Indigenous self-government has also given rise to more Nations developing their own estate administration protocol and land management systems. The Framework Agreement on First Nations Land Management Act , for example, gives First Nations the power to opt out of certain provisions of the Indian Act pertaining to land use. Modern Treaty Nations may also have their own land code and succession laws that must be consulted during the estate-planning process. Cultural competence and a thorough understanding of the enactments and guidelines of the client’s specific community a re key.

Estate planning should also take account of traditional laws or customs of the testator’s First Nation regarding inheritance, especially in relation to cultural assets.

An Indigenous client may also own real property off-reserve. That property is not subject to the Indian Act and must be dealt with under provincial legislation. The Wills, Estates and Succession Act (or the equivalent of WESA in another province or territory) will apply to the portion of the Will dealing with real property off-reserve.

Sources of Law

As discussed above, the Indian Act typically governs estate administration and planning for Indigenous persons with status who are ordinarily resident on-reserve, but that may not always be the case. Attention should be given to Nation-specific procedures apart

Estate planning should also take account of traditional laws or customs of the testator’s First Nation regarding inheritance, especially in relation to cultural assets.

Takeaways

Indigenous peoples should have access to quality legal services for estate-planning and administration. It is crucial that the legal professions expand their knowledge to assist the unique needs of these clients. That would be in alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to Action Number 27 that emphasizes the importance of implementing tools to aid in the cultural education of legal professionals to equip them when responding to the needs of Indigenous peoples.

Second-year

law research student

IGNACIA MENDEZ is deeply passionate about advocating for Indigenous rights. She is involved in BCLI’s Reconciliation Legal Frameworks program. Prior to law school, Ignacia worked at legal aid organizations assisting vulnerable migrants seeking asylum in Canada and the US. Ignacia aspires to continue public interest work and advance social justice.

Sixteen Types of Aboriginal Interests in Land that May be Encountered by Notaries and Lawyers in British Columbia

Î This article lists and briefly discusses 16 different types of Aboriginal land interests. Lawyers and BC Notaries will normally come into contact with only 2 or 3 of them.

The interests that are frequently encountered are nested within a broad and complex system of Indigenous land law. Transactions involving some of the Aboriginal land interests are obscure, highly specialized. or even constitutionally off-limits to lawyers and Not aries!

The Basic List

1. Aboriginal tit le lands

2. Land-based Aboriginal rights and treat y rights

3. Reserves: The unallocated lands in an Indian Act reserve, sections 18 and 30

4. Reserves: Band-owned houses under customary al lotments

5. Reserves: “Buckshee” leases by the band or by individuals, section 28(1)

6. Reserves: Designated reserve land, leases and subleases under section 53(1)(b)

1 Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763.

7. Reserves: Certificates of possession, section 20

8. Reserves: Leases under section 58(3)

9. Reserves: Section 28(2) permits and other rights of temporary use

10. Reserves: Absolute su rrenders

11. Reserves: The right of a non-Indian spouse to occupy the fam ily home

12. Land Codes under the First Nations Land Management Act or Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act

13. Special legislation such as shíshá lh Lands

14. Lands held pursuant to modern treaties

15. Mét is lands

16. Severalty lands under Treaty 8

JACK WOODWARD

First, a brief note on Canada’s Constitution

Canada was founded in 17631 under a constitution based on five pri nciples.

1. Sovereignty of the British Crown

2. Democracy

3. The rule of law

4. Benefits for veterans

5. Protection of Indian lands

Protection of Indian lands is a central feature of one of the oldest written constitutions in the world, and it is still a fundamental part of Canadian law. In 1867, Canada was divided into provinces 2 and became a federal state with exclusive federal legislative jurisdiction over Indian, Inuit, 3 and Métis, 4 matters, including exclusive federal legislative jurisdiction over Aboriginal lands.

2 For the second time. In 1791 the “Province of Quebec” was divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In 1840 those two provinces were united into the “Province of Canada.” In 1867 the Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec.

3 Re Eskimo Reference, [1939] SCR 104.

4 Daniels v. Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development), 2016 SCC 12.

Second, a brief note on terminology

“ Indians” is the name given by the Constitution to the Aboriginal occupants of Canada. Similar legal terms include Inuit, Métis, Aboriginal, First Nations, Indigenous, and Native. Since 1763 the word “Indian” has been a legal term, and the question “What are the land rights of Indians?” has been a legal question.

1. Aboriginal tit le lands

There are only two tracts of Aboriginal title land known to exist in Canada, bot h in BC.

(1) About 2,000 square km in the Nemiah Valley and north of Chilko Lake which was declared to belong to the Tsilhqot’in people by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014 5, and roughly 12 square km on Nootka Island which was declared to belong to the Nuchatlaht people by the BC Supreme Court i n 2024 6

It is likely that there are many more areas of Crown land that are subject to Aboriginal title within the province. The process for deciding if land is subject to Aboriginal title is usually the BC Treaty Process, or, as happened in Tsilhqot’in and Nuchatlaht , by Court decision. However, a BC statute confirms the Province’s recognition of the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title to land on Haida Gwaii 7. There are important differences to consider between treaties and Court declarations of Aboriginal title, which are constitutionally protected 8 and a revokable, statute-based form of Aborigina l title.

Lawyers and Notaries are never involved in land transactions involving Aboriginal title lands. Why? Because the principles outlined in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 apply with full force to those lands. Unless and until

5 Tsilhqot’in Nation v. BC, 2014 SCC 44.

6 The Nuchatlaht v. BC, 2024 BCSC 628.

Legal professionals should never advise their clients that the specific lands being conveyed are free of Aboriginal or treaty rights.

Legal professionals should never advise their clients that the specific lands being conveyed are free of Aboriginal or treaty rights. The fact that such rights may have fallen into disuse does not mean that they do not exist. As a practical matter, however, for most residential and commercial purposes, the existence of those rights is not a serious concern to the non-Indian pu rchaser.

3. Reserves: The unallocated lands in an Indian Act reserve, ss18 and 30

Indian Act

18(1) Subject to this Act, reserves are held by His Majesty for the use and benefit of the respective bands for which they were set apart, and subject to this Act and to the terms of any treaty or surrender, the Governor in Council may determine whether any purpose for which lands in a reserve are used or are to be used is for the use and benefit of t he band.

there is a surrender, as described in the Royal Proclamation , those lands are off limits to non-Indians. Internal land transactions pertaining to Aboriginal title lands are typically governed by the laws of the particular Aboriginal nation; lawyers and Notaries do not have the expertise to give advice about them.

2. Land-based Aboriginal rights and treat y rights

Almost every part of British Columbia is subject to either Aboriginal rights or treaty rights. Those rights are typically the rights to hunt, fish, trap, and gather. There is no registry or public database in which the existence of those rights to a particular tract of land is recorded. Fee simple lands are often subject to such rights 9, though the impact is obviously diminished when there are relatively few, if any, big game animals to hunt or fur-bearing animals to trap.

This is the starting point for reserves. The Indian Act carries forward a policy for reserves that is almost identical to the policy set down by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. There are over 600 bands in Canada, with over 2,000 reserves, and the Indian Act governs most of them. Most reserves remain communally held lands controlled by the Chief and Council of the band, with title held by the federal Crown. It is trespass for a nonmember of the band to be on a reserve:

Indian Act

30 A person who trespasses on a reserve is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 50 dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both.

Lawyers and Notaries should never engage in a transaction concerning an interest in the ordinary unallocated

7 Provincially, the Haida Nation Recognition Amendment Act, 2024, SBC 2024 c23. Federally, the corresponding bill is Bill section 16 the Haida Nation Recognition Act. At the time of writing, the federal Bill has not passed Parliament.

8 Under section 5 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

9 R v. Bartleman (12 DLR (4th) 73, 55 BCLR 78) is a BC Court of Appeal case that upheld a treaty right to hunt on some fee simple lands just north of Duncan on Vancouver Island. There are dozens of similar examples, and they cover virtually the whole province.

lands in a reserve because any such dealing will almost always run afoul of the Indian Act.

4. Reserves: Band-owned houses under customary al lotments

Band members often have houses on reserve that are owned by the band. These houses may be held pursuant to long-settled expectations under customary Aboriginal law systems unique to each band and known as “customary allotments.” There is no registration system outside the band for such rights of ownership. Houses are passed on from generation to generation pursuant to the laws and customs of the band.

That is how most Indians acquire their houses on reserve in BC. Lawyers and Notaries usually have no role in the internal transfers of ownership of customary allotments. Wills and estates dealing with such houses, and contracts for the purchase and sale of such houses, are seldom the subject of Court proceedings and are almost never dealt with by lawyers and Notaries in BC. Here is the reason.

Indian Act

20(1)  No Indian is lawfully in possession of land in a reserve unless, with the approval of the Minister, possession of the land has been allotted to him by the council of t he band.

We will come back to certificates of possession below. For now, the question a lawyer or Notary asks when a client wants to deal with ownership of a band member’s house on reserve is: “Is there a Certificate of Possession under section 20 of the Indian Act?” If the answer is “no,” then the matter is almost never dealt with in the mainstream legal system.

5. Reserves: “Buckshee” leases by the band or by individuals, section 28(1)

The Indian Act carries forward the policy of the Royal Proclamation of 1763

by prohibiting private leases for the use of reserves. Such rentals or leases are often called “buckshee,” which is an odd, informal word that hints at the taint of illegality of these arrangements. Lawyers and Notaries frequently encounter such leases and are asked to enforce them, assign them, value them, or otherwise treat them as a form of property. For 260 years they have been illegal, and they are still illegal. Here is why.

Indian Act 28

(1) Subject to subsection

(2), any deed, lease, contract, instrument, document, or agreement of any kind, whether written or oral, by which a band or a member of a band purports to permit a person other than a member of that band to occupy or use a reserve or to reside or otherwise exercise any rights on a reserve is void . [emphasis added]

Recent litigation confirms that, although common, these buckshee leases are legally invalid and unenforceable.10

6. Reserves: Designated reserve land, leases and subleases under section 53(1)(b)

The most common type of transaction where lawyers and Notaries may encounter interests on a reserve is where the land has been “designated” under the Indian Act . A designation is a conditional or unconditional surrender that is not absolute.

That means that under the policy established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , carried forward by the Indian Act , a public decision by the band membership has been made to release some of the reserve land for non-Indian use or settlement. The process of designation is formal and time-consuming, and beyond the

10 Actton Super-Save Gas Stations Ltd. v. Eneas, 2024 BCSC 743, Indigenous Bloom CGT Corp v. Tseycum First Nation Band, 2021 BCSC 2554, Ziprick v. Simpson Estate, 2020 BCSC 401, Roberts v. Splatsin Indian Band, 2019 BCSC 2318.

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scope of this writing. Once there is a designation, section 53(1)(b) of the Indian Act applies.

53(1) The Minister or a person appointed by the Minister for the purpose may, in accordance with this Act and the terms of the absolute surrender or designation, as the case may be,

…

(b) manage, lease or carry out any other transaction affecting designated lands.

Usually, the Minister enters into a head lease with a corporation which is sometimes owned by the band. The corporation then becomes the landlord of a number of subleases. These subleases can be registered in the Surrendered and Designated Lands Register, in Ottawa. This is a registry system roughly similar to the BC Land Title Registry. Mortgages can be created through assignments of subleases. That is a specialized field of practice for lawyers and Notaries, but it is becoming increasingly common. For example, many of these transactions have taken place on the reserves of the Penticton, Campbell River, Kamloops, Okanagan, and Musqueam First Nations, to name just a few. (But see also the section on Land Codes below.)

7. Reserves: Certificates of possession, section 20

Some bands have allocated reserve lands to individual members of the band.

Indian Act

20(1) No Indian is lawfully in possession of land in a reserve unless, with the approval of the Minister, possession of the land has been allotted to him by the council of t he band.

(2) The Minister may issue to an Indian who is lawfully in possession of land in a reserve a certificate, to be called a Certificate of Possession, as evidence of his right to possession of the land described therein.

These allocations are very similar to fee simple ownership off reserve, with some very important limit ations.

The main limitation is that a Certificate of Possession cannot be sold to a nonmember of the band. Upon death, the interest can pass by Will or by intestacy, but only to a band member. Lawyers and Notaries can assist in drafting such transfers, but again, this is a specialized field.

There is a Registry in Ottawa for such interests, called the Reserve Land Register, but this is a different registry from the Surrendered and Designated Lands Register referred to above. Important, it does not have a guarantee of priority based on the time of registration. There is no guarantee that registration first-in-time creates a priority interest. The opinion a lawyer or Notary can give, based on such a registration, is therefore severely lim ited.

8. Reserves: Leases under section 58(3)

Leases can also be created from Certificate of Possession lands under section 58(3) of the Indian Act.

58.(3) The Minister may lease for the benefit of any Indian, on application of that Indian for that purpose, the land of which the Indian is lawfully in possession without the land being designated.

Once such a lease has been created it functions similarly (but not identically) to a lease created under section 53(1) (b) referred to above. Lawyers and Notaries frequently assist clients with subleases of such properties, but again, this is a specialized area, and the special situation applicable to each band must be considered.

9. Reserves: Section 28(2) permits and other rights of temporary use

Several sections of the Indian Act allow for the creation of temporary use

permits. The most common is section 28(2), frequently used for power lines, pipelines, and similar rights of way.

Indian Act

28 …

(2) The Minister may by permit in writing authorize any person for a period not exceeding 1 year, or with the consent of the council of the band for any longer period, to occupy or use a reserve or to reside or otherwise exercise rights on a reserve.

These are not usually transferrable interests, and lawyers and Notaries will seldom be involved in dealing with them. There is a great deal of complexity in each case and frequent litigation. Specialized advice should be obtained about these interests.

10. Reserves: Absolute Su rrenders

The only way to remove reserve lands from federal jurisdiction and place them within the BC land title system, is by way of absolute surrender. In modern times this is never done, but there are a few archaic examples that occasionally show up. A historical land search or abstract may show that land was once part of a reserve, but was subject to a “surrender” by the band. It is very important to determine if this was an absolute or conditional surrender. If the latter, then this is now known as “designated” land and it is still under the Indian Act .

Indian Act

38(1) A band may absolutely surrender to His Majesty, conditionally or unconditionally, all of the rights and interests of the band and its members in all or part of a reserve.

39(1)  An absolute surrender is void unless

(a) it is made to His Majesty;

(b) it is assented to by a majority of the electors of the band

(i) at a general meeting of the band called by the council of t he band,

(ii) at a special meeting of the band called by the Minister for the purpose of considering a proposed absolute surrender, or

(iii) by a referendum as provided in the regulations; and

(c) it is accepted by the Governor in Council.

Roughly one quarter of BC’s First Nations have a Land Code. Most of the First Nations located in or near urban areas have a Land Code, and most land transactions on reserves in BC are now subject to a Land Code.

There are no general rules. The prudent lawyer or Notary will examine each reserve separately to ascertain the exact legal regime in force on those lands, before undertaking a land transaction on that reserve.

11. Reserves: The right of a non-Indian spouse to occupy the fam ily home

Legal professionals may have a non-Indian client whose spouse (or common-law partner) is, or was, a band member, and during the marriage (or common law partnership) they lived on a reserve. Your client may have a right to occupy the family home and other rights under the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act.

That is one of the rare situations where a non-Indian can have a right to live on a part of a reserve that has not been formally leased. The right to occupy the family home is an interest that cannot usually be sold, mortgaged, or given to the kids in a Will, but it might be taxed.

12. Land Codes under the First Nations Land Management Act or Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act.

Before agreeing to assist a client regarding an on-reserve land transaction, a lawyer or Notary must check to see if the particular band has a Land Code, and if so, must take into account the provisions of the First Nations Land Management Act or Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act, and the particular Land Code itself as well as the laws that have been enacted pursuant to the band’s Lan d Code.

The statutes noted above enable a First Nation to replace the land provisions of the Indian Act with the band’s own laws. There are no general rules. The prudent lawyer or Notary will examine each reserve separately to ascertain the exact legal regime in force on those lands, before undertaking a land transaction on that reserve.

13. Special legislation such as shíshá lh Lands

In a small number of cases there is special legislation which takes the reserves of the band completely outside of the Indian Act . An example is the shíshálh Nation Self-Government Act that creates a completely separate legal system for the shíshálh Nation (also known as the Sechelt First Nation) within which lawyers and Notaries work.

6 The shíshálh Nation is a legal entity and has, subject to this Act, the capacity, rights, powers, and privileges of a natural person and, without restricting the generality of the foregoi ng, may

(a) enter into contracts or agreements;

(b) acquire and hold property or any right or interest in it, and sell or otherwise dispose of that property, right or interest;

…

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Partition and Sale of Property

Î There are many advantages to owning property jointly with others but there is always the possibility of a falling-out between/among the owners.

When the parties are unable to agree on the selling of the property or on how to divide the sale proceeds, it may be necessary to resort to legal proceedings such as the Partition of Property Act (“PPA”).

Section 6 of the PPA provides that when 50 per cent or more of the owner(s) request it, the Court “must, unless it sees good reason to the contrary, order a sale of the property and may give direc tions.”

When a minority owner seeks an order for the partition and sale by the Court, section 8(1) of the Act authorizes that the Court may order a sale of jointly owned property; section 8(2) provides that the Court may not order a sale if one of the joint owners undertakes to purchase the share of the joint owner requesti ng sale.

If such an undertaking to purchase is given, section 8(3) specifically authorizes the Court to order a valuation of the share of the party requesti ng sale.

Accordingly, a joint owner(s) of at least a half per cent interest has a prima facie right to an order for partition and sale, unless justice requires that no order should be made.

Marriage legislation such as section 97 Family Act SBC 2011 also gives authority to the Courts to divide property, determine its ownership, require partition and sale, and payment to be made out of the proceeds to one spouse or both, in specified proportions or a mounts.

As the cost of living rises, there are a significant number of parties that are not in a marriage-like relationship that jointly own property that may require partition and sale proceedings in the future when major disagreements on the sale of the property arise.

A. Court Discretion to Order Partition and Sale

The jurisdiction of a Court to compel, partition or sale of lands under the PPA is discretionary (Evans v. Evans

As the cost of living rises, there are a significant number of parties that are not in a marriagelike relationship that jointly own property that may require partition and sale proceedings in the future when major disagreements on the sale of the property arise.

(1951) 2 DLR 221 (BCCA)). In fact, there is a narrow discretion left to the Court to refuse an order for sale: Bard v. Bird (1993) BCJ 1644 (BCCA).

The Court of Appeal has broadened the judicial discretion to be unfettered to allow Courts to ensure justice between/among the parties: Sahlin v. The Nature Trust of British Columbia 2011 BCCA at para. 24.

The Court’s discretion will turn on whether justice requires that an order for partition and sale not be made: Bradwell v. Scott 2000 BCCA 576.

An example of the Court invoking section 8 of the PPA was found in Haigh v. Kent 2016 BCSC 333, where the plaintiff was awarded a 25 per cent beneficial interest in the property on the basis of constructive trust as a remedy for unjust enrichment. The property was a large acreage resort of beachfront property that had been owned by the family for several decades. The property was rather unique and would have been impractical and unequitable to divide into individu al lots.

The Court therefore found that the appropriate remedy was to order that the plaintiff sell his interest in the property to the defendants pursuant to section 8 of the PPA.

TREVOR TODD

B. Various Issues

1. Standing

To have the right to bring an action under the PPA, a plaintiff must have a possessory interest in the land. A possessory interest is a right to control property, including the right to exclude others, by a person who is not necessarily the owner. It has been characterized as requiring the petitioner to have an immediate right to possession of t he land.

Pallot v. Douglas 2017 BCCA 254, dismissed an appeal on the basis that the appellant did not have standing to apply for partition of a leasehold interest held by a trust property owned by the Baptist Church, as he had no possessory interest in the trust.

In Aho v. Kelly 1998 Carswell 1285, however, the Court held that the minority owner of property, who also held a life estate in the same property, had the right to capitalize the life estate and force a sale of the property under the PPA. The other two co-owners could not partition the property while the life estate was in place, but the holder of the life estate could, and so a leasehold interest was sufficient for standing to bring the action.

2. Conduct of the Sale

In  Dhillon v. Kumar, 2014 BCSC 2366, the Court set out common-sense considerations in terms of deciding who should have conduct of sale:

34. “As to whether the claimant should be given sole conduct of sale, while there is no singular test for granting sole conduct of sale, the Court should consider all factors including the willingness of a party to facilitate sale, the inability of the parties to agree on routine aspects of sale, and the inability of the parties to cooperate: McLachlan v. McLachlan , 2013 BCSC 1733.”

See also Durrani v. Lehal 2018 BC SC 2489.

3. Occupational Rent and Ouster

A claim for occupational rent can only be successively brought where one owner has been ousted from the property by another. Most of the cases in which ouster are considered concern co-owners who have at one time shared possession of the property, and one co-owner subsequently is wrongfully dispossessed and excluded from possession of the property. Ouster generally involves a question of intent.

A useful discussion of the background to a claim for occupation rent is found in Baker v. Baker [1976] 3 W.W.R. 492. Baker was a case of partition and sale of a property held in joint tenancy. It concerned the break-up of a marriage where the parties had lived in the sa me home.

“What is just and equitable depends on the circumstances of each case..."

The discussion of occupation rent in the Baker case arose in circumstances of “constructive ouster.”

The Court, however, adopted as a general principle that “occupation rent” is not necessarily measured by either the rental value of the property or the rent that an ousted owner may have to pay for accommodation elsewhere. It is simply a form of compensation” (at 501).

The Court in Baker goes on to refer to a series of quotations from old cases in equity at 495-496.

“What is just and equitable depends on the circumstances of each case. For instance, if the tenant in occupation claims for upkeep and repairs, the Court, as a term of such allowance, usually requires that the claimant shall submit to an allowance for use and occ upation.

…if one tenant has made improvements which have increased the selling value of the property, the other tenant cannot take the advantage of increased price without submitting to an allowance for the improvements

…when…one tenant has paid more than his share of encumbrances, he is entitled to an allowance for such surplus…

…a co-owner in occupation should be permitted to deduct only payments on account of principal, but she would be able to deduct payments on account of mortgage interest, taxes, and repairs during her period of occupation if she agreed to submit to an allowance for use and occupation.”

4. Adjusting Accounts

Almost all partition proceedings have an element of who paid for what, that may require an accounting. The parties often agree that the property should be sold, but disagree on the distribution due to disputes about their respective contributions or lack thereof.

Hedrick v. Graham 2012 BCSC 1760 held “the law is clear that on sale in lieu of, the Court may “make all just allowances and give such directions as will do complete equity between the parties” (Dacyshyn v. Semeniuk , 2007 BCSC 71 at para. 43, citing  Baker v. Baker, [1976] 3 W.W.R. 492 at p. 495).

It is a principle of equity if the occupant of the home is claiming for improvements made to the property, those improvements must be offset by the benefit of the occ upancy.

C. Cases Where Partition and Sale Were Ordered

Zimmerman v. Vega 2011 BCSC 757

Four family members purchased a property as equal joint tenants, intending to build a ski chalet as a longterm investment. Severe differences among the parties occurred that led to proceedings under the PPA.

The Court reviewed the law, finding that section 6 of PPA is mandatory unless there is good reason to the contrary, while section 8 is discretionary. Section 6 must be applied unless the respondent demonstrates that justice requires that the order not be made: Harmeling v. Harmeling 90 DLR (3d) 2 08 BCCA.

The Court found the parties had not entered into an agreement as to how long the property would be kept, how the proceeds would be divided, nor how it would be decided when the property would be sold. There was no good reason to the contrary not to order a sale of the property.

Sundberg v. Sundberg 2022 BCSC 2188

Three parties equally purchased a property as a longterm hold. There was no clear and detailed written agreement setting out the co-owners’ respective rights and responsibili ties concerning the property and each other or providing for such foreseeable contingencies such as the marital dissolution that occurred. The Court concluded that the respondent’s true reason for opposing the sale came from an emotional attachment to the property that was found by the Court not to constitute a good reason to the contrary, within the meaning of section 6 of the Act.

Er Borg BCSC 554

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

In this case, the respondents had desired to settle the accounting among the parties before any sale. There was also a concern about the potential need to pay a mortgage prepayment penalty, but neither reason prevented the sale from being ordered ahead.

D. Cases Where Partition and Sale Were Refused

The onus is on the respondent opposing the partition/ sale to prove that justice requires that an order for sale not be made: Caple v. Dolman (1999) 70 BCLR ( 3d) 325.

Bradwell v. Scott, 2000 BCCA 576, stated that good reason for refusing an order under section 6 PPA can include serious hardship to a respondent, lack of good faith, vexatious notice or maliciousness, and the list is not closed.

In Desta v. Tradessse 2015 BCSC 1183, the Court declined the partition and sale on the basis that the co-owner became such by reason of impersonation and fraud.

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In Harmeling v. Harmeling (1978) 90 DLR (3d) 208 BCCA, the Court declined a section 6 order that would have forced a mother with young children out of their home.

In Mowat v. Dudas 2012 BCSC 454, the Court exercised its discretion to refuse an order for a forced sale of the 177 units condominium development known as Cypress Gardens, owned by 135 individual owners. Some owners wanted the property sold, while others vigorously opposed same.

The Court found the sale would force many vulnerable people out of their homes, including young children, single parents, the elderly, the infirm, and people with a very limited financial ability. Many could simply not afford a comparable property nearby and would be forced to move f ar away.

In Lona Enterprises Ltd v. Eurocan 2018 BCSC 842, the disputing parties each held an undivided half interest in an apartment complex with 107 rental units. The application under the PPA was refused by the Court on the basis that the respondent opposing partition had a written right of first refusal over any sale of the property that had not yet been compli ed with.

In Holman v. Brooke 2022 BCSC 52, two friendly couples purchased a co-owned duplex with the intention it would be their respective residences for the rest of their lives. The relationship turned extremely toxic after the

death of each party’s spouse and an application was made for partition a nd sale.

The Court found there was an ongoing mutual intention to treat each half of the duplex separately. The duplex was readily divisible into two lots making a forced sale of the entire property unnecessary. While describing the property as an idiosyncratic personal residence, the Court did acknowledge that a longterm relationship between the parties, without more, is not a good reason for a sale.

Conclusion

The acquisition of property is the most expensive item that most parties will spend in their lifetime; certain care should be applied before purchasing, to see if the interests of the co-owners align. When purchasing property with nonspouses, it is highly recommended to enter into a lawyer-drawn agreement as to the various expectations and contributions to be made by the purchasers.

Most residential premises in Canada are jointly owned by married or common law couples, so when property disputes arise relating to the sale of family assets, they are generally dealt with under the Divorce Act or applicable provincial family legislation.

TREVOR TODD restricts his practice to estate litigation. He has practised law in Vancouver for 50 years.

The Long and Winding Road:

When a Strata Property Order Made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal is a Part of the Journey and Not a Final Destination

Î For some strata corporations, obtaining one or more orders against a strata owner from the Civil Resolution Tribunal may not resolve a dispute.

We know that many owners comply with Civil Resolution Tribunal orders, What happens when a strata owner doesn’t comply with the order or orders made against them?

In this article, we consider a range of topics related to the enforcement of an order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal for a strata corporation against an owner. This article is a diving-off point to help council members understand what may come next.

I. Back to Basics

Before we consider how to enforce an order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal, we briefly review what the Civil Resolution Tribunal is and what it does. We also consider the basic steps of a proceeding at the Civil Resolution Tribunal that may result in a Tribunal Member making a decision and one or more orders.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal is an online tribunal established in 2016. Generally, it has jurisdiction over most strata property claims in British Columbia, including the following (Civil Resolution Tribunal Act , section 121):

0 the interpretation or application of the Strata Property Act , or a regulation, bylaw or rule under the Strata Property Act;

0 the common property or common assets of a strata corporation;

0 the use or enjoyment of a strata lot;

0 money owing, including money owing as a fine, under the Strata Property Act or a regulation, bylaw, or rule under the Strata Property Act ;

0 an action or threatened action by a strata corporation, including the council, in relation to an owner or tenant;

0 a decision of the strata corporation, including the council, in relation to an owner or ten ant; and

0 the exercise of voting rights by a person who holds 50% or more of the votes, including proxies, at an annual or special general meeting.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal also has jurisdiction over several other types of claims that are not the subject of this article.

Historically, the strata property claims the Civil Resolution Tribunal now hears were often heard by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Some strata property matters must still go through the Supreme Court of British Columbia, including but not limited to obtaining orders to sell strata lots for nonpayment of strata fees and/or special levies, appointing an administrator for a strata corporation, and making applications to wind up a strata corporation.

There are eight key stages that a strata property claim generally travels through at the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

y Navigating the Solution Explorer

y Submitting a Claim Application

y Issuance of a Dispute Notice

y Response (or Non-Response) to a Dispute Notice

y Counterclaims and Third-Party Claims (if applicable)

y Negotiation

y Faci litation

y Adjudication

EMILY SHEARD

ELAINE T. MCCORMACK

There is an important distinction between a decision and an order. A decision is the Tribunal Member’s written reasons for why they made the decision they did. An order, on the other hand, is generally a separate document that lists all of the things that the Tribunal Member is requiring a party to do or not to do as a result of their decision.

1. To begin the Civil Resolution Tribunal process, a council member, on behalf of the strata corporation, answers a number of questions posed by the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s Solution Explorer. The purpose of the questions is to discern the issue or issues of the claim. Depending on the answers selected, resources such as information sheets may appear.

The council member may be directed to a webpage where they can apply to make a claim against an owner. The Solution Explorer does not always lead to the claim application webpage. For example, based on the answers selected by the council member, the Solution Explorer may provide that additional steps need to be taken before the strata corporation can make an application for dispute resolution against a n owner.

2. The second stage of the Civil Resolution Tribunal process is to make a claim by filling out and submitting a claim application. The council member will be asked to provide important information about the claim, including but not li mited to

y who the applic ant is,

y who the claim is against,

y what the claim is about,

y what the strata corporation has done so far to try to resolve the dispute, and

y what resolutions the strata corporation is requesting.

3. After a claim application is submitted, in the third stage, the Civil Resolution Tribunal will then consider whether to accept the application. If it does, then the Civil Resolution Tribunal will issue a Dispute Notice and a proceeding is com menced.

4. In the fourth stage, the owner or owners named in the Dispute Notice (i.e., who the claim is against) will then be given an opportunity to respond to the claims against them as alleged in the Dispute Notice. It is possible that the owner or owners will not answer the Dispute Notice within the requisite timeframe, or at all. If that is the case, then the

Civil Resolution Tribunal may notify the council member that they can request a Default Decision to be issued.

5. If an owner responds to the Dispute Notice, then the owner may also be provided with the option to file a Counterclaim or a Third-Party Claim at the fifth stage of the Civil Resolution Tribunal process. A Counterclaim provides an owner with the ability to ask for one or more remedies related to the matter. For example, a strata corporation may apply to the Civil Resolution Tribunal to ask that an owner reimburse it for an insurance deductible amount that the strata corporation incurred as a result of a flood in the owner’s strata lot. At this stage, the owner could file a Counterclaim against the strata corporation within the same proceeding for significant unfairness because they do not think they should have to pay.

A Third-Party Claim is used to add another party that is not already named as a party in the proceeding. For example, the strata corporation may file a claim against one owner and that owner may file a Third-Party Claim to add another owner they think is also involved to the proceeding.

6. After any Counterclaims and Third-Party Claims have been made, the claim will then move on to the sixth stage, negotiation. The parties can use the messaging function on the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s website or any other means whereby the parties can communicate with one another, to negotiate to try to resolve the matter.

7. If the negotiation phase does not end in a settlement, the claim will move on to the seventh stage, facilitation. In the facilitation stage, a case manager is assigned to the claim. The case manager works with the parties to assist them to arrive at a settlement on all or some of the issues in the claim.

8. If none of the issues in the claim are resolved, or some issues are resolved but not all, then the claim will move on to the eighth and final stage, adjudication. During this phase, the parties make submissions and submit evidence, and a Tribunal Member makes a decision with respect to the unresolved issues in the claim. The Tribunal Member may also make certain orders within the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s mandate. These decisions and orders could be preliminary, for example, decisions regarding jurisdiction, or final decisions and orders.

There is an important distinction between a decision and an order. A decision is the Tribunal Member’s written reasons for why they made the decision they did. An order, on the other hand, is generally a separate document that lists all of the things that the Tribunal Member is requiring a party to do or not to do as a result of their decision.

If an order is granted in strata property matter, most often it is in favour of a strata corporation against an owner, or in favour of an owner against a strata corporation. In this article, we focus on situations when a strata corporation has successfully obtained an order against a n owner.

Just because the Civil Resolution Tribunal has granted an order in favour of the strata corporation against an owner does not mean the owner will follow that order. The strata corporation may need to take further steps to enforce the order that may involve seeking redress through the Small Claims Court or Supreme Court of British Columbia.

II. What happens if an owner does not comply with an order?

While the Civil Resolution Tribunal can make orders with respect to strata property claims, it cannot enforce its own orders. The Civil Resolution Tribunal Act contemplates this, and provides for ways that orders made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal can be enforced externally. Sections 57 and 58 of the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act provide that orders made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal in relation to a strata property claim that are filed with the Small Claims Court or the Supreme Court of British Columbia are enforceable as if they were orders of those respective Courts.

Council members must consider whether they want to, or have an obligation to, continue down the long and winding road of enforcement of a Civil Resolution Tribunal order against an owner. That is a business decision council members must consider.

For example, the strata corporation may save time and money by not enforcing the order against an owner. On the other hand, if the strata corporation does not enforce the order, that may set an example and other owners may think they can get away without certain actions or inactions, such as violating bylaws or not paying amounts owed to the strata corporation, without being held fully accou ntable.

If council decides to proceed with enforcing an order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal against an owner, council members must consider another set of questions.

y At which level(s) of Court can the strata corporation enforce the order?

y If the strata corporation can enforce the order in more than one level of Court, where should it enforce it?

y Which enforcement options are available to the strata corporation at its chosen level of Court?

y Which enforcement option or options should the strata corporation choose to pursue against the owner?

In the sections below, we consider at which level(s) of Court the strata corporations can enforce certain orders, and which enforcement options are available to strata corporations at each Court. For the purposes of this article, the two levels of Court we consider are the Small Claims Court and the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Councils may wish to obtain legal advice to help them

Council members must consider whether they want to, or have an obligation to, continue down the long and winding road of enforcement of a Civil Resolution Tribunal order against an owner. That is a business decision council members must consider.

choose which Court to enforce an order against an owner, if the strata corporation can enforce it in more than level of Court, as well as which enforcement option, or options to pursue at the chosen level of Court.

A. Small Claims Court

The Small Claims Court in British Columbia generally has jurisdiction over the enforcement of orders concerning debt or damages that total $35,000 or less.

To enforce a monetary order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal for $35,000 or less in relation to strata property claims in Small Claims Court, a validated copy of the Civil Resolution Tribunal order must be filed with the Court. Once filed, this order will have the same force and effect as if it were a judgment of the Court. After filing the order, council may wish to make attempts to negotiate with the owner to settle the matter.

If negotiation is unsuccessful in whole or in part, there are five main ways a strata corporation may pursue to enforce the monetary order in Small Claims Court (Small Claims Rules, Rule 11(11)):

0 ask the registrar to issue an order for seizure and sale;

0 ask for a payment hearing;

0 ask a judge or registrar to issue a garnishing order under the Court Order Enforcement Act ;

0 ask for a default hearing if the owner defaults in making payments under a payment schedule; or

0 enforce the order by any other means permitted by law.

i. Seizure and Sale of Goods

A strata corporation can ask for the registrar to issue an order for the seizure and sale of the owner’s personal goods. If the registrar grants that order, then the Small Claims Court will order the sheriff or a Court bailiff to seize any goods from the owner as permitted under the Court Order

The garnishment process typically involves service of documents on the owner’s bank, and/or the owner’s employer, and eventually on the owner. It is possible that the owner may try to evade service once they have been notified that their bank account(s) or wages are being garnished.

Enforcement Act . The order for seizure and sale also orders the sheriff or Court bailiff to sell any of those goods for the purpose of enforcing the order, and paying the sheriff or a Court bailiff for the costs of doing so.

The Court Order Enforcement Act sets out some exemptions to goods that can be seized and sold, such as an owner’s necessary clothing or medical and dental aids required by the owner (section 71(1)). If the value of the owner’s eligible personal goods seized and sold is not enough to enforce the order and pay the sheriff’s fees or the Court bailiff’s fees, then the strata corporation may need to continue on with other enforcement options.

ii. Payment Hearing

A strata corporation can ask for a payment hearing. The Court may then issue a summons that requires an owner to appear in Court for the payment hearing. The summons may also specify what records and documents that the owner must bring with them to the payment hearing.

At the payment hearing, the judge or justice will assess the owner’s ability to pay the monetary order amount. The judge or justice may consider evidence about the owner’s ability to pay, including (Small Claims Rules, Rule 12(12)):

0 the income and assets of the owner;

0 the debts owed to and by the owner;

0 any assets that the owner has disposed of since the claim arose; and

0 the means that the owner has, or may have in the future, of paying the amou nt owed.

The judge or justice may decide whether to set up a payment schedule for the owner that provides the owner with a date the debt must be paid and the amounts and dates of the payment installments (Small Claims Rules, Rule 12(13)).

In addition, if an owner was served with a summons and does not appear at the payment hearing, a warrant could be issued for their arrest.

iii. Garnishment

One of the most effective ways to enforce orders for money owing to the strata corporation is by way of garnishment. Garnishment is a way to intercept money owed by other people to the person that owes money to the strata corporation.

Technically, banks owe the money that individuals have in their bank accounts to the individual. As such, an individual’s bank account can be garnished because they are owed that money by the bank. With respect to wages, an employer owes an individual their wages each pay period. A certain percentage of an individual’s wages can be garnished per pay period. Garnishing wages can be more difficult than garnishing an individual’s bank account(s), due to the frequency that garnishing orders must be obtained to collect the wages (i.e., each pay period).

The garnishment process typically involves service of documents on the owner’s bank, and/or the owner’s employer, and eventually on the owner. It is possible that the owner may try to evade service once they have been notified that their bank account(s) or wages are being garnished. If locating one of the parties for service proves difficult, the strata corporation may need to make an application to the Court for substituted service to serve the appropriate party by a different method, for example by email. Those measures can add to the cost of enforcing the order.

iv. Default Hearing

If an owner does not comply with a payment schedule ordered by a judge or justice, then the strata corporation may proceed with any of the other enforcement options available in Small Claims Court, including asking for a default hearing. The owner may then be summoned to Court and be required to bring certain records or documents wit h them.

A judge may either confirm the terms of a payment schedule or change the terms in any manner that they think is fair to the owner and the strata corporation (Small Claims Rules, Rule 13(7)).

In addition, if an owner was served with a summons and does not appear at the default hearing, a warrant could be issued for the owner’s arrest.

B. Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has jurisdiction over all civil cases arising in British Columbia. Typically, monetary claims for amounts over $35,000 are brought to this Court.

Whereas generally only monetary orders can be enforced at the Small Claims Court, the Supreme Court of British Columbia can enforce nonmonetary orders, such as orders for an owner to do something or to not do something, as well as monetary orders.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal may also make orders against an owner that combine both monetary and nonmonetary orders. Councils may wish to seek legal advice to help them decide how to enforce those combination orders.

If one or more of the orders made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal that the strata corporation are enforcing through the Supreme Court of British Columbia are nonmonetary, then the strata corporation may also apply to the Court for injunctive relief to stop the owner from doing something while the matter is ongoing at the Court.

While the Supreme Court of British Columbia can hear all civil cases including those for less than $35,000, it may not necessarily be prudent for the strata corporation to enforce a monetary order for less than $35,000 at the Court.

For example, there may be certain cost consequences for doing so, if the amount recovered was within the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court. The strata corporation should obtain legal advice with respect to the Court where the strata corporation should enforce a n order.

Starting the enforcement process of an order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal at the Supreme Court of British Columbia is similar to the starting the process in Small Claims Court. The strata corporation must file a validated copy of the Civil Resolution Tribunal order with the Court. Once filed, this order will have the same force and effect as if it were a judgment of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

After filing the order, council may wish to make attempts to negotiate with the owner to settle the matter. If negotiation is unsuccessful in whole or in part, there are five main ways a strata corporation may pursue to enforce orders at the Supreme Court of British Columbia:

y ask the Court to issue a writ of seizure and sale of the owner’s goods;

y conduct an examination in aid of execution;

As at the Small Claims Court, the seizure and sale of goods at the Supreme Court of British Columbia is also governed by the Court Order Enforcement Act. The process to apply for a writ of seizure and sale of the owner’s goods will be different between the two Courts, but the process is similar in principle.

y subpoena the owner to be examined;

y ask a judge or registrar to issue a garnishing order under the Court Order Enforcement Act; and

y register the judgment with the Land Title Office as a charge against the owner’s str ata lot.

i. Seizure and Sale of Goods

At the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to enforce a monetary order, strata corporations can ask the Court to issue a writ of seizure and sale of the owner’s goods. As at the Small Claims Court, the seizure and sale of goods at the Supreme Court of British Columbia is also governed by the Court Order Enforcement Act. The process to apply for a writ of seizure and sale of the owner’s goods will be different between the two Courts, but the process is similar in principle.

ii. Examination in Aid of Execution

To enforce a monetary order, strata corporations can apply to the Court to require an owner to attend Court so the lawyer for the strata corporation, or the strata corporation’s representative, can examine the owner. The purpose of the examination is for the strata corporation to discover the following (Supreme Court Civil Rules, Rule 13-4(2)):

0 any matter pertinent to the enforcement of the order;

0 the reason for nonpayment or nonperformance of the order;

0 the income and property of the owner;

0 the debts owed to and by the owner;

There is an important distinction between a decision and an order. A decision is the Tribunal Member’s written reasons for why they made the decision they did. An order, on the other hand, is generally a separate document that lists all of the things that the Tribunal Member is requiring a party to do or not to do as a result of their decision.

0 the disposal the owner has made of any property either before or after the making of the order;

0 the means the owner has, had, or may have of satisfying the order; and

0 whether the owner intends to obey the order or has any reason for not doing so.

That will help the strata corporation to understand what assets the owner has that the strata corporation can apply to seize and sell, and what bank accounts or wages the strata corporation may apply to garnish.

iii. Subpoena the Owner for Examination

At the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to enforce a monetary order, the strata corporation can also apply to Court for a subpoena to be issued by the registry for the owner to attend Court to be examined.

The examination could be before an associate judge or a registrar as designated under the Supreme Court Civil Rules. The owner must be examined under oath. At the examination, the lawyer for the strata corporation or the strata corporation’s representative may ask the owner questions regarding the following (Supreme Court Civil Rules, Rule 13-3(4)):

0 the income and property of the owner;

0 the debts owed to and by the owner;

0 the disposal the owner has made of any property; and

0 the means the owner has, or has had, or in the future may have, of satisfying the order.

The associate judge or registrar presiding at the examination can make several types of orders related to the payment of the monetary order, including payment by installments and setting the date on when the debt must be paid by

(Supreme Court Civil Rules, Rule 13-3(11)). In that regard, this type of examination is similar to a payment hearing at the Small Claims Court.

In addition, an owner may face consequences of arrest or imprisonment for failure to attend Court when subpoenaed, refusal to answer questions, or unreasonable refusal to pay the debt in whole or in part.

iv. Garnishing

As at the Small Claims Court, garnishing bank accounts and wages at the Supreme Court of British Columbia is also governed by the Court Order Enforcement Act . The process to apply for garnishing will be different between the two Courts, but the process is similar in pr inciple.

v. Registering a Judgment with the Land Title Office as a Charge against a Strata Lot

Pursuant to the Land Title Act , the strata corporation may register a monetary judgment made by the Small Claims Court or the Supreme Court of British Columbia with the Land Title Office against the title of a strata lot. The judgment then becomes a charge on the title. The primary reason why a strata corporation may wish to do this is because the Land Title Act sets out a procedure for how the charge can be en forced.

If a strata corporation registers a judgment against an owner’s strata lot, then the strata corporation may make a motion in Supreme Court Chambers to ask the owners and other specific individuals to “show cause” as to why the strata lot shouldn’t be sold to satisfy the judgment amount the owner owes to the strata corporation.

The judgment charge also functions as security for the strata corporation. For the strata lot to be sold or before a new mortgage is registered against the title, the judgment amount will need to be paid.

Depending on the type of judgment, typically the registration of a judgment must be renewed after 2 years. The judgment itself, on the other hand, is valid for 10 years. Appropriate reminders should be created to notify the council when a judgment needs to be renewed. That is important to consider, as council may have changed in whole or in part from the time the dispute began to when the judgment was registered against the strata lot.

III. What if a strata corporation continues to have issues with the owner?

Orders made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal depict a snapshot in time, whereas relationships in strata communities are ongoing in nature. Keeping this in mind, if the strata corporation continues to have issues with the owner, then council may consider pursuing alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as med iation.

Mediation is when a neutral third party helps facilitate a conversation between the parties to reach a settlement or partial settlement. Mediation may assist council to maintain the longevity of the relationship between the strata corporation and the owner and to repair relations.

If mediation is unsuccessful or if council declines to pursue mediation, and the strata corporation continues to have issues with the owner, council members should consider whether the issue with the owner is addressed by an existing order or orders made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

If the issue is not the subject of an existing order, then the strata corporation may need to apply to the Civil Resolution Tribunal again. If the facts or issues of the new claim are similar to the first claim, however, then the Civil Resolution Tribunal may dismiss the application because a similar matter has already been decided. Councils may wish to seek legal advice for assistance with this.

If an owner does not comply with an order made against them by the Civil Resolution Tribunal, then the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act provides for a way that the strata corporation may seek relief from the Supreme Court of British Columbia:

Enforcement of tribunal orders by proceeding for contempt

60(1) A person who fails or refuses to comply with an order of the tribunal is liable, on application to the Supreme Court, to be punished for contempt as if in breach of an order or judgment of the Supreme Court.

(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the conduct for which the Supreme Court may make a finding of contempt in respect of a person's conduct in relation to a tribunal proceeding.

Allegations of contempt are serious, as they are quasicriminal in nature. Serious consequences may come with findings of contempt. In rare circumstances, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted relief to a strata corporation for an owner’s breach of a Court Order by forcing the sale of the strata lot (see Bea v. The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 2138, 2014 BCSC 826, appeal dismissed in 2015 BCCA 31, and The Owners Strata Plan NW 1245 v. Linden, 2017 BCSC 852). While the Court has granted that relief in the past, it does not mean the Court will grant that type of relief in every case. This is a fact-driven analysis and a strata corporation should seek legal advice if it is seeking that type of remedy against an owner for noncompliance of a n order.

IV. Conclusion

We began this article by briefly reviewing what the Civil Resolution Tribunal is, what it does, and the basic steps generally involved in a Civil Resolution Tribunal proceeding. We then considered several topics related to the enforcement of a strata property order made by the Civil Resolution Tribunal if an owner does not comply with an order. If an

Another consideration is that Civil Resolution Tribunal orders do not address new and changing circumstances in the complex. Councils may benefit by discussing with a lawyer the strata corporation’s dispute resolution options at any time before, during, and after the Civil Resolution Tribunal process.

owner does not comply with a Civil Resolution Tribunal order, the strata corporation may need to go through enforcement processes at the Small Claims Court or the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Within each Court, there are several ways a strata corporation may enforce an order.

We hope this article explaining the long-and-winding road councils may have to travel down to enforce Civil Resolution Tribunal orders is helpful to councils involved in various stages of the process. Another consideration is that Civil Resolution Tribunal orders do not address new and changing circumstances in the complex. Councils may benefit by discussing with a lawyer the strata corporation’s dispute resolution options at any time before, during, and after the Civil Resolution Tribunal process.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

A previous version of this article was published in the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC’s CHOA Journal, Summer 2022

ELAINE MCCORMACK is a lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator with Wilson McCormack Law Group.

EMILY SHEARD is an associate lawyer with Wilson McCormack Law Group.

THE MIX

Forging Strength and Security for Property Ownership in BC

Î The Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (LTSA), responsible for administering BC’s land title system, has adapted swiftly to technological changes over the past 20 years.

Since its inception, LTSA has introduced digital systems to ensure property ownership is registered efficiently and acc urately.

The digital environment continues to evolve, with online interactions a central part of our day-to-day lives. Consumers expect instant transactions and seamless functionality at the touch of a button. While real estate transactions are more complex than the average purchase, property owners increasingly expect the same level of simplicity and seamlessness.

At the same time, sophisticated fraud is developing in all aspects of the online environment. Across every industry and region, work is underway to strengthen resources and response against the increasing risk of cybercrime and other illegal or fraudulent activity.

We are facing the remarkable challenge of transforming the real estate transaction and property ownership systems to meet these new opportunities and risks. Building on the strengths of a land title system developed well over 100 years ago, we must evolve our systems and practices to meet the needs of generations to come, while continuing to support a thriving economy today.

The responsibilities of professionals such as Realtors, lawyers, and

BC Notaries are indispensable in facilitating and finalizing a real-property transaction and will continue to be part of the process.

With the advancement of digital technologies, the homeowner can now also have direct access to the land title system. LTSA is taking a leadership role to digitally connect the real estate transaction, ensuring that property owners’ needs are at the centre of the process.

The next step in the digitization journey is to modernize identity verification for homeowners and other parties involved in real estate transactions, using digital tools. With this enhanced verification, we can then connect the parties and continue the digitization journey.

By limiting opportunity for identify theft and fraud and improving the connectivity of the real estate transaction, the whole system will be st ronger.

Benefits include enhanced security, improved access to information and data, improved interoperability with other public service agencies, and truly paperless transactions for property owners.

Collectively, those improvements form LTSA’s concept of the Verified Transaction that ensures the real property market and the systems that support it are well-positioned for the futu re.

AL-KARIM KARA is President and Chief Executive Officer of Land Title and Survey Authority of BC.

AL-KARIM KARA

The Apostille Convention

Authenticating Documents For International Use

Î The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (“the Apostille Convention” ) was delivered of the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (“the HCCH”) on 26 October 1960 and was first signed on 5 October 1961 (thereby its formal date). The Convention entered into force on 24 Janua ry 1965.

A Jewel in the HCCH Crown

For almost 60 years, the Apostille Convention has been a jewel in the HCCH Crown. It is one of the most successful and highly regarded of the Hague Conventions.

The Apostille Convention

(a) has been acceded to by more Contracting Parties than any other HCCH Convention (now 126 Parties

drawn from the ranks of both developed and developing countries) and the number continues to rise;

(b) has provided international trade and commerce with a simple solution to the burdensome administrative problem of consular legalization of public documents—and continues to do so; and

(c) has assisted millions of people around the world in conducting their cross-border personal and business affairs—and continues to do so.

Special Commission Meetings

The Convention’s general performance is monitored by periodic meetings of the Apostille Convention Special Commission held in The Hague. To date, Special Commission meetings have been held in 2003, 2009, 2012, 2016, a nd 2021.

Interestingly, no matter how robust and colourful the discussions and exchanges sometimes may be at Special Commission meetings, for the most part the atmosphere of meetings is reminiscent of that of the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference as described by the great English jurist, Ronald Graveson, when noting the significance of The Netherlands as a centre for meetings concerned with international law.

Professor Graveson observed that “International lawyers, whether public or private, who meet [in the Hague] … in a way [are ] making a pilgrimage to one of the holy places of international law.”

Special Commission Conclusions and Recommendations result from consensus reached by participants. While not binding on Contracting Parties, they have persuasive authority and typically enjoy high levels of implementation.

Flags of countries party to the Apostille Convention

PETER ZABLUD

photo: istock/sitox

The Special Status of Public Documents

In most countries, public documents of domestic origin enjoy a special status. Having been prepared by government or by trustworthy institutions or officials appointed or approved by government, public documents are generally considered to have the highest possible evidentiary value. As a rule, they are accepted as prima facie authentic and are admitted in evidence by local Courts without proof of the signatures or Seals that they bear.

The Chain of Authentication

The chain of authentication involves a series of verifications by acceptable people or bodies endorsed on the subject document, where each successive person or body in the chain is either familiar with or able to satisfactorily identify the immediately preceding verifier or sig natory.

The process culminates in the signature and official stamp or Seal of an official, usually a consular officer of the country where the document is to be produced, that either do not require formal proof or may readily be provable in the Courts or institutions of that country.

Over time, the final link, namely the signature and stamp or Seal of a consular officer or other recognized official, generally became known as “legali zation.”

Consular Authentication of Foreign Public Documents

From the late 17th century, a lack of familiarity with the officials and legal systems of other countries, combined with occasionally justified fears of forgery and knavery, led to a requirement by officialdom in most trading nations to have the authenticity of foreign Notarial acts and other public documents proven as a pre-condition to the use of those documents within their territories.

From about the mid-19th century, most countries began to prove the authenticity of foreign public documents by using the services of their consuls abroad as the final link in a process that became known as the “chain of authentication.”

Over time, the final link, namely the signature and stamp or Seal of a consular officer or other recognized official, generally became known as “legali zation.”

Despite the adoption of the Apostille Convention in 1961 that abolished “legalization” as between the Contracting Parties, by the end of 2023 proving the authenticity of foreign public documents by a chain of authentication is still required by about 30 per cent of the world’s sovereign states, including most members of the Arab League, almost all the South-East Asian countries, and a majority of the countries in Africa.

Contrary to popular belief within the consular services and bureaucracies of a significant number of countries, to say nothing of the belief of many bankers, intellectual property practitioners, lawyers, and members of the public in those countries, “legalization” does not in any way certify the truth or accuracy of information contained in a document. Nor does it enhance the value of a document or its contents.

Adoption of the Apostille Convention

In 1955, the Council of Europe requested the HCCH to give consideration to the drafting of a convention that would alleviate the practical problems associated with legalization and at the same time, retain the effect of what

was considered to be an indispensable legal formality in proving documents crossing national borders. The reference ultimately resulted in the adoption of the Apostille Convention

The purpose of the Convention was to replace legalization of foreign public documents as between Contracting Parties with a universally recognized, simple, dated, numbered, and regulated certificate in a prescribed form to be placed on a public document to be produced within the territory of a Contracting Party, by a so-called “Competent Authority” in the Contracting Party from which the public document emanated.

The Convention established a regime whereby the only formality that may be required in the Contracting Parties to certify the authenticity of the signature and capacity in which a person signing a public document has acted (and where appropriate, the identity of the Seal or stamp on the document) is the addition of a prescribed certificate known as an “Apostille.”

“Apostille ” was originally an early 16th century French word that meant a short recommendation or recommendatory note written on the margin or at the foot of a letter by an influential person.

Peace Palace, The Hague photo: shutterstock

Linguistic Issues

The Convention was concluded in both French and English versions. Unlike later Hague Conference conventions such as the 1980 International Access to Justice Convention where the French and English versions are “both equally authentic,” “the French text [prevails] in case of divergence between the two texts [of the Apostille Convention].”

Several beguiling legal issues potentially exist because the Convention’s definitive French version includes concepts and nomenclature unknown to the English-speaking legal world, but which were completely familiar to the French and Francophile delegates to the HCCH Ninth Session. Additionally, those concepts and nomenclature were not readily translatable into English.

For example, in France and in many francophone countries:

(a) un “fonctionnaire” is one of the persons referred to in Article 1(a) of the French version of the Convention as being “relevant d’une jurisdiction de l’Etat,” i.e., “connected to the Courts or tribunals of the State.

In that context, he or she is a senior tenured public ser vant who

(i) may not at the same time be an active member of a “liberal” or “private” profession such as the legal profession; and

(ii) is employed directly by the State or by the Court to provide services to the Court or to the judiciary or the justice system generally.

Fonctionnaire was unhappily translated into English as “official.” In the context of the English-speaking legal world, an “official” merely means a person, not necessarily a senior or tenured public servant, who provides administrative services to or carries out official duties of varying kinds for the Court; and

(b) the key expression, “les documents administratifs” where appearing in

Several beguiling legal issues potentially exist because the Convention’s definitive French version includes concepts and nomenclature unknown to the English-speaking legal world, but which were completely familiar to the French and Francophile delegates to the HCCH Ninth Session. Additionally, those concepts and nomenclature were not readily translatable into English.

paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 1 of the [French version] of the Convention is a well-known and understood legal descriptor of various classes of documents issued by government and government instit utions.

The expression was perfunctorily and poorly translated into English as “administrative documents,” a woolly and imprecise expression that is not a term of art for any purpose within most English-speaking legal systems. In addition to documents issued by government and its institutions, “Administrative documents” can be interpreted as including documents issued by private organizations and entities providing services to the State polity and to the public.

At the time of writing, none of the potential legal issues lurking in the metaphorical bushes has been considered by the superior Courts of any jurisdiction.

“Public Documents” for the Purposes of the Apostille Convention

Having regard to generally accepted notions as to which documents were regarded as “public documents” in the post-Second World War years, the framers of the Apostille Convention decided that the following documents as enumerated in Article 1 of the English language version of the Convention

should be deemed to be “public documents” for the purposes of the Convention, viz:

(a) documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the Courts or tribunals of the state, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a clerk of Court, or a process-server (huissier de justice);

(b) administrative documents;

(c) Notarial acts; and

(d) official certificates that are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and Notarial authentications of sig natures.

When interpreting the Convention, successive Special Commission meetings have eschewed a strict constructionist approach to the terms of Article 1 and have determined:

(a) the list of public documents enumerated in the Article is not exhaustive; and

(b) it is a matter for individual Contracting Parties to decide whether or not a particular

document is a public document and whether or not a person or authority executing a document is doing so in an official or private capacity.

That does not mean that bureaucrats, however senior, within the Competent Authorities of Contracting Parties have been given a carte blanche to unilaterally determine which documents may properly be categorized as public documents.

It appears that, in many cases, following pressure by foreign governments and institutions, a number of bureaucrats have nonetheless taken it upon themselves to (wrongly) categorize and affix Apostilles to medical and similar private certificates and to simple translations.

The primary source of domestic law in virtually all jurisdictions is legislative. Generally speaking, “public documents” are defined by statute, regulations, or legislative instruments. In a number of jurisdictions the Sharia or other religious laws co-exist with legislation. Within the common law jurisdictions, a body of law exists that has been created by decisions of the Courts.

At common law, a series of English cases beginning with the House of Lords decision in Sturla v. Freccia (1880) 5 A.C. 623, makes it clear that a public document (not otherwise categorized by legislation as suc h) must:

(a) concern a public matter;

(b) be made by a public officer acting in the discharge of a strict duty to inquire into and be satisfied of the truth of the facts recorded; and

(c) have been brought into existence as a document of record to be retained indefinitely and not as a document intended to be of temporary effect or designed to serve only a temporary purpose.

Accordingly, unless translations and medical certificates and the like fall within the category of “administrative

documents” under Article 1 of the Convention or are otherwise designed by legislation as being public documents, or in common law jurisdictions are deemed by case law to be public documents, they cannot have Apostilles directly affixed to them, much as Competent Authority bureaucrats may wish to do so from time to time.

Form and Effect of an Apostille

The form of the Apostille is set out in an annex to the Convention. In addition to a compulsory [French language] heading, the Apostille includes 10 numbered information items to be completed by the issuing Competent Authority that among other things provide salient identifying particulars of the public document to which the Apostille relates.

Apostilles are affixed to public documents either directly or by means of an allonge. They are signed, dated, and stamped by or on behalf of the issuing Competent Authority. As required by the Convention, a unique number is allocated to each Apostille. Particulars of all Apostilles issued by each Competent Authority (theoretically) are recorded and retained by the issuing Competent Authority in a publicly accessible register, thereby enabling interested persons to verify the authenticity of specific Apostilles

Article 4 of the Convention provides that an Apostille may be drawn up in the official language of the authority, i.e., the Party that issues it. The Article goes on to say that the standard [10] terms of an Apostille may also be in a second language.

In practice, problems surface where an Apostille and its inserted information—particularly the latter—are both written in a language that is not generally accessible by most people.

From time to time, Competent Authority bureaucrats in some countries appear to forget that Apostilles are designed to be produced outside the jurisdictions in which they are issued and that it is of the essence that recipients be able to comprehend them.

As the two official languages of the Convention are French and English, either language usefully may be used as a second language for standard terms and inserted text. In Canada, the standard terms are in both English and French.

As is the case with “legalization” of a public document, an Apostille does not in any way certify the truth or accuracy of information contained in a document to which it relates, nor does it enhance the value of a document or its contents. In the case of a Notarial act, the Apostille does not verify or add any legal significance to any underlying document to which the Notarial act is appended or upon which it is endorsed.

Canada’s Competent Authorities

Article 6 of the Convention requires Contracting Parties to designate [one or more] Competent Authorities to issue Apostilles. Canada has designated six Competent Authorities, each with its own specified jurisdiction.

Global Affairs Canada

Apostilles are issued by Global Affairs Canada for public documents issued by the Federal Government of Canada as well as public documents (including Notarized documents) issued, signed, or sealed in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

Five Other Competent Authorities

Apostilles are also issued for public documents (including Notarized documents) by designated Competent Authorities in British Columbia. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec.

The BC Competent Authority

The Competent Authority in British Columbia is the Ministry of Attorney General of BC through the Order in Council Administration Office.

From L: Ms. Melissa Ford, HCCH Permanent Bureau; Dr. Christophe Bernasconi, HCCH Secretary General; Her Excellency Ms. Lisa Helfand, Ambassador of Canada to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Mr. Rieks Boekholt, Legal Officer of the Netherlands, Dept. of Foreign Affairs Treaty Division; Mr. Thomas Gagnon, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Canada

Each of the six Competent Authorities has a dedicated website page for the issuing of Apostilles

The Apostille in the Electronic Era

The Convention was conceived and born in a wholly paper world. Today, public documents of all kinds are being generated and delivered electronically to a public increasingly connecting and interacting online with government and its services.

In April 2006, together with the National Notary Association of the United States, the HCCH launched the “electronic Apostille Pilot Program,” that under the HCCH aegis has since morphed into the “electronic Apostille Program” (“the e-APP”).

Different Fees and Arrangements

All Canadian Competent Authorities conduct their affairs largely independently of each other. Each Competent Authority determines its own fees and its own administrative arrangements.

For Example

y Global Affairs Canada does not charge a fee for issuing an Apostille All applications must be submitted by mail; no “in person” service is available.

y The fee in British Columbia is $20 per Apostille. All applications must be submitted by mail or delivered to the OIC Administration Office by courier.

y Quebec’s fee is $65 per Apostille issued. Applications may be made only by mail.

The e-APP involves two related but discrete components, viz:

(a) a digitally signed electronic Apostille (“e-Apostille”) that among other things:

(i) may efficiently and securely be attached to an electronically issued or lawfully scanned public document; and

(ii) may readily be issued, transmitted, and verified onl ine; and

(b) an electronic register (“e-Register”) accessible online, to enable recipients of public documents validated by paper or electronic Apostilles to easily verify the authenticity of the Apostilles they have received.

Contracting Parties are not obliged to implement the e-APP. If they decide to do so, they may implement either or

both of its components at their discretion and are free to choose their own technology and software for implementation purposes.

Currently, over 250 Competent Authorities designated by 50 Contracting Parties have implemented one or both of the e-APP’s components, generally favouring the e-Register.

Quebec and Ontario presently have operational e-Registers. The federal e-registry will be available shortly –covering Apostilles issued in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and by Global Affairs.

Looking to the Future

Notwithstanding the dictum of Danish physicist and Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr, that it is always difficult to make predictions, especially about the future, it is safe to predict that the Apostille Convention will continue on its successful and highly regarded path well into the foreseeable future.

Principally, as a result of the Convention’s acknowledged utility, in no small part due to the advent and adoption of the e-APP, the doctrine of rebus sic stantibus, said to be tacitly attached to all treaties, presently is not even vaguely relevant to the Apostille Convention . Indeed, the Convention’s practical value to trade and commerce and to the public generally is undiminished.

PROFESSOR

PETER ZABLUD, AM, RFD, is an Australian Lawyer, and Notary.

Cross-Discipline Education Opportunities

Î It has been more than a couple of decades since I took my undergrad degree—a Bachelor of Commerce from Royal Roads University.

Despite the passage of time, I still remember sitting in the musty-smelling Cedar Auditorium while then-Dean Doctor Stephen Long gave his introductory welcome address. In it he issued a challenge for us to be “lifelong learners.” It’s a challenge I have met with gusto, one that first led me to a career as a Chartered Accountant and ultimately led me to become a BC Notary Public.

As a CPA, CA, I am required to complete at least 40 hours of professional development training each year, in addition to The Society of Notaries Public Continuing Education (CLE) requirements; education is a challenge I still embrace today.

There is an obvious nexus between much of the knowledge required to be competent in both professions, so in keeping with this issue’s theme of The Education of BC Notaries I will be taking a bit of a departure from the usual technical tax content to share some information on a useful resource that most of our readers likely have not considered as a source of professional development education.

The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (BCCPA) offers a broad and deep catalogue of professional development certificate programs, seminars, and webinars through its Professional Development Portal (located at pd.bccpa.ca) that are available to its members and nonmembers alike.

The content covers a wide range of topics of relevance to professionals, such as taxation, information technology, communication, and even leadership and practice man agement.

JEREMY ANDERSEN

Whether

you or your employees take professional development courses for the purpose of obtaining professional development credit or simply to further your professional knowledge, it is important to understand how to account for the costs from a tax perspective.

The BCCPA describe the PD Passport as a savings program designed to make the process of registering for seminars more economical and convenient. According to BCCPA, potential savings from the PD Passport program are valued at up to 40 per cent off individual seminar prices. The Passport term runs from September 1 to August 31 of the following year, and early-bird pricing is available until September 25. The Flexi PD Passport can be purchased by nonmembers and can be used for any combination of CPABC seminars that are passport-valid.

Although the BCCPA recognizes the offerings through its PD Portal as eligible credits toward the professional development requirements for CPAs, they may not necessarily be accepted by other professional bodies, so readers who may be interested in taking any such courses to meet their professional development requirements are advised to confirm eligibility with their respective governi ng body.

Is the cost of professional development courses tax deductible?

There are also a variety of delivery formats, ranging from in-person seminars at various locations throughout the province, to live online sessions, to pre-recorded on-demand sessions and webinars. Those PD offerings can be purchased on an à la carte basis or by purchasing a PD Passport.

Whether you or your employees take professional development courses for the purpose of obtaining professional development credit or simply to further your professional knowledge, it is important to understand how to account for the costs from a tax perspective.

Businessowners

y Generally, where training costs are incurred by a business for the purpose of maintaining, updating, or upgrading an already existing skill or qualification, they are deductible from the calculation of net income for tax pu rposes.

y Generally, the deductibility of expenses is equally applicable to all forms of businesses, including sole proprietors, partnerships, and corporations. Any portion of a claim by a self-employed taxpayer, however, in respect of training expenses that are either personal or unreasonable in the circumstances, is not deductible.

y In general, costs that are personal in nature and not deductible for tax purposes should be tracked separately from those that relate to the professional’s actual training costs. It is the Canada Revenue Agency’s position that whether any portion of a claim is considered to be personal or unreasonable depends on a number of factors, including the following.

y Duration: Expenses incurred in connection with a full-time course of longer than 2 to 3 weeks may be considered unreasonable.

y Location: As a rule, expenses of attending a training course outside the taxpayer's general geographic locale are considered unreasonable to the extent that they exceed what they would have been, had a similar course been attended locally, if available.

y Days When No Training Taken: A taxpayer attending a training course will not be allowed to claim expenses for those days when no training is taken. An exception is made for days of arrival and departure, as well as weekends (including long weekends) where the course is

attended on the last working day of the preceding week and the first working day of the following week, and it is reasonable for the taxpayer to stay over the weekend.

An employer may normally deduct expenses incurred in respect of an employee's training, regardless of whether it is the employer or the employee who benefits from the training, provided such expenses are reasonable in the circumstances (as described above). If it is the employee and not the employer who benefits from the training, a taxable benefit will result.

Employees

The Income Tax Act generally does not provide for an employee to deduct training expenses. The Tax Court of Canada has found, however, that an exception to this general rule can occur where a taxpayer, who is employed in connection with the selling of property or negotiating of contracts for his or her employer and who is remunerated in whole or part by commissions or other similar amounts, may be entitled to deduct training expenses.

Recent legislative changes have increased the complexity of the work we all do in our respective professions; if the proposed changes that are on the horizon are any indication, that will continue to be the case.

Regardless of whether professional development courses are eligible for credit with our respective governing bodies or whether or not they are deductible for income tax purposes, it behooves each of us to remain abreast of matters that inform how we advise our clients. Therefore, in that way, we should all embrace the challenge to be lifelong lea rners.

JEREMY ANDERSEN is a Courtenay Notary Public and CPA, CA, with 20 years’ experience working in the public sector, private industry, and public practice.

Seeking a Career as a British Columbia Notary Public?

There are business opportunities for Notaries in various communities throughout British Columbia. Some of the Requisites for Becoming a BC Notary

• Undergrad degree with a CGPA not less than 3.0

• Interest in the practice of law

• Strong entrepreneurial spirit

• Strong communication and people skills

• Dedication to community and serving the public

• High degree of honesty and integrity

For more information, please contact The Society of Notaries Public of BC 1-800-663-0343 or visit our website, www.snpbc.ca.

BC NOTARIES ARE RESPECTED IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

Acer Aspire Vero Laptop 15

Î Acer is highlighted here with its Acer Aspire Vero 15 laptop. The Cypress Green-coloured Vero 15 is part of Acer’s commitment to sustainable and eco-friendly tech, boasting a design that reduces environmental impact without compromising on performance. The strength of The Hulk is present as well; this machine is powerful enough for daily office computing.

The Aspire Vero 15 eco-friendly design uses Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic in the construction of the laptop chassis and keycaps. It is made with the reduction of CO2 emissions from 21 to 30 per cent; to further reduce e-waste, the printed circuit board material is reduced—for a 52 per cent reduction in PCB surface area. The pastel-green rubber feet tie the colour aesthetic together nicely. That same green rubber is on the laptop’s spine, adding flair to the design. The result is a lightweight, sturdy, and handsomelooking machine.

Designed to withstand repeated use, the hinge has been tested to endure 30,000 open/close cycles. The closed cover has a tolerance of up to 20 kg, while the palm rest can withstand up to 5 kg of pressure. The Vero can survive a drop of up to 28 cm.

The packaging is 100 per cent recyclable materials, further emphasizing its eco-conscious appeal. Recycling down the road will be easier as most of the materials in the unit can be utilized again.

This is not a gaming machine; that’s why it’s offered without dGPU options.

Still, the iGPU is paired with a decently fast LPDDR5 RAM. Our device can show around 120 FPS in CS:GO on Medium details, a very good result for an integrated solution. The I/O also looks fine with its two Thunderbolt 4 ports and you get Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.1 for connectivity. Two display variants are available. Even the base panel is an I PS unit.

The top of the Vero is also clean and minimal. The right side of the Vero houses LED indicators, the headphone/ mic jack, one USB-A port, and the Kensington lock slot. In terms of total connectivity, the Acer Aspire Vero 15 has a decent array of ports. It includes

USB-C, two USB-A 3.2 ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack, providing ample options for connecting peripherals. It also features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, ensuring fast and stable wireless connectivity. There is no Ethernet port, but you can always use a USB dongle if one is needed.

Opening the Vero lid now takes only one finger. The display is the first thing to greet you; the bezels on top and bottom are thick but the sides are thin. The deck has the same utilitarian beauty as the previous model. It looks rigid and fundamental but flows with the rest of the aesthetic. The keyboard keys look slightly smaller than the average size.

AKASH SABLOK

The number-pad keys are smaller than average. Typing on them is comfortable and easy, but not the favourite of my fat fingers. The trackpad works well, gestures are smooth, and clicks feel solid a nd sure.

The Vero 15 houses a 1920 × 1080 15.6" IPS LCD with around 300 nits of brightness. Acer says this display is mercury-free, adding to the appeal for eco-minded users. The display also has 100 per cent sRGB colour volume and looks pleasant. It worked well on my desk under white LED lighting and in my car under the light of our closest star.

Windows 11 Home comes standard on this Vero. Windows works well and is compatible with almost every software out there. The built-in O/S (operating software) configuration did well for everyday web browsing, email, Microsoft Office apps, watching YouTube, casual in-browser games, and video conferencing. I never felt the system was lagging or getting slow, nor was the unit running hot after 2 straight hours of usage.

Where the unit and Windows shine is the ability to log into your office desktop. Remote access to a “I think I saved it here, where is it?” file is key, especially if you do any remote signing. Many of the current conveyancing software programs are cloud-based so there is never really an issue of missing a file. Please use two-factor authentication for any files stored on your machine as laptops sometimes have legs. If you do

need files stored on the machine itself, there is a built-in 1TB SSD drive, more than enough for years and years of files.

Listening to music while you work is productive. The speakers are clear and crisp, just don’t expect any roofshaking bass. Video-conferencing calls work great; it feels like Acer made the volume output louder. For your beautiful face, Acer has installed a 1440p QHD webcam with Acer TNR solution on the Acer Aspire Vero 15 . . . and that is a good thing.

Files, music, and/or video, and the up to 9.5 hours of battery life mean you can go a full day+ before your own batteries will need recharging.

Under the hood, the Acer Aspire Vero 15 is powered by Intel’s 13th Gen Intel CoreTM i7-1355U processor (12 MB Smart Cache, 1.7 GHz performance-core with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 up to 5.0 GHz), supporting hybrid core architecture with performance-core and efficientcore, and 16 GB of on-board LPDDR5 system memory.

Acer has highlighted some ecoconscious elements such as reversed “R” and “E” keys to signify “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” While that may be a subtle detail, it showcases the device’s sustainabilit y ethos.

This Vero is an impressive step toward eco-friendly computing without sacrificing much in terms of

performance or usability. It’s wellsuited for students, professionals, or anyone looking for a reliable laptop that doesn’t carry the environmental guilt often associated with tech. The recycled materials, easy upgradability, and power-efficient software features make this laptop a strong contender for those looking to minimize their carbon footprint. Overall, the Acer Aspire Vero 15 is a commendable option for anyone in search of a greener laptop, making it a worthwhile consideration in the mid-range laptop market.

WWW.STORE.ACER.COM/EN-CA

MSRP: $1,199

Office Available

October 1, 2024

Excellent condition

Notary Office, heart of Richmond Centre, at busiest intersection (Garden City Road/Alderbridge Way)

• 928.25 sq ft: reception and waiting area, kitchen counter/sink,

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• 24-hr building access, individual security code.

• Conspicuous generous banner space for storefront signage on 2nd level of building. For more information please contact accounting@gardencityplaza.ca 604-330-4050

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We’re asking you to verify your clients’ identities, so it’s only fair that we demonstrate that we’re the best candidate for that job by completing DIACC’s Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) Verified Person certification.

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The next time you meet a buyer, vendor, or borrower—stop and think. Are you sure they are who they say they are? Amy Chen

ERIKA RIEDEL

Erika Riedel has passed in Germany. Many Notaries will recall with pleasure her visits to our Notary conferences with Dr. Bernard Hoeter, longtime Secretary.

BCNA CEO Chad Rintoul and Notary Tarlok Sablok at the ceremony where Tarlok received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his significant contributions to our community and country.

SMALL WORLD

This Spring, retired BC Notary Michael Kravetz (right) ran into Todd McKendrick, Executive Officer of the BC Notary Foundation, in Split, Croatia, in a narrow alleyway.

TADEUSZ KRZYSZTOF GAGRACZ

PASSED OCTOBER 1, 2024

We regret to advise of the passing of Tadeusz Krzysztof Gagracz on October 1, 2024. Born in Vancouver in 1992 to Beata and Dariusz, he was fluent in Polish and English. Tad had an undergrad degree in International Studies and a Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) from Simon Fraser University. He became a proud member of The Society of Notaries Public of BC in June 2018. He opened his practice in Port Coquitlam to help individuals, families, and small businesses with their noncontentious lega l needs.

Tad’s passing was unexpected. Our condolences are extended to his family, friends, and classmates.

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