CLE Online

Welcome and Introduction

Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver

Land Surveying & Land Surveyors

• what are the LTSA, the LTD, and the SGD?
• the two survey plan registers in BC: the Crown Land Registry and the Land Title Register
• LTO does not guarantee boundaries, only titles
• the Registrar’s duty and the Surveyor General’s fundamental responsibility
• what is the purpose of surveying?
• what is a land surveyor?
• overview of the Association of BC Land Surveyors
• General Survey Instruction Rules (“GSIR”)
• signature blocks articulated in Director’s Requirements
• a land surveyor’s first duty is to the cadastral fabric
• statutory requirements: the Land Act, the Land Title Act, the Strata Property Act, and more

First Alienation and First Title

• when the government wants to sell land, how is a new title created? 
• significance of the provisos, exceptions, and reservations in Crown grants: when and why would a lawyer look at a Crown grant
• section 23 LTA—the effect of gazette notices, Crown grant provisos, etc. on  ownership as (not) reflected on title
• all subsequent dealings with the land are in the LT Register

Surveys and Plans under the Land Title Act and Strata Property Act

• re-establishing corners and boundaries
  • the hierarchy of survey evidence
  • the research material that a land surveyor will investigate 
• common types of survey plans
  • subdivision plan
  • strata plan
  • statutory right of way plan
  • reference plan
  • explanatory plan
    • difference between reference and explanatory plans

Jeff Beddoes — Senior Deputy Surveyor General, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, Victoria

General Plan Markings

• title: is the plan dealing with “all” or “part” of the lands?
• plans that change the title: how to anticipate the new legal description using the title
• ghosted information: depiction of prior boundaries (“Parent parcel” and existing charges) crucial to land title examiners determining what new parcels are subject to existing charges and  “common ownership” issues
• road dedication: land “dedicated” as road per s. 107
• park dedication: land “dedicated” as park per s. 107

Tim Jowett — Deputy Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster

Items of Interest to Solicitors on Various Plan Types

• subdivision plans
  • conventional (non-strata) plan creating lots from larger parcels
  • complications or requirements when the parcel abuts water, and or there are creeks, streams, and bodies of water within the parcel
    • approvals
    • access
    • consent
    • common ownership
    • block outline
    • s. 219 covenants
    • reference plans re-establishing boundaries
    • plan dedicating highways pursuant to s. 107
    • plan for road closure s. 120
• strata
  • conventional strata plan
  • bare land strata plan
  • phased strata plan
  • airspace parcel plan
• leasehold plans
• sketch Plans
  • examples: LCP and phased strata

Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver
Tim Jowett — Deputy Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster
Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Items of Interest to Solicitors on Various Plan Types (cont'd)

Plan Certification Form and the Application to Deposit

• plan certification form
  • markings on sample forms: control number, LTSA notations
• the application to deposit and who signs it
  • for any form of subdivision
  • for charge plans

Jeff Beddoes — Senior Deputy Surveyor General, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, Victoria
Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Amending a Strata Plan

• amending a strata plan under ss. 259, 262, 263, 265 and 266 of SPA
• the reference plan required under s. 272(d) and requirements under s. 274 when the strata corporation is wound up and who gets to sign the application can get interesting

Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Questions & Discussion