BC Land Title & Survey Authority to Retire COVID Measures Effective September 30, 2023

Published by Waterstone Law Group

[ Photo by Medium Rare on Unsplash ]

By Pahul Gupta, Summer Student at Waterstone Law Group LLP

The BC Land Title & Survey Authority recently announced that effective September 30, 2023, it will be retiring certain remote witnessing measures that were implemented to facilitate real estate transactions during the pandemic.

The COVID measures to be retired are as follows:

  1. Remote Witnessing of Affidavits, pursuant to Practice Bulletin 01-20, allowing legal professionals to swear land title affidavits remotely using video technology;
  2. Accepting true copies of supporting documents to be submitted for certain Land Title e-filings, rather than requiring original documents; and
  3. Use of “blanket” authorizations of section 49 affidavits, allowing the signing of land title documents without being in the presence of an “Officer” as defined by the Land Title Act (BC).

For greater certainty, remote witness of Enduring Powers of Attorney, as permitted by section 171 of the Power of Attorney Act (BC), will not be impacted by the change.

For more information on the retirement of these measures, visit the BC Land Title & Survey Authority website for the full announcement.

If you have questions as to what this might mean for you and any transaction you are involved with, please contact Waterstone’s Real Estate Transactions group.