LAW SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIARESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCE
PRACTICE CHECKLISTS MANUALPROCEDURE

LEGEND — NA= Not applicable L = Lawyer LA = Legal assistant
ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED / NA / L / LA / DATE DUE / DATE DONE
INTRODUCTION
Purpose and currency of checklist.This checklist is designed to be used with the client identification and verification procedure (A-1) checklist.This checklist refers only to residential conveyances. It is not appropriate for use in commercial conveyances, conveyances of manufactured homes, or long-term lease arrangements. Matters concerning strata lots are designated by “SL”. It is assumed that the lawyer represents the purchaser, not the vendor or mortgage lender.
This checklist has more detail than will be required for most residential conveyances. When a file is opened, review the checklist and put an “X” in the NA column for items that are inappropriate in the matter at hand. In this way, you will create a “customized” checklist for each conveyance. See also the introduction at the beginning of this volume. The checklist is designed for use in a situation where the purchaser wishes to proceed to completion. This checklist is current to September 1, 2017.
Fraud prevention and fraud alerts.Lawyers should maintain an awareness of the myriad scams that target lawyers, including the bad cheque scam and fraudulent changes in payment instructions, and must be vigilant about the client identification and no-cash rules.See the “Fraud Prevention” page, including the “Fraud Alerts” section, on the Law Society website at
New developments:
  • Exemptions on additional property purchase tax on foreign entities.Effective August 2, 2016, an additional tax, of 15 per cent of fair market value,was imposed on transfers of residential properties in the Greater Vancouver Regional Districtto a “foreign entity”(Property Transfer Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.378, ss. 2.01 to 2.04). Amendments to the Property Transfer Tax Regulation, B.C. Reg. 74/88, in B.C. Reg. 108/2017, provide for relief from the additional tax in certain circumstances. Effective March 31, 2017, under ss. 17.1 to 20, a foreign national who has confirmation as a worker under the Provincial Nominee Program is exempt from the payment of the 15 per cent additional property transfer tax. The claimant must have a valid nomination certificate at the time of registration and the property must be used as the claimant’s principal residence. In addition, a refund is available to foreign nationals who paid the 15 per cent additional property transfer tax between August 2, 2016, and March 17, 2017; a claimant must have held a valid nomination certificate at the time of registration and use the property as their principal residence. The exemption can be claimed only once. Under s.21, a refund of the extra tax is available if a transferee who was a foreign national at the time of registration became a Canadian citizen or permanent resident within one year of the registration date. The property must be the claimant’s principal residence, and the claimant must have moved in to the property within 92 days of the registration date. An application must be made within 18 months of the registration date, and the exemption may be claimed only once. For additional information, see www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/property-transfer-tax/understand/additional-property-transfer-tax.

  • Duty to ascertain vendor’s residency status. In Mao v. Lui, 2017 BCSC 226, a notary, acting for a purchaser, was found liable for failing to make reasonable inquiries regarding the vendor’s residency status. The court held that withholding the non-resident income tax from the purchase price does not place a purchaser in breach of the contract of purchase and sale, where the registered owner may be a non-resident. Real estate practitioners should consider advising their purchaser clients to withhold non-resident income tax in appropriate circumstances.

  • Reporting disposition of principal residence. The Government of Canada announced a change to the administration policy of Canada Revenue Agency to require the reporting of a disposition of a principal residence in order for the taxpayer to claim the principal residence exemption on the capital gain. Taxpayers are required to provide: the date of acquisition, proceeds of disposition, and description of the property.

  • Mandatory e-filing.The most recent Director’s Requirements to File Land Title Forms Electronically (DR-06-11) was issued March 22, 2017. For e-filing user guides, see ltsa.ca/practice-information/e-filing-user-guides-and-publications, ltsa.ca/cms/required-e-filing, and “Protocol for Land Title Electronic Instruments” at

  • New electronic form templates.Note the followingupdates to electronic land title form templates: Form 17 (Fee Simple, V12; Charge, Notation or Filing, V13; Cancellation of Charge, Notation or Filing, V14) and Form C (General Instrument – Charge, V22) on March 20, 2017. The Director of Land Titles retired the older versions of these forms, as well as the older versions of Forms A and B, on October 2, 2017.

  • New property transfer tax forms.The Additional Property Transfer Tax Return form (V2) was updated on June 20, 2017. The Property Transfer Tax Return form (V29) was updated on November 27, 2017 (replacing V28). The several new required fields in the V29 return include: disclosure of the vendor’s residency; date of birth of individual purchasers; business number for corporate purchasers; whether the transferred property is intended to be used as a principal residence; whether the purchaser made reasonable efforts to confirm the vendor’s residency status, and whether the vendor was a resident or non-resident of Canada. The forms are available at ltsa.ca/practice-information/land-title-forms.

  • Verification of true copies under Land Title Act, Part 10.1.The Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia (LTSA) is implementing a quality verification program with lawyers and notaries to ensure electronic filing subscriber compliance with Part 10.1 of the Land Title Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 250. Practice Note 02-16,issued by the LTSA on September 28, 2016, concerns the acceptability of making changes to the original electronic instrument after execution of the true copy in order to bring the original instrument inline with changes and additions made to the true copy after it was printed (“truing up”). In accordance with s. 168.3(3) of the Land Title Act, a subscriber must not apply their digital signature to an electronic instrument unless they are in possession of an executed true copy or copy of a true copy. Under the authority of s.168.51, the registrar can, while an application is pending, verify whether subscribers who electronically signed submitted forms had in their possession a true copy, a copy of a true copy, or, where applicable, the original of the supporting document.This practice note provides practitioners with some guidelines regarding the truing up of the electronic instrument. See ltsa.ca/sites/default/files/Practice-Note-02-16.pdf.

  • Miscellaneous notes endorsements and “associated plan” searches. Practice Note 03-16, issued by the LTSA on November 21, 2016, and replacing Practice Note 1-10, communicates changes in the practice of the Land Title Office regarding the endorsement of miscellaneous notes against parcels of land indexed in the land title register. These changes are the result of enhancements to the search functionality of myLTSA.

  • Law Society Rules

  • Trust protection insurance.In April 2017, the Law Society Rules were amended to ensure compliance with s. 30 of the Legal Profession Act, S.B.C. 1998, c. 9,which requires lawyers to maintain trust protection insurance and professional liability insurance. Also, the language of the Rules was made consistent with that in the Act. See Law Society Rules 2-16(3) and (6), 2-19(3), 2-22(3), 2-32, 2-40(2), 2-49(1), 2-77(1), 2-79(1), 2-82(1), 2-117(1), 3-39 heading and (3), 3-39.1, 3-44(1) and (2), and 3-46(1) to (3) and (5).

  • Providing contact information to the Law Society. In January 2017, the contact information that members must provide to the Law Society was expanded to include telephone numbers and email addresses (Law Society Rules 2-9, 2-10, and 2-11).

  • Reporting criminal charges to the Law Society.To prevent the risk of breaching undertakings of confidentiality to the Crown, lawyers are no longer required to disclose certain information when reporting criminal charges to the Law Society (Law Society Rule 3-97, January 2017 amendment).

  • The Law Society Rules are published at

  • Fraud alerts. The Law Society’s January 19, 2017,fraud alert warned against disbursing trust funds on changed instructions. If you receive any change in payment instructions, you must consider the possibility that the new instructions may be fraudulent and should ensure the change is legitimate through direct, in-person contact with the author of the change and by following other tipsprovided. For current information about fraudulent activities relevant to real estate and conveyancing work, see the Law Society’s “Fraud Alerts” page at

  • Searches of lawyers’ electronic devices at borders.In 2017, in response to the Law Society’s concerns about the searches of lawyers’ electronic devices by Canada Border Services Agency officers, the Minister of Public Safety advised that officers are instructed not to examine documents if they suspect they may be subject to privilege, if the documents are specifically marked with the assertion they are privileged, or if privilege is claimed by a lawyer with respect to the documents.View the Minister’s letter and Law Society’s response at Lawyers are reminded to claim privilege where appropriate and to not disclose privileged information or the password to electronic devices containing privileged information without client consent or a court order.See also “Client Confidentiality—Think Twice before Taking Your Laptop or Smart Phone across Borders” in the Spring 2017Benchers’ Bulletin.

  • Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (the “BC Code”)

  • Introduction.An introduction was added in March 2017 based on the Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code of Professional Conduct.In determining their professional obligations, lawyers must consult the Federation’s Model Code in its entirety and be guided in their conduct equally by the language in the rules, commentary, and appendices. Mandatory statements have equal force wherever they appear in the Federation’s Model Code.

  • Language rights.In March 2017, language rights provisions from the Federation’s Model Code were adapted for British Columbia (BC Coderules 3.2-2.1 and 3.2-2.2, including commentary). A lawyer must, when appropriate, advise a client of the client’s language rights, including the right to proceed in the official language of the client’s choice. A lawyer must not undertake a matter for a client unless the lawyer is competent to provide the required services in the official language of the client’s choice.

  • Short-term summary legal services. In June and September 2016, the “limited representation” rules regarding pro bono services were rescinded and replaced with a set of “short-term summary legal services” rules. See BC Coderule 3.1-2, commentary [7.2], rules 3.4-11.1 to 3.4-11.4, and commentaries regarding conflicts and confidentiality.(Note that “short-term summary legal services” differ from “limited scope retainers” and that the rules for the latter are unchanged.) Compare the differences in terms as defined by the BC Code in rules 1.1-1 and 3.4-11.1, and more generally, 7.2-6.

  • Amendment of transferring lawyer rules. In November 2016, the transferring lawyer rules were amended to more closely align with the Federation’s Model Code (see BC Code rule 3.3-7 and commentary and rules 3.4-17 to 3.4-26). Appendix D was rescinded.

  • Incriminating physical evidence. Under newBC Code rule 5.1-2.1, added in December 2016, a lawyer must not counsel or participate in the concealment, destruction, or alteration of incriminating physical evidence so as to obstruct or attempt to obstruct the course of justice (see also commentaries [1] to [7]).

  • Duty to sign court orders. Under March 2017 amendments to the BC Code, in the absence of a reasonable objection lawyers have a duty to promptly sign appropriately drafted court orders that have been granted or agreed to while the lawyer was counsel, notwithstanding a client’s subsequent instructions to the contrary or the lawyer’s discharge or withdrawal (see BC Coderule 3.7-9, commentary [6] and rule 5.1-2, commentary [5]).

  • Affidavits, solemn declarations, and officer certifications.In June 2016 amendments, references to the Supreme Court Civil Rules, B.C. Reg. 168/2009 were updated (Appendix A, paragraph 1, commentaries [11], [16], and [20] of the BC Code).

  • Table of contents.In June 2016, the table of contents was amended. The BC Code is published at

Of note:
  • Juricert security. Note your obligation to maintain the security of your digital signature, passwords, access phrases, and access numbers. Password entry is required each time a lawyer signs an electronic document. Lawyers must personally affix their digital signatures on documents to be filed with the Land Title Branch Electronic Filing System and must keep their Juricert passwords confidential. See Land Title Act, s. 168.9(b), the Juricert terms and conditions, Law Society Rule 3-64(8), BC Code rule 6.1-5, and the Law Society’s Discipline Advisory of October2, 2015

  • Property transfer tax. Under s. 3(1) of theProperty Transfer Tax Act, effective February 17, 2016, the property transfer tax is: (1) 1 per cent of the fair market value up to $200,000; (2) 2 per cent of the fair market value between $200,000 and $2,000,000; and (3) 3 per cent of the fair market value over $2,000,000.Under ss. 12.01 to 12.13, there is an exemption from property transfer tax for newly constructed properties that will be used as a principal residencefor properties with a fair market value up to $750,000; there is a partial exemption for properties witha fair market value up to $800,000.

  • Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia fee listings. For the fee listings, implemented on April 16, 2016, see ltsa.ca/fees or contact the LTSA at 1-877-577-LTSA (5872).

  • Consent to spousal home transfers under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. In accordance with Practice Note 01-16, issued by the LTSA on March 3, 2016, the registrar requires evidence of a surviving spouse’s consent to the transfer of the spousal home where the home is part of an intestate estate or a partial intestate estate and the disposition is during the 180-day period after issuance of the representation grant. See ltsa.ca/sites/default/files/Practice-Note-01-16.pdf, and Wills, Estates and Succession Act, S.B.C. 2009, c. 13, ss. 26 and 28.

  • Strata disputes.The Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, S.B.C. 2012, c.25creates a dispute resolution mechanism to deal with some small claims disputes under $5,000 and specified strata property matters. The strata property matters over which the Civil Resolution Tribunal has jurisdiction are listed in s. 3.6(1).

  • Aboriginal law. Special considerations apply to land situated within an Indian reserve. While Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (the “aandc”) helps to manage a significant number of reserves for the benefit of “Indians” (as defined in the Indian Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.I-5), there are some bands or First Nations in British Columbia that manage their own reserve lands. aandc maintains the Indian Lands Registry System, which includes information about the creation of the reserve and any allotments of parcels of land within a reserve to individual Indians (under certificates of possession or certificates of occupation), as well as any surrenders or designations of lands and any third party interests in or on the reserve lands (such as leases, easements, permits, etc.). The registry is an informational system only and does not create priority (except in the case of a registered assignment having priority over an unregistered assignment (Indian Act, s.55(4))). First Nations operating under a land code adopted under the First Nations Land Management Act, S.C. 1999, c.24 have a separate registry system established under that Act that contains some rules on priorities established by regulation. To investigate whether a particular First Nation is a signatory to the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management (ratified and implemented by the First Nations Land Management Act), consult the website of the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre ( Some bands (like the Sechelt Indian Band, Nisga’a Nation, and the Tsawwassen First Nation) are registered under the provincial land title system, though special provisions in the Land Title Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 250 apply to the lands of those First Nations. The federal First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act, S.C. 2005, c.53 (the “FNCIDA”) has been implemented in B.C. by the FNCIDA Implementation Act, S.B.C. 2012, c.21, which came fully into force on June 25, 2012. It allows some Land Title Act provisions to apply to reserve land.

While Indian reserve lands are within federal jurisdiction, consider conducting title searches in the provincial system as well, since some reserve lands are registered in both systems. In contrast to the provincial land title system, note that the Indian Lands Registry is not always up to date and, from a title search perspective, may be unreliable. However, do not consider the provincial system authoritative, given the potential for interjurisdictional immunity issues where conflicts arise between the two jurisdictions.
If the leasehold interest will be mortgaged, note that a lease on reserve lands to an Indian can only be mortgaged and seized if the land is designated (Indian Act, s.89(1.1)). A lease to an Indian on lands held by an Indian under a certificate of possession does not have the same exemption from the protective effect of s.88 of the Act.
Property transfer tax may not apply to transfer of an interest in treaty lands that are subject to a final agreement, pursuant to the Treaty First Nation Property Transfer Tax Exemption Regulation, B.C. Reg.58/2011. Note that effective June 27, 2013, the Tzeachten First Nation implemented the Tzeachten First Nation Property Transfer Tax Law, 2013, the provisions of which are very similar to the Property Transfer Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.378.
If a mortgage, land conveyance, or transfer of leasehold interest involves reserve or First Nations lands, consider seeking the advice of a lawyer with experience in Aboriginal law matters. Further information on Aboriginal law issues is available on the “Aboriginal Law” page in the “Practice Points” section of the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia website ( and in other CLEBC publications.
  • Additional resources. For more information regarding real estate practice, see the Conveyancing Deskbook (CLEBC, 2002–); the British Columbia Real Estate Practice Manual, 3rd ed. (CLEBC, 2006–); the British Columbia Mortgages Practice Manual (CLEBC, 1992–);Land Title Electronic Forms Guidebook, 6th ed.(CLEBC, 2013); the Land Title Practice Manual, 3rd ed. (CLEBC, 2007–); the British Columbia Real Estate Development Practice Manual (CLEBC, 1994–); the British Columbia Strata Property Practice Manual (CLEBC, 2008–); the British Columbia Personal Property Security Act Practice Manual (CLEBC, 1996–);Conveyancing for Legal Support Staff: Advanced Issues, 2013 Update (CLEBC, 2013);Real Estate Financing: Annotated Precedents (CLEBC, 1994–); and Residential Real Estate Conference—2014(CLEBC, 2014).