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In This Volume

1 In this Act

  • “approving authority”, in relation to an expropriation, means
  • (a) the minister charged with the administration of the Act under which the expropriating authority is given the power to expropriate, unless, in respect of any particular expropriation, the Lieutenant Governor in Council has designated another member of the executive council as the approving authority for that expropriation,
  • (b) for an expropriation by a council under the Community Charter, the council, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the minister responsible for the administration of that Act as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under that Act, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under that Act,
  • (b.1) for an expropriation by a regional district board under the Local Government Act, the board, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the minister responsible for the administration of that Act as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under that Act, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under that Act,
  • (c) for an expropriation under the Vancouver Charter, the Vancouver City Council, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the minister responsible for the administration of that Act as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under that Act, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under that Act,
  • (d) for an expropriation under the School Act, the board of school trustees, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the minister responsible for the administration of the School Act as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under that Act, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under that Act, or
  • (e) for an expropriation under the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District Act, S.B.C. 1956, c. 59, or the Greater Vancouver Water District Act, S.B.C. 1924, c. 22, the Corporation constituted and incorporated, respectively, under those Acts, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the minister responsible for the administration of those Acts as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under either or both of those Acts, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under either of those Acts;
  • (f) for an expropriation by the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority under the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act, the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates the Minister of Finance as the approving authority for the purpose of
    • (i) expropriations under that Act, or
    • (ii) any particular expropriation under that Act;
  • “board” [repealed]
  • “chair” [repealed]
  • “court” means
  • (a) subject to paragraph (b), the Supreme Court, or
  • (b) in sections 7(2)(a)(i) and 33(b), any court;
  • “expropriate” means the taking of land by an expropriating authority under an enactment without the consent of the owner, but does not include the exercise by the government of any interest, right, privilege or title referred to in section 50 of the Land Act;
  • “expropriating authority” means a person, including the government, empowered under an enactment to expropriate land;
  • “highway” means a highway as defined in the Land Title Act and includes a forest service road under section 121 of the Forest Act;
  • “inquiry officer” means an inquiry officer appointed under section 12;
  • “owner”, in relation to land, means
  • (a) a person who has an estate, interest, right or title in or to the land including a person who holds a subsisting judgment or builder’s lien,
  • (b) a committee under the Patients Property Act,
  • (b.1) an attorney under Part 2 of the Power of Attorney Act,
  • (b.2) a guardian, executor, administrator or trustee in whom land is vested, or
  • (c) a person who is in legal possession or occupation of land, other than a person who leases residential premises under an agreement that has a term of less than one year;
  • “plan” means an explanatory plan as defined in the Land Title Act or a reference plan under that Act;
  • “registrar”, except in reference to a registrar of the court, means a registrar as defined in the Land Title Act;
  • “security interest” means a charge on land, including a claim of lien filed under the Builders Lien Act, which charge is owned or held by a person as security for the payment of money;
  • “vice chair” [repealed].

1987-23-1; 1992-31-7, 8, effective July 9, 1992 (B.C. Reg. 231/92); 1997-45-50, effective February 1, 1998 (B.C. Reg. 1/98); 1998-30-77, effective March 31, 1999 (B.C. Reg. 84/99); 2000-7-191; 2003-52-60, effective January 1, 2004 (B.C. Reg. 465/2003); 2003-54-27, Sch. A, effective April 1, 2004 (B.C. Reg. 11/2004); 2004-61-1, effective March 18, 2005 (B.C. Reg. 95/2005); 2007-41-63, effective November 30, 2007 (B.C. Reg. 399/2007); B.C. Reg. 5/2010, effective January 14, 2010; 2007-34-76, effective September 1, 2011 (B.C. Reg. 14/2011); 2009-22-29.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

See the discussion on the “Interpretation of Words and Phrases” in the Introduction located in the front matter of this Manual.

CASE LAW

“Expropriate”

Compliance with formal procedures is not required for a finding that an expropriation has occurred (Purchase v. Terrace (City) (1995), 26 M.P.L.R. (2d) 126 (B.C.C.A.)). See also the annotations for this decision under ss. 2, 6, and 19 of the Act, and the annotation for Erickson v. Kamloops (City), 1993 CanLII 1464 (BC SC), under s. 6 of the Act.

“Expropriating Authority”

Not all expropriating authorities are empowered to expropriate in the same way, and because every expropriating authority is not subject to the same restrictions on empowerment, context is important. Under the Community Charter, S.B.C. 2003, c. 26, municipal councils only have power to act in accordance with their empowering legislation, and a council is not empowered to expropriate without a bylaw. Consequently, a municipality is not an “expropriating authority” until it is empowered as such by the enactment of a bylaw (Purchase v. Terrace (City)). See also the annotations for this decision under ss. 2, 6, and 19 of this Act, and the annotation for Erickson v. Kamloops (City) under s. 6 of this Act.

“Owner”

An unregistered judgment is not a “subsisting judgment” within the meaning of paragraph (a) in the definition of “owner”. Accordingly, the holder of an unregistered judgment is not an “owner” and is not entitled to share in compensation funds. In the case of an agreement under s. 3 of the Act, a judgment must be registered against title at the time of acquisition for it to be subsisting. The intent of the Act is to provide compensation for all those whose interest in the land disappears when title vests in the expropriating authority (Coates v. Rainbow Country Estates Ltd. (1992), 46 L.C.R. 249 (B.C.S.C.)).

An owner of land entered into a general contract with the respondent for the construction of a residential development. The land was subsequently expropriated and compensation was paid to the owner. The respondent obtained a declaration from the Expropriation Compensation Board that it was in “legal possession of land” under paragraph (c) of the definition of “owner”. In setting aside the Board’s order, the court held that paragraph (c) should be construed as referring to an entitlement that is close or akin to an interest in land. A person cannot be said to be in possession or occupation within the meaning of the Act unless that person can be said to enjoy some benefit derived from the property itself. The minister’s power to expropriate extends only to land and to no other interest. There was no clause in the respondent’s contract with the owner that specifically granted the respondent exclusive possession of the building site. When the land was expropriated, the respondent lost a benefit associated with the contract but not a benefit associated with the land (Linear Construction Corp. v. British Columbia (Minister of Transportation and Highways), 1997 CanLII 3397 (BC CA)).