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In This Volume

  • 115 (1) The minister charged with the administration of the Transportation Act may apply to the registrar to deposit a statutory right of way plan in respect of land acquired for a highway, and the registrar, if satisfied that the application and plan are in order, must assign to the plan a serial deposit number.
  • (2) Concurrently with or following the deposit of the statutory right of way plan, the minister charged with the administration of the Transportation Act may file with the registrar a certificate in the form approved by the director certifying that all or part of the land in the statutory right of way plan has been established as a highway and the title vested in the government under section 57 of the Transportation Act or in the BC Transportation Financing Authority under section 58 of that Act, as the case may be.
  • (3) On the filing of the notice, the registrar must amend the records accordingly.
  • (4) After complying with subsection (3), the registrar must send a notice in the form approved by the director to the registered owner.
  • (5) An indefeasible title must not be registered for the land described in the notice but, on compliance with subsection (4), the title to that land ceases to be registered under this Act.
  • (6) This section applies to plans deposited by the minister charged with the administration of the Transportation Act under this or the former Act but subsections (3) and (4) apply only insofar as the state of business in the land title office makes it possible for the registrar to comply with those subsections.

1979-219-115; B.C. Reg. 537/79; 1980-1-13, proclaimed effective September 22, 1980; 1982-60-28, proclaimed effective August 1, 1983; 1999-3-17, deemed effective at the end of March, 1999; 2003-66-39; 2004-44-122, effective December 31, 2004 (B.C. Reg. 547/2004); 2004-66-76 and 78, effective January 20, 2005 (B.C. Reg. 16/2005); 2005-2-9; 2017-10-60, Sch. 1; 2018-37-16.

Note: under s. 57 of the Transportation Act, the freehold of provincial public highways is vested in the government and under s. 58 of that Act, the BC Transportation and Financing Authority holds the government’s right and title in provincial public highways.

FORMS

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure uses Form 12, Certificate as to Highway in Statutory Right of Way Plan. The use of Form 12 is compulsory.

On the Form 17 Fee Simple, select Nature of Interest, Certificate as to Highway, and attach an image of the original Form 12.

PRACTICE

Application of Section 115

Following the 1987 enactment of the Expropriation Act and consequential amendments to s. 5 of the Highway Act (now repealed), the application of s. 115 of the Land Title Act has been limited. Since the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure can no longer “gazette” highways by way of a notice of the establishment of a highway in the Gazette, s. 115 applies only to statutory right of way plans that were “gazetted” before 1987.

Deposit of Statutory Right of Way Plans

This provision allows for the updating of indefeasible titles on deposit of statutory right of way plans by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in circumstances where the establishment of a highway has been gazetted but notice has not previously been provided to the registrar.

Filing of Form 12 Notice

On the filing of a Form 12 notice, the registrar:

  1. makes a notation about the establishment of the highway and vesting in the Crown on the indefeasible title;
  2. notes the exception in the electronic index within the marginal notes;
  3. notes the transfer of “road only” in the transfer segment of the title for the part in the plan; and
  4. does not file another instrument affecting the land covered by the order or notice.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Transportation Act

See the Transportation Act. Note that under s. 57 of the Transportation Act, the freehold of provincial public highways is vested in the government and under s. 58 of that Act, the BC Transportation and Financing Authority holds the government’s right and title in provincial public highways.

Secondary Sources

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 1, para. 137.