Land Title Practice Manual

131 Powers Of The Registrar To Cancel Or Alter A Plan

In This Volume

  • 131 (1) Subject to sections 132(3) and 133(3), the registrar, by order after hearing a petition under this Part, may do one or more of the following:
  • (a) cancel or alter or refuse to cancel or alter
    • (i) the plan referred to in the petition, or
    • (ii) a public area
  • or any part of either of them;
  • (b) in the circumstances described in section 135, consolidate into a single parcel
    • (i) land that ceases to be a public area, and
    • (ii) land of the petitioner;
  • (c) direct that any land that ceases to be a public area be consolidated into a single parcel with land of the petitioner, as a condition of registering a transfer from the Crown to the petitioner of the land that ceased to be a public area;
  • (d) extend any charge or encumbrance registered against a parcel in the plan affected by the petition over other land in the plan and direct that the charge or encumbrance, as extended, vest in the owner of the charge or encumbrance;
  • (e) register in the name of the Crown in right of British Columbia an indefeasible fee simple title to any land that ceases to be a public area and direct that the title be encumbered by any easement, statutory right of way or other interest that the registrar considers necessary to
    • (i) protect existing utilities and assure anticipated utilities, and
    • (ii) assure the rights of adjoining owners as to entry and exit, whether of a public or private nature.
  • (2) An order of the registrar under this section
  • (a) may be made on terms the registrar considers necessary, and
  • (b) may be made conditional on the creation, enlargement, extension, cancellation or registration of any interest that the registrar considers necessary to give effect to a term of the order.
  • (3) An order of the registrar that cancels or alters the boundaries of a public area extinguishes the dedication or establishment of the public area or of that part of it that ceases to be a public area as a result of the cancellation or alteration.

1979-219-131; 1993-52-1.

PRACTICE

Under the authority of s. 131(2)(a), the registrar also requires a s. 100(1)(a) reference plan that re-defines the parcel that results from the cancellation of the plan to accompany the petition under s. 123. In addition, under the authority of s. 131(2)(b), all charges must be cancelled from the title(s) to the plan being cancelled.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 1, §6:13.

CASE LAW

Conditions Imposed by Registrar

The power of the registrar to impose conditions under the Act is not restricted to protection of the interests set out in s. 130 of the Act. The conditions the registrar imposes may be substantive, provided the registrar observes the appropriate rules of natural justice and confines their consideration to matters that are truly relevant to the question. The registrar may consider evidence of future intentions and matters of general public interest, benefit, or welfare (Elsom v. Goodwin, 1983 CanLII 548 (BC CA)). Note that this decision was made under s. 127 of the Act (Powers of registrar at hearing) before the repeal and replacement of Part 8.

Use of Public Area

The registrar does not have power to cancel a road allowance that is, in fact, being used in the manner for which it was dedicated. Evidence of past use of the area as a horse trail and evidence of ongoing intentions to develop the area for equestrianism constitute use as a road allowance (Maple Ridge (District) v. New Westminster (Registrar of Land Titles), [1991] B.C.W.L.D. 1325 (S.C.), affirmed 1994 CanLII 3294 (BC CA)).