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In This Volume

  • 19 (1) After the conclusion of the inquiry, or if an inquiry is not held, the expropriating authority may, before the advance payment is made under section 20, abandon all or part of the intended expropriation.
  • (2) If an abandonment occurs under this section, the expropriating authority must file in the land title office a notice of abandonment in the prescribed form and serve a copy of it on
  • (a) the approving authority, and
  • (b) each owner who was served with an expropriation notice under sections 6(1)(a), 16(2)(c) and 18 (5)(b).
  • (3) On receiving a notice of abandonment under subsection (2), the registrar must cancel or amend the endorsement made under section 7(1).
  • (4) If the expropriation is abandoned under subsection (1), the expropriating authority must pay
  • (a) compensation consisting of the damages suffered by an owner as a result of the initiation of the expropriation, and
  • (b) the reasonable legal, appraisal and other costs incurred by the owner up to the time of the abandonment, in an amount to be agreed on or determined by a registrar of the court.

1987‑23‑18; 1992-31-7, effective July 9, 1992 (B.C. Reg. 231/92); 2004-61-10, effective March 18, 2005 (B.C. Reg. 95/2005).

REGULATIONS AND FORMS

Form 7, Notice of Abandonment

Section 6 of the Expropriation Act General Regulation prescribes the use of Form 7, Notice of Abandonment, which is reproduced in this chapter. The application for filing the notice in the land title office is incorporated into the form.

Submissions

On the Form 17 Cancellation of Charge, Notation or Filing, select Nature of Interest, Expropriation Act—Abandonment (Provincial), and attach an image of the Form 7, Notice of Abandonment.

This transaction receives preliminary examination prior to receiving immediate application number, date, and time.

PRACTICE

Endorsement of Notice of Abandonment

On receipt of a notice of abandonment relating to all or part of an intended expropriation, the registrar endorses the abandonment on the register. If the abandonment relates to all of an intended expropriation, the registrar does not need to carry forward the legal notation to new titles.

Plans Must Accompany Abandonment Notice for Partial Abandonment

If the expropriating authority abandons the expropriation of an entire parcel in favour of a partial taking, the registrar will require the filing of a reference or explanatory plan to accompany the abandonment notice. Similarly, in the case of an expropriation in which a plan was previously required, the registrar will require a new plan to accompany any notice of partial abandonment. In either case, the registrar requires a new instrument if applicable. See the registrar’s requirements under “Practice” for s. 6 of this Act, and s. 3 of the Expropriation Act General Regulation, which is reproduced under s. 6.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Inquiry and Report

See the comments under the same heading under s. 16 of the Act.

Advance Payment

Under s. 20 of the Act the expropriating authority must, within the 30-day time periods established under that section, pay an owner the amount it estimates is or will be payable as compensation for the expropriation and serve on the owner a copy of all appraisal and other reports on which the payment is based. Under s. 25, unless the owner applies to the court for a determination of compensation within one year after payment has been made under s. 20, the owner will be deemed to have accepted the sum paid in full settlement of their claim for compensation.

Secondary Sources

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 3, para. 814.

CASE LAW

Abandonment after Service of Expropriation Notice

Section 19 enables an expropriating authority to abandon an intended expropriation, providing it does so in accordance with the Act. The section assumes a land owner has already been served an expropriation notice in accordance with s. 6, after which there is no way the expropriating authority can abandon with complete immunity (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. 1, 2, and 6 of the Act, and the annotation for Erickson v. Kamloops (City), 1993 CanLII 1464 (BC SC) under s. 6 of the Act.