Workers Compensation Act, Sections 264 And 265

The Act establishes the Workers’ Compensation Board and a scheme for the compensation of workers who are injured or disabled or who die during the course of their employment. The board is authorized to determine and collect assessments from employers for the purpose of funding the scheme. Where an employer defaults in the payment of an assessment, the board may issue a certificate stating the amount unpaid.

• Nature of Interest: Amount due constitutes a lien in favour of the board.
• Effect of Lien: Lien payable in priority over liens, charges, or mortgages, whenever created, with respect to property used in or in connection with the industry with respect to which the employer was assessed, except for liens for wages due to workers by their employer.
• Procedures for Enforcement—Liens: Board may enforce the lien by proceedings under the Court Order Enforcement Act.
• Procedures for Enforcement—Certificates: Board may file a certificate or a certified copy with the district registrar of the Supreme Court.
• Effect of Filing: Certificate, once filed, becomes an order of the court and may be enforced as a judgment of the court.
• Electronic Submissions: On the Form 17 Charge, Notation or Filing, select Nature of Interest, Judgment, and attach an image of the original Certificate of Judgment.

Crown Lien Taking Effect after Registration of Certificate of Pending Litigation in Foreclosure Proceedings or Forced Sale Proceedings

Under s. 30 of the Land Title Act, liens created by judgments in favour of the Workers’ Compensation Board, even when registered after a certificate of pending litigation, may have priority, over mortgages and certain other charges and rights registered before the judgment. See s. 265 of the Workers Compensation Act. When one of these Crown liens may have priority over the claim of the holder of a certificate of pending litigation in a foreclosure action or court-ordered sale, and if the lien holder is not joined as a party, such liens will not be released automatically from title. The registrar issues a notice under s. 294.6(e) or 303(e) of the Land Title Act to the board advising it that its lien will be removed from title two weeks after the notification, thus giving the board time to assert its priority. If the applicant has joined the board, the registrar does not send a notice.

Selected Case Law

See:

• Gatsby Enterprises (Kelowna) Ltd. v. Gatsby Kelowna (1976) Ltd., (1978), 30 C.B.R. (N.S.) 1 (B.C.S.C.)
• River Road Marina Holdings Ltd. v. Greenwich Shipyard Ltd., 1980 CanLII 636 (BC SC)
• North West Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Westridge Construction Ltd., 1980 CanLII 578 (BC SC)
• British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Kinross Mortgage Corp., 1981 CanLII 455 (BC CA), reversing in part (sub nom. Re Kinross Mortgage Corporation and Bushell) 1980 CanLII 274 (BC SC)
• Crown Trust Co. v. Martin & Gamble Builders Ltd., 1983 CanLII 506 (BC SC)
• British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Canada (Attorney General), 1984 CanLII 267 (BC SC)
• British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Northwest Paving Co. Ltd., [1984] B.C.J. No. 821 (QL) (S.C.)
• Hays v. Similkameen Resorts Ltd., 1984 CanLII 412 (BC SC)
• Active Bailiff Service Ltd. v. Broadway Plaza Properties, 1986 CanLII 884 (BC SC)
• Federal Business Development Bank v. Hillcrest Motor Inn Inc., 1988 CanLII 2835 (BC CA)
• Hamilton v. British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board), 1992 CanLII 360 (BC CA)
• Pacific Coast Savings Credit Union v. McCulloch, 1996 CanLII 2458 (BC SC)
• British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 1998 CanLII 4019 (BC CA)
• British Columbia v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., 2009 BCCA 540, varied 2011 SCC 42