Saskatchewan courts tackle cost sharing in condominiums

Late last month, Saskatchewan’s Court of Queen’s Bench issued two judgments examining cost sharing in a condominium property. Cost sharing has been front and centre in recent work in BCLI’s Strata Property Law Project, culminating in the publication of the Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas (PDF). The consultation paper examined how British Columbia’s legislation and regulations enabling sections and types can take the pressure off apportioning common expenses in a strata property strictly by reference Read more…

Completing complex-stratas consultation, making progress on governance issues highlights for latest quarter of Strata Property Law Project

The first three months of 2017 were a time of transition for BCLI’s Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two. The consultation on complex stratas closed. The project committee began reviewing its final report for this part of the project. Meanwhile, the committee made progress on examining issues for the next part of the project, which tackles selected governance, common property, and land-title issues. Consultation on complex stratas After being open for public comment for 4.5 months, Read more…

The Alberta Law Reform Institute Recommends Abolishing Perpetuities Law

On March 21, 2017, the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) published its report  Abolition of Perpetuities Law. In the report, the ALRI recommends that Alberta follow Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan in abolishing the rule against perpetuities. The Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) also recommended abolishing perpetuities law in its 2012 Uniform Trustee Act. Project History The ALRI first reviewed perpetuities law in 1971. At the time, it recommended reforms to the modern rule Read more…

BCLI Issues 4th Edition of Questions and Answers About Pension Division on the Breakdown of a Relationship in British Columbia

BCLI has issued the 4th revision of its publication Questions and Answers About Pension Division on the Breakdown of a Relationship in British Columbia.  Among the most frequently accessed resources on the BCLI website, Questions and Answers is widely used by family law practitioners, pension plan administrators, and estate planners as a source of detailed answers to technical questions dealing with pension division.  The general public also finds Questions and Answers equally helpful as a Read more…

CRT roundup—bylaws, repairs, and significant change in use or appearance of common property

March 2017 has seen two strata-property decisions from the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Unauthorized amendment of bylaws and repair of deck Fournier v The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 768, 2017 CRTBC 11 (PDF), concerned decisions taken at, and actions flowing from, a strata corporation’s special general meeting. At the meeting, two resolutions were approved: one amending the strata corporation’s bylaws to add a rental-restriction bylaw, the other authorizing the strata corporation to spend money from the contingency Read more…