February 27, 2017

Strata corporation’s duty to repair “may include work necessary to make good or sound that which may never have been good or sound”: BC Court of Appeal

In Frank v The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 355, 2017 BCCA 92, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia considered an appeal from a supreme-court decision that had held a strata corporation responsible to install railings needed to bring a recreational rooftop deck up to code. The court of appeal upheld Read more…

Manitoba Law Reform Commission calls for streamlining of rules governing substitute attorneys

In its recently published report Creating Efficiencies in the Law: Substitute Powers of Attorney (PDF), the Manitoba Law Reform Commission has recommended that Manitoba’s Powers of Attorney Act be amended to streamline the process of allowing a successor attorney appointed under an enduring power of attorney to step in if the original Read more…

February 24, 2017

An Update on the Civil Resolution Tribunal

While the BCLI is working on projects to reform the Strata Property Act and to identify opportunities for financing litigation, the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) continues to implement new programs that will bring changes in both areas. The CRT has been handling strata property disputes since last year. Last month, Read more…

Strata corporation’s fines against business owner found to be significantly unfair

In Omnicare Pharmacy Ltd v The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 2854, 2017 BCSC 256, a strata corporation and an owner of a nonresidential strata lot grappled with some of the challenges of “[l]iving and operating a business on the Downtown Eastside.” The case involved a longstanding dispute over whether the owner’s Read more…

February 14, 2017

Manitoba Law Reform Commission Releases Final Report on Improving the Small Claims System

The Manitoba Law Reform Commission released its final report, Improving the Small Claims System in Manitoba, as part of the commission’s larger project on Access to Courts and Court Processes.  The final report contains the commission’s eleven recommendations for reform of the province’s Small Claims process. Background of the Project Read more…