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On November 30, 2020 the Land Owner Transparency Act came into effect. The government’s intention behind the Act is to make public information on ownership in land and reduce fraud in the real estate market. The Act requires the disclosure of both direct interests in land and parties who have a meaningful interest or indirect ownership in land.
For corporations that have acquired an interest in real property such as purchasing property or acquiring a long term lease after November 30, 2020, they are required to file both a Transparency Report and Declaration when registering their newly acquired interest.
If a corporation is the current registered owner of any property in the B.C. land title system, they must file a Transparency Report and Declaration before November 30, 2021 regardless of when they acquired an interest in the property.
A legal professional can assist with the filing of the Transparency Report and Declaration.
Once filed, the general public can search and obtain partial information about the ownership interest in land. Primarily the only information available will be the party that filed the transparency report and the names of all individuals who are an interest-holder in the land or the settlor of a trust related to the land. The more personal information such as the date of birth and social insurance number of these individuals although required to file the declaration and report will not be publicly accessible.
A sample transparency report showing the information required can be found at: https://landtransparency.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Land-Owner-Transparency-Report-Sample.pdf
