HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Land Title Act

1 Section 1 of the Land Title Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 250, is amended by adding the following definition:

"racist content" means discriminatory language in covenants that restrict the sale, ownership, occupation or use of land on account of the sex, race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin of a person;

2 Section 222 of the Act is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

(2) The registrar, on application, must cancel any covenant with racist content.

(b) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

(3) If the registrar has notice that a registered restrictive covenant is void under this section, the registrar must, on the registrar's own initiative, cancel the covenant.

Land Title and Survey Authority Act

3 Section 4 (1) of the Land Title and Survey Authority Act, S.B.C. 2004, c. 66, is amended by adding the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

(a.1) the purpose of the Authority to manage, operate and maintain the land title and survey system of British Columbia includes a positive duty to ensure the removal of racist content, as defined in the Land Title Act, from this system.

4 Section 20 (2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Except in accordance with this section, the directors may not

(a) increase a fee in a year by an amount that is more than is authorized in the operating agreement,

(b) set a fee in respect of a service or other matter for which there was previously no fee, or

(c) charge a fee for canceling a covenant with racist content.

 
Explanatory Note

This Act fulfills the goal of the Apology for Historical Wrongs Legacy to make redress for discriminatory legislation and racist policies from British Columbia's past by requiring the removal from property documents all language that subjected people of Asian, African, Indian and other non-European descent to discrimination and housing segregation through racist covenants. This Act also ensures that the cost of cancelling a covenant with racist content is the responsibility of the Land Title and Survey Authority and not borne by the individual property owner.