Employer Obligations Continue to Apply Despite COVID-19 Pandemic

May 08, 2020 - Laura Buitendyk

This post is current as of May 7, 2020. Since the situation is rapidly evolving, it is important for employers to continue to check government websites and other information sources to ensure they make decisions with information that is as up to date as possible. The information contained in this blog is relevant only to non-union workers in provincially regulated industries covered by the Employment Standards Act.

On March 23, the BC legislature enacted several changes to the Employment Standards Act. As at the date of this article, these changes have not reduced nor eliminated an employer’s obligations when laying off employees…

Resolving Residential Tenancy Disputes during the COVID-19 Eviction Ban

May 06, 2020 - Brian Cheng

The Ban

British Columbia has banned almost all evictions from March 30, 2020 during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

Now, these reasons to evict tenants are no longer valid:

non-payment of rent; cause (repeated breach of rental agreement); end of employment (e.g., caretaker); landlord’s own use of the property; and tenant no longer qualifying for tenancy (e.g., subsidized rental unit).

Limited exceptions allow landlords to still apply to end tenancies, where the tenant has:

significantly interfered with landlord’s or other occupant’s use of the property; seriously jeopardized health or safety of the landlord or other occupant; or caused extraordinary damage…

LTSA Launches LandTransparency.ca Website

May 05, 2020 - Tony Anderson

Prior to COVID-19 consuming the entirety of the daily news cycle, a major focus for property owners in the Province was the anticipated Land Owner Transparency Act (“LOTA”).

As part of the 30-Point Plan for Housing Affordability in British Columbia, this legislation – the first of its kind in North America – was to establish the Land Owner Transparency Registry (“LOTR”): a publically accessible registry to record beneficial ownership rather than the current recording of only legal ownership.

News regarding LOTA has understandably slowed in light of the global focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Land Title and Survey…

To Pay, or Not To Pay? – Vancouver Delays 2020 Property Tax Deadlines in COVID-Era

May 04, 2020 - Owen Bird

As Canadians are continuing to deal with the financial stresses brought on by COVID-19, municipal governments, like the City of Vancouver, are no exception. In a recent press conference, Mayor Kennedy Stewart stated that the City is losing millions every week in revenue due to the effects of COVID-19 and the corresponding social distancing measures. The City continues to experience 80-100% decreases in revenue streams areas such as parking, by-law fines, gaming and recreation centres.

Included in the City’s stream of revenue, valued at approximately $324 million, are the collections from annual property taxes. These are taxes paid by…

COVID-19: I Can’t Get Two Witnesses for My Will, Help!

May 01, 2020 - Georgia Barnard

UPDATE – this post is now out of date. Please see our updated post of May 21, 2020

As discussed in a previous post on this blog; while some other provinces have relaxed the in-person witnessing requirements for estate planning documents at this time, British Columbia has not. If you get creative, will-makers can fulfil these requirements while still respecting social distancing protocols. However, for those required to self-isolate strict compliance will be impossible. They simply won’t be able to execute their Will in the presence of two witnesses. What’s a would-be will-maker to do?

Will-makers can…