Quickscribe 2.0

A smarter way to research, interpret and track annotated legislation.

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Amendments

Colour-coded amendment flags make it easy to determine when sections were last amended. Compare the full text of how the section read the day before the change came into law with one click!

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Annotations

Annotation tools allow you to post annotations throughout the legislation. Annotations can be saved as private (encrypted), organizational (only readable to those in your firm) or even shared with the QS community. The choice is up to you. Quickscribe's expert legal annotators will also contribute annotations for the benefit of all users.

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Our Panel of Experts

Quickscribe has hand-selected a number of respected legal professionals who will provide thoughtful commentary and legislative insight with links to relevant case law.

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Print PDFs

Quickscribe's popular PDF tools make it easy to print sections or entire laws on demand! These professional-looking PDFs can be saved to file and because Quickscribe's laws are updated weeks before any other source, you can have a fully consolidated hard copy law in your hands before anyone else!

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Collaborate

Quickscribe 2.0 allows you to collaborate and engage in high-level discussions on legislative topics with your peers. This tool is ideal for contributing to the overall knowledge management of your organization.

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Alerts

Stay informed! QS 2.0 includes a number of timely, detailed and fully customizable notification alerts for both upcoming and recent changes to laws of your choosing. Visit Alerts to learn more.

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Follow Threads on Laws

Stay engaged by receiving email alerts for recently added annotations to laws or sections of your choosing. You can even filter these to only receive alerts for new annotations made by fellow colleagues or our expert annotators.

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Save Time

It's the little things we have done that will save you time and enrich your legislation research experience.

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Historical Research Tools

QS 2.0 offers a number of historical legislation research tools that will save you time when researching how laws read at different points in history.

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Stay Ahead

Laws on QS are often updated weeks before any other source. Quickscribe also publishes early consolidation of certain laws as they will look when they come into force. These special consolidations are rarely found elsewhere.

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Select Hansard (Debates)

Quickscribe's Hansard references make it easy for you to determine the government's intent behind legislation.

Look for the [H] icon adjacent to a section that includes a Hansard (legislative debate) reference.

Tip: Visit the main Hansard page located on the left navigation bar to learn more.

Free Trial

Here's your chance to test drive Quickscribe Online. See for yourself why Quickscribe is now the go-to source for legislation in BC.

What Makes Quickscribe 2.0 Unique?

  • Most Current - by far!

    With Quickscribe, you'll never have to question whether you are accessing the most current version of a law again. QS 2.0 provides access to laws that are updated weeks before any other source. How do we do it? Our system was built with the flexibility to allow us to post changes the same day they come into law. In fact, as a convenience to our clients, Quickscribe will routinely post early consolidations of key laws prior to coming into force. These early consolidations are rarely, if ever, found elsewhere.

  • Expert Insight (Annotations)

    Whether you want to contribute and engage in the legislative discussions or simply benefit from reading the annotations made by others, Quickscribe's annotations deliver dynamic, value-added content that will enrich your legislative research experience.

    Quickscribe's ever-growing panel of hand-selected expert annotators contributes annotations throughout the legislation for the benefit of all users.

    You may also add your own annotations and save them as private (encrypted), organizational (only readable to those in your firm) or even shared with the QS community (moderated). The choice is up to you.

  • PDF – on Demand!

    Have you ever been frustrated with the process of trying to print off individual sections or entire laws from other sites? Quickscribe's popular PDF tools make it easy to print off professional-quality PDF versions of selected sections or entire laws on demand! These PDFs can also be saved to file. Clients even have the option to print both the annotated and non-annotated versions of the law.

  • Custom Tracking/Alerts

    QS 2.0 includes a number of timely, detailed and fully customizable alerts that will notify you of both upcoming and recent changes to laws of your choosing. These popular alerts will ensure you keep informed of the very latest changes. Each alert will provide detailed information with a link to the new/proposed change. Quickscribe has gained a reputation for sending these notices sooner than any other service on the market. Visit our alerts page to learn how these alerts can work for you.

  • Historical Law Research Tools

    Access to historical legislation is important. Quickscribe excels at offering historical research tools that help you find what you are looking for quickly and efficiently.

  • Select Hansard - at section level!

    Quickscribe's Hansard feature makes it easy for you to determine statutory intent directly from the section being debated. Learn more.

  • Supplemental Notes

    Supplemental notes provide you with yet another layer of helpful information about each section of law. Supplemental notes can provide insight on the “how” and “why” a section came to be. Notes can also be used to link you to relevant government documents, research papers, reports and news articles that provide additional context about the section you are reading. We believe that the more context you have, the better equipped you will be to truly interpret the intent of the law.

Private Annotations

You can easily and securely create and save your own private annotations (PAs) throughout the legislation.

PAs are fully encrypted and can only be viewed by you. You can search, edit, manage and delete these as needed.

QS will even transfer your PAs over to a new account should you move to another organization. By default, all annotations are set to private.

Organizational Annotations

Organizational annotations (OAs) will help to facilitate collaborative discussion and awareness about legislative issues and cases that may be of interest to others in your organization.

OAs are fully encrypted and can only be read or shared by others in your organization. For larger organizations, OAs can be filtered and saved to subgroups. You can follow OAs posted by colleagues and reply to or share OAs within your organization at any time. Document upload and link-building tools make it easy to contribute to the Knowledge Management for your organization.

To save an annotation as an Organizational annotation, select "My Organization" when you go to save the annotation. The default is set to save annotations as Private.

Community Annotations

Quickscribe Community Annotations are posted for the benefit of all Quickscribe users. Saving your annotation as a QS Community (public) Annotation (QSCA) is a great way to share and contribute to the ever-growing, collaborative knowledge base that comprises all users.

For example, your research may have uncovered a valuable tip or reference to a case that might be of interest to others using Quickscribe. Other users may want to initiate a discussion relating to the interpretation of a vague reference in a proposed law. The Community annotations are intended to facilitate this type of content/discussion for the benefit of all users.

All QSCAs are moderated and reviewed prior to publishing. Portions of QS Community annotations may also be published to various public sites.

To save an annotation as an Organizational annotation, select "QS Community" when you go to save the annotation. The default is set to save annotations as Private.

What is an annotation?

Traditionally, an annotated law will include information about the application and intent behind the sections in a law. While many of the QS Community and Expert annotations will include these types of annotations, we have broadened the definition to also include references to:

By broadening the definition of an annotation, we can deliver a more dynamic, flexible and relevant research tool that will evolve over time and as laws change.

Types of Annotations

Quickscribe 2.0 offers you the ability to make and save annotations as Private (only readable by you) or Organizational (accessible to only those in your organization); both are encrypted. Annotations can also be posted to the Quickscribe Community. These are moderated and some restrictions apply. Quickscribe's Expert Annotators will contribute annotations for the benefit of all users.

In summary, an annotation is any note that offers additional substantive value for our users.

Annotations from our Quickscribe Experts

The Court in Triad Mechanical Inc. v. Maple Leaf Green World Inc., 2021 BCSC 1865 considered the dictionary definition of "conclusively", and determined that "conclusively deemed" within s. 33(4) of the Builders Lien Act, does not leave open the question of whether there is a ...

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Christopher Hirst, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on BUILDERS LIEN ACT

Gill v. Fraser Health Authority, 2022 BCSC 1553

 

Plaintiff brought civil action against hospital for Charter damages in relation to death of infant patient. The court held a civil action against hospital for Charter damages requires more than proof of a breach of ...

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Joel Morris, Harper Grey LLP on HOSPITAL ACT(2023-03-08)

The Director of Adjudication allowed the Ministry of Attorney General, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Health’s request that the commissioner grant certain remedies on the basis that an individual was abusing FIPPA’s review and inquiry process: the com...

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Karen Zimmer, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT

In Champ’s Fresh Farms Inc. v. British Columbia (Employment Stanards Tribunal), 2023 BCSC 1075, the BC Supreme Court considered a petition for judicial review from a decision of the Employment Standards Tribunal relating to minimum wage for farm workers picking mush...

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Scott Marcinkow, Harper Grey LLP on EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS REGULATION 396/95

It is not always necessary to show that the proposed action is in the best interest of the estate. It may be sufficient if it is necessary or expedient to protect the interest of a specified person. 

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Stanley Rule, Sabey Rule LLP on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION ACT

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Greg GEHLEN, GEHLEN DABBS CASH LLP on BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY ACT [FEDERAL]

In Bison Acquisition Corp 2021 ABASC 188 after unsuccessful discussions, Bison (which was formed by funds managed by Brookfield) made an unsolicited offer for IPL.  Subsequently IPL executed an arrangement agreement with Pembina which contained a $350M termination fee.

&...

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Teresa Tomchak, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 62-104 TAKE-OVER BIDS AND ISSUER BIDS (B.C. Reg. 21/2008)

Section 5(2) of the Builders Lien Act (together with ss. 10, 11 and 14) are the subject of Douglas J. Connolly and Ashley K. Dhaliwal's article "Understanding and Applying the Trust provisions of the Builders Lien Act: Five Things to Know" (2023) 81 Advocate 27.  The trus...

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D. Michael Bain, K.C., Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould on BUILDERS LIEN ACT

This section was drawn from section 2.1 of the Arbitration Act, RSBC 1996, c. 55, and is needlessly confusing. On the one hand it seems to say that people can agree to arbitration anything that "may be the subject of a family law dispute in the future," while on the other is s...

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John-Paul Boyd QC, John-Paul E. Boyd Arbitration Chambers on FAMILY LAW ACT

In R. v. Christensen, 2020 BCPC 208 the Court accepted expert medical evidence that it would be unethical to use the authority of the Mental Health Act to enforce compliance with anti-androgen medication for someone convicted of repeated sexual offences. The expert physicians ...

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Laura Johnston, Health Justice on MENTAL HEALTH ACT(2023-01-31)

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Greg GEHLEN, GEHLEN DABBS CASH LLP on BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY ACT [FEDERAL]

The litigation conduct of a corporation that is a co-defendant to an oppression action, in particular a corporation’s vigorous conduct of its defence and the filing of a counterclaim, cannot be actionable as oppression. In this case, the parties were shareholders of the ...

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Debby Cumberford, Deborah M. Cumberford on BUSINESS CORPORATIONS ACT

In Bison Acquisition Corp 2021 ABASC 188 after unsuccessful discussions, Bison (which was formed by funds managed by Brookfield) made an unsolicited offer for IPL.  Subsequently IPL executed an arrangement agreement with Pembina which contained a $350M termination fee.

&...

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Teresa Tomchak, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 62-104 TAKE-OVER BIDS AND ISSUER BIDS (B.C. Reg. 21/2008)

In British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Le, 2023 BCCA 200, the appellants challenged an order that s. 5 of the Disbursement and Expert Evidence Regulation, BC Reg 210/2020 (the "Regulation") was both invalid and unconstitutional. The Court of Appeal held that a reg...

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OnPoint Legal Research, Onpoint Legal Research Law Corporation on DISBURSEMENTS AND EXPERT EVIDENCE REGULATION 210/2020

This provision is mandatory and there is no discretion to order payment to be made to someone other than the PGT. See 2019 BCCA 171 at paras 7 - 11.

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Dan Orsetti, Public Guardian And Trustee of British Columbia on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION ACT(2020-04-05)

The litigation conduct of a corporation that is a co-defendant to an oppression action, in particular a corporation’s vigorous conduct of its defence and the filing of a counterclaim, cannot be actionable as oppression. In this case, the parties were shareholders of the ...

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Debby Cumberford, Deborah M. Cumberford on BUSINESS CORPORATIONS ACT

As was the case in A.H.H. Construction Services Ltd. v Washington Properties (QEP) Inc., 2021 BCSC 1912, it may be considered an abuse of process to file and maintain a lien in an overstated amount.

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Christopher Hirst, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on BUILDERS LIEN ACT

This section was drawn from section 2.1 of the Arbitration Act, RSBC 1996, c. 55, and is needlessly confusing. On the one hand it seems to say that people can agree to arbitration anything that "may be the subject of a family law dispute in the future," while on the other is s...

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John-Paul Boyd QC, John-Paul E. Boyd Arbitration Chambers on FAMILY LAW ACT(2021-11-24)

The class action privacy case, Ari v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2022 BCSC 1475 involved a claim by individuals (and those who lived with them) whose personal information was improperly accessed without an apparent business purpose, by an ICBC adjuster. The adj...

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Karen Zimmer, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on PRIVACY ACT

Section 36 of the Property Law Act does not apply to the Crown land owned or controlled by the Provincial government:    Fox v British Columbia (Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development), 2022 BCSC 541

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Peter Roberts, Lawson Lundell LLP on PROPERTY LAW ACT

In R. v. Christensen, 2020 BCPC 208 the Court accepted expert medical evidence that it would be unethical to use the authority of the Mental Health Act to enforce compliance with anti-androgen medication for someone convicted of repeated sexual offences. The expert physicians ...

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Laura Johnston, Health Justice on MENTAL HEALTH ACT

The policy considerations underlying section 60 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, together with the nature of constructive trusts was the subject of some debate in a series of articles published in The Advocate in 2022.

 

A healthy and respectful canvassing of p...

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D. Michael Bain, K.C., Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION ACT

This amendment removes "an architect, as defined in the Architects Act" in 31(a) but adds "an architect under the Professional Governance Act" in 31(f.1).  This is a consequential amendment after the Architects Act was repealed on February 10, 2023 and architects are now ...

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Scott Marcinkow, Harper Grey LLP on EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS REGULATION 396/95

Section 36 of the Property Law Act does not apply to the Crown land owned or controlled by the Provincial government:    Fox v British Columbia (Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development), 2022 BCSC 541

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Peter Roberts, Lawson Lundell LLP on PROPERTY LAW ACT

Decisions of the court under s. 17 are not limited appeal orders and therefore leave is not required under s. 11 of the Court of Appeal Rules to appeal.

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Melanie Harmer, McMillan LLP on JUDICIAL REVIEW PROCEDURE ACT

The BC Court of Appeal has held that because the CRT's determinations resemble judicial decision making, procedural protections closer to the trial model are required by the duty of fairness. However, the tribunal has discretion whether to hold an oral hearing and permit witne...

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Melanie Harmer, McMillan LLP on CIVIL RESOLUTION TRIBUNAL ACT

In Hawthorn v Hawrish, 2023 BCCA 182, the Court of Appeal upheld the chambers judge’s order dismissing applications made under s. 7 of the Arbitration Act, SBC 2020, c 2 (the "Act") for a partial stay of proceedings in favour of arbitration. The Court of Appeal held that...

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OnPoint Legal Research, Onpoint Legal Research Law Corporation on ARBITRATION ACT

Gill v. Fraser Health Authority, 2022 BCSC 1553

 

Plaintiff brought civil action against hospital for Charter damages in relation to death of infant patient. The court held a civil action against hospital for Charter damages requires more than proof of a breach of ...

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Joel Morris, Harper Grey LLP on HOSPITAL ACT

It is not always necessary to show that the proposed action is in the best interest of the estate. It may be sufficient if it is necessary or expedient to protect the interest of a specified person. 

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Stanley Rule, Sabey Rule LLP on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION ACT(2022-11-02)

This provision is mandatory and there is no discretion to order payment to be made to someone other than the PGT. See 2019 BCCA 171 at paras 7 - 11.

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Dan Orsetti, Public Guardian And Trustee of British Columbia on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION ACT