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Jun 15 2026

Mortgage Services Act – Early Consolidation

Quickscribe has published an early consolidation of the Mortgage Services Act (MSA), which comes into force on October 13, 2026 by B.C. Reg. 108/2025. The MSA replaces the Mortgage Brokers Act, and will modernize the regulation of mortgage brokers, lenders and administrators, while incorporating recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in BC.

Under the MSA, the new role of Superintendent of Mortgage Services will be introduced, empowered to oversee the regulatory duties of the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) in the mortgage services industry. The BCFSA will be granted wide regulatory powers to create and impose licensing rules, compliance requirements and new disciplinary penalties, allowing it complete oversight of the mortgage services industry, which includes dealing or trading in mortgages, mortgage lending and administering mortgages.

The BCFSA will have the authority to

  • regulate licences;
  • establish requirements, conditions, and restrictions on licences;
  • implement standards of conduct and business practice standards for licensees;
  • provide standard terms to be included in proposed contracts or forms prepared by licensees; and
  • make different rules applicable to different levels of licences, categories of licences, and classes of mortgages.

 

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Jun 03 2026

Lexi AI Research – Coming Soon!

Quickscribe continues to refine Lexi, our AI-assisted legislative research tool, following earlier beta testing and user feedback.

The next version of Lexi is being designed to provide a more trusted and transparent research experience grounded in Quickscribe's curated legislative database. Users will be able to ask plain-language questions, receive structured answers, and review supporting source references – with primary law remaining at the centre of the research process.

Lexi is also being developed with privacy, transparency and user control in mind. Depending on your organization's settings, access to features such as chat history, external web search and other Lexi options may be managed or configured to align with your organization's preferences. 

The goal is to give Quickscribe users a practical AI research tool that is source-grounded, easy to use, and designed specifically for legislative research.

To learn more about the upcoming Lexi release, visit our new Lexi information page.

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Apr 02 2026

Bill 17 Introduces Mandatory Code of Conduct for Local Governments

The Housing and Municipal Affairs Statutes (Codes of Conduct) Amendment Act, 2026, Bill 17, was introduced on April 2. The amendments propose to establish a mandatory, province-wide code of conduct for all local officials in BC, for resolving conduct issues and strengthening the application of sanctions when warranted.

The legislation proposes that:

  • all municipalities and regional districts in BC follow the same complaint and investigation steps, to be supported by independent investigators;
  • a defined range of sanctions would be available for the councils and regional boards, including a maximum 90‑day suspension without pay, with clear reporting requirements for the public to ensure transparency; and
  • a single provincially established code would set a standard of behaviour for all local elected officials in BC. 

Critics claim the bill introduces greater provincial control over municipal governance, potentially limiting local autonomy and reducing flexibility in how councils manage conduct and accountability.

If the Bill passes, a province-wide code of conduct will be set by regulation, and will be expected to be in place for the new councils and boards following the October 17, 2026, general local elections.

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Recent Contributions From Our Experts

In Singh v Singh, 2020 BCCA 21, the Court of Appeal restricts the nature of the "other factors" that may be argued in favour of reapoprtionment. Justice Garson reviews the specific factors identified in section 95(2) and, applying the principles of statutory interpretation, co...

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

College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. Madryga, 2025 BCCA 250: Section 53(1) imposes a general duty to preserve confidentiality “with respect to all matters or things that come to the person’s knowledge while exercising a power or performing a duty under thi...

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Joel Morris, Harper Grey LLP on

In BC EST # D063/17 (Red Chris Development Company Ltd.), the Employment Standards Tribunal considered an appeal relating to an overtime claim. The employer argued that the employment agreement contained or constituted an averaging agreement because (among other reasons) it ...

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Scott Marcinkow, Harper Grey LLP on EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT

The term "obsolete" means something that is "no longer practised or used, discarded; [and] out of date". A determination of obsolescence is a consideration of the nature of the charge itself in the circumstances of the use of the relevant property and a determination of whet...

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Peter Roberts, Lawson Lundell LLP on PROPERTY LAW ACT

Moon v. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Local 891), 2025 BCSC 2238 concerned whether a union’s disclosure of an internal audit report violated British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”). The audit addressed a senior union steward’s mi...

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Karen Zimmer, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION ACT

The BC Supreme Court considered this section in BCEST 2023 79 (Re), 2025 BCSC 2304, at paragraphs 40-41. The judge confirmed that section 58 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, S.B.C. 2004, c. 45 applies to decisions of the Employment Standards Tribunal. The "applicable sta...

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Scott Marcinkow, Harper Grey LLP on EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT

This section qualifies the application of s. 364(4) insofar as a limitation defence is invoked. In this case, in November 2020, the plaintiff corporation filed a claim against the defendants. The claim was declared a nullity because, at the time of filing, the plaintiff was di...

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Debby Cumberford, Deborah M. Cumberford on BUSINESS CORPORATIONS ACT

Li v. Vancouver General Hospital, 2025 BCCA 247: There is no duty of care to a family member in the situation where someone has been involuntarily detained under the Mental Health Act. The certification under the Mental Health Act occurs when a person is a danger to themselves...

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Joel Morris, Harper Grey LLP on MENTAL HEALTH ACT

In Vabuolas v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 83, the Applicants challenged an order issued by an adjudicator under the Personal Information Protection Act, S.B.C 2003, c. 63 (“PIPA”). The Applicants are members and elders of the Grand Forks...

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Karen Zimmer, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP on PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION ACT

The filing of a Notice of Dispute is a "proceeding" for the purpose of this section. After a Notice of Dispute is filed, the court may appoint an administrator pending legal proceedings. In Glendale v. Walker, 2024 BCSC 1947, the disputant successfully brought a petition to ap...

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

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 positi...

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

Oppression claims are subject to the Limitation Act. There is, however, no time bar to the court’s exercise of its jurisdiction to grant a remedy under this section, save for what might arise out of the equitable defence of laches. A laches defence will lie if the defendant ca...

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Debby Cumberford, Deborah M. Cumberford on BUSINESS CORPORATIONS ACT

The implications of this section are canvassed by Jennifer Bednard in "Will or Will Not: Practice Implications of Section 58 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act Part I: What is a Testamentary Document Anyway?" (2020) 78 Advocate 527.

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D. Michael Bain, K.C., Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould on WILLS, ESTATES AND SUCCESSION 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 court applied this provision in Re Boisvert Estate, 2026 BCSC 195, allowing the surviving spouse to retain the spousal home, subject to a charge in favour of the deceased's children, but limited the period for which the surviving spouse could retain the home to a further 2...

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

In Mithaq Canada Inc. 2024 ONCMT 9 the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal (Tribunal) dismissed the application of Mithaq Capital SPC (Mithaq) to cease trade a private placement that Aimia Inc. (Aimia) completed in October 2023. Mithaq had asserted that the private placement was ...

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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 Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 430, the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed an appeal from a trial judge's decision not to determine whether the mineral claims regime in the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act, RSBC 1996, c. 292 was inconsistent with the Uni...

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OnPoint Legal Research, Onpoint Legal Research Law Corporation on DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ACT

In Cohen 2023 BCSECCOM 317 an application was made to the BC Securities Commission for orders than notice delivered under an advance notice policy requiring notice with respect to the election of directors be included in a circular and that the shareholder vote be restrained u...

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Teresa Tomchak, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on SECURITIES ACT

The Court of Appeal quashed a decision of the Tribunal that denied legal representation on the basis that legal counsel could instead provide assistance anonymously and behind the scenes.

The constitutionality of the Civil Resolution Tribunal's limitation on legal representat...

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Melanie Harmer, McMillan LLP on CIVIL RESOLUTION TRIBUNAL 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 Kelowna (City) v. Watermark Developments Ltd., 2025 BCCA 382, the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed an appeal from a chambers judge’s decision cancelling two restrictive covenants registered over certain land by the appellant city. The judge was satisfied that they should be can...

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OnPoint Legal Research, Onpoint Legal Research Law Corporation on PROPERTY LAW ACT

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

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