British Columbia's New Beneficial Ownership Registry

Background

In May 2019, the Minister of Finance released a final report relating to the Expert Panel on Money Laundering in B.C.'s Real Estate. This report concluded, among other things, that the "disclosure of beneficial ownership is the single most important measure than can be taken to combat money laundering" and prevent hidden land ownership in B.C. To address issues highlighted in the report, the B.C. government passed its previously announced legislation, the Land Owner Transparency Act (Bill 23-2019)¹ on May 16, 2019 (the "Act"). As discussed in our August 2018 bulletin, the overarching purpose of the Act is to end anonymous land ownership in B.C. The Act purports to do so through, among other things, the creation of a beneficial ownership registry for real estate in B.C. (the "New Registry").