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ARTICLE · 17 NOVEMBER 2008

Expropriation And Compensation – The British Columbia Framework

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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Governments must often invoke their powers of expropriation to carry out public projects, which may be confined to fairly specific sites and locations, such as hospital projects and school projects.

CanadaReal Estate and Construction
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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Copyright 2008, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Real Estate, November 2008

Overview

Governments must often invoke their powers of expropriation to carry out public projects, which may be confined to fairly specific sites and locations, such as hospital projects and school projects. Often, though, government projects are large in scope and extent, and involve substantial swaths of land. Perhaps the most recent example in British Columbia involves the announcement of a vastly expanded transit network. One newspaper article, under the heading Public Transportation – Infrastructure for the Ages, trumpeted the announcement as B.C.'s $14 Billion Transit Bonanza. British Columbia's new transit plan will involve the addition of three major new transit lines and other improvements by 2030.

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