In our final week of the course we connect some different threads around legal issues of land title registration, indefeasibility and clarification.
Please read the materials this week in the following order: Land Registration Act, SNS 2011, c 6-2; Cowichan Tribes v Canada (excerpt on “Indefeasible Title under the Land Title Act”); Lawrence v Maple Trust Company; Marsman, “Good Deeds” (2024); and Downey v Nova Scotia.
Weekly Problem #
As you read the materials for this week, consider the following question: Why are the aims of clarity and certainty important in a contemporary system of property law? When do these aim mask or undermine other important goals?
Readings for this Week
Choose one of the reading materials from the list below--ordered alphabetically--to start analyzing this week's problem. At the end of your reading path you should have covered each of the materials on the list.
- Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General), 7 BCLR (7th) 1, 2025 BCSC 1490: This except from the case addresses the relationship between proven Cowichan Title and British Columbia's Land Title Registry.
- Downey v Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 2020 NSSC 201 (CanLII): The plaintiff brought a claim under the Land Titles Clarification Act and challenges the application of an adverse possession analysis as part of the test for entitlement under the Act.
- Land Registration Act, SNS 2001, c 6-2: Nova Scotia's legislation establishing a land title registration system.
- Lawrence v Maple Trust Company, 2007 ONCA 74 (CanLII): Lawrence's home was fraudulently transferred, then was mortgaged with Maple Trust Company, who were unaware of the fraud.
- Melisa Marsman, Good Deeds: This article describes the history and current challenges around Nova Scotia's Land Titles Clarification Act from a critical race perspective applying theories of interest convergence.