Community Amenity Contributions Policy Found to be Improper Mandatory Payment Regime

In June 2025, Mr. Justice Coval found that the Township of Langley’s Community Amenity Contributions (CAC) Policy constituted an improper mandatory amenity payment regime, which meant the CAC Policy was invalid and set aside. The decision is published as Lorval Developments Ltd. v. Langley (Township), 2025 BCSC 1148. Josh KrusellJosh Krusell is the Managing Partner […]

In a recent article, Jacob Gehlen wrote about the decision in Smith v Clearwater, where the BC Supreme Court exercised its discretion under section 35 of the Property Law Act (the “PLA”) to cancel a restrictive covenant prohibiting multi-family development. Recent court decisions have addressed several similar matters, including DBKS Homes Ltd. v Taylor, 2025 BCSC 1202, where the […]

In Smith v. Clearwater Park GP Inc., 2025 BCSC 1239, the BC Supreme Court heard two petitions related to the proposed construction of a four-unit townhouse on a property in Squamish (the “Property”).  The Property was subject to a common law building scheme and restrictive covenant in favour of the original developer each restricting construction […]

On June 11, 2025 the BC Court of Appeal reversed the earlier decision of the BC Supreme Court in Ironclad Developments Inc. v. West Kelowna (City), 2024 BCSC 1285 (the “Ironclad BCSC” decision) which we wrote about here. The Court of Appeal found in its decision, cited as 2025 BCCA 191, that there was a […]

In Telus Communications Inc. v. Federation of Canadian Municipalities, 2025 SCC 15 (“Telus”) the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has the authority to grant telecommunications carriers access to install modern wireless infrastructure, specifically, 5G small cell antennas, on public lands without local government consent. The court concluded […]

On April 22, 2025, Justice Schabas of the Ontario Superior Court granted an interim injunction restraining section 195.6 of the Ontario Provincial Government’s recently amended Highway Traffic Act, SRO 1990 c. H.8 (The “HTA”) from being implemented in the decision of Cycle Toronto et al v Attorney General of Ontario et al, 2025 ONSC 2424 […]

The recent decision of Armstrong v. District of North Saanich, 2024 BCSC 1844 involved the District of North Saanich finding itself in the middle of a neighbour dispute. It is an important decision in confirming that the courts cannot and will not interfere with local government decisions so long as the local government can demonstrate it […]

At 10:00 am on October 7, 2024, municipal tax collectors across British Columbia will conduct the statutorily mandated annual tax sale for 2024.  Properties with delinquent property tax accounts, which are those with three years of unpaid property taxes, will be sold to the highest bidder above the “upset price.” The upset price is the […]

On June 17, 2024, in the judgment of R v Reid, 2024 BCSC 1044, Madam Justice Sharma of the British Columbia Supreme Court released her decision on what, at first blush, appears to be an undeniably odd question under appeal: is a guinea fowl a “fowl” for the purposes of Vancouver’s Animal Control Bylaw 9150 […]

NOTE: THIS DECISION HAS BEEN OVERTURNED ON APPEAL.  PLEASE FIND OUR SUMMARY OF THE APPEAL DECISION HERE. In the recent decision Ironclad Developments Inc. v. West Kelowna (City), 2024 BCSC 1285, the Honourable Madam Justice Hardwick held that local governments do not owe procedural fairness rights to property owners when charging them latecomer fees. Mel […]