Reading a BC Title Search: Charges, Easements and Covenants

Published October 2026. LTSA fees and BC statutes checked October 30, 2026.

A title search is one of the most important documents in a BC property purchase, and many buyers never read past the owner's name. It shows who owns the land, exactly what the land is, and every registered interest someone else holds in it: mortgages, liens, rights of way, easements and covenants. Some of those charges disappear when you complete; others bind you, and every owner after you, for as long as they stay on title. This guide explains how to order a search, how to read each section, which charges are routine and which are red flags, and how to protect yourself in an offer.

How BC's land title system works

Land title in British Columbia is based on the Torrens system, and the register is run by the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) under the Land Title Act. The key idea is that ownership changes only when it is registered. The register itself is the proof: an indefeasible title is conclusive evidence that the person named owns the land in fee simple, the fullest form of ownership. The flip side is that an unregistered document, such as a signed but unregistered transfer or mortgage, generally does not pass an interest in land to anyone except as against the person who signed it. That is why your lawyer or notary registers your transfer and mortgage on completion day.

Indefeasibility has limits. Section 23(2) of the Act lists matters that can bind an owner even though the title looks clean. The practical ones for a buyer are:

• Conditions and reservations in the original Crown grant or another Crown disposition.
• Taxes and municipal charges, including unpaid local improvement charges, which is why your lawyer checks property taxes separately.
• Short leases. A tenancy of up to three years with someone in actual occupation binds you without registration.
• Highways, public rights of way, watercourses, water rights and other public easements.
• Expropriation rights under any Act.
• Boundary errors, where land was wrongly included in a title because of a wrong description of boundaries or parcels.
• Fraud in which the registered owner took part.

The LTSA describes title fraud as exceedingly rare in BC. If a registration error or fraud does cost an owner, the provincial Assurance Fund can compensate, and the LTSA's Parcel Activity Notifier, a title monitoring service, emails a legal professional when an application may affect a title.

Ordering a title search

You do not need a lawyer to see a title. You need the property's Parcel Identifier (PID), a nine-digit number usually written in three groups of three, or its legal description. A street address will not work: the LTSA does not allow title searches by civic address. You can find the PID on a BC Assessment notice or property tax notice, through BC Assessment's free online search, or through the LTSA's ParcelMap BC.

GST and PST apply where applicable. The LTSA does not take title or document orders by phone or email, and its front counters in Victoria, New Westminster and Kamloops are open by appointment only. A title search does not show past owners or a phone number; for the chain of ownership you need a registry agent or other professional to research historic titles.

Reading a title, section by section

A title search printout follows the same layout every time. The LTSA's sample title shows the order below.

A sample title, explained

The summary below is an illustrative example for a hypothetical detached house. The names, numbers and parcel are invented and do not describe any real property.

In this example, the right of way and the seller's mortgage are routine, the covenant and the easement need reading before you remove subjects, and the builders lien must be cleared before completion.

The charges, one by one

The Land Title Act calls an interest in land short of full ownership a charge. The LTSA lists mortgages, rights of way, easements, covenants, judgments and builders liens as the common ones. They fall into two groups: money claims, which the seller normally has to clear, and rights over the land, which normally stay.

Money claims against the owner

Rights over the land

Section 219 covenants you will meet in Greater Victoria

Routine, worth a look, or red flag?

What survives completion

Your contract of purchase and sale decides which charges you must accept. The standard BC form generally accepts reservations in the original Crown grant, covenants and rights of way held by utilities and public bodies, and existing tenancies, and expects the seller to deliver title free of financial charges. Anything else you are prepared to live with, such as a private easement or a building scheme, should be identified, and reviewed before you remove subjects. A covenant holder can agree in writing to modify or discharge a section 219 covenant, but that takes the holder's cooperation and time, so do not buy assuming a charge will go away.

Getting the documents behind a charge

The title shows only a one-line summary of each charge. The real terms are in the registered document, and you can order it with the registration number shown on the title.

1. List every registration number in the Charges and Legal Notations sections, including entries marked as benefiting your land.
2. Order each document through an LTSA Explorer account, your agent or a professional, at $17.78 each plus the transaction fee. Plan numbers come from the legal description or from inside the document.
3. Order the plans too. An easement or right of way often refers to a plan that shows where it runs; a description alone rarely tells you if it crosses the spot where you want a garage.
4. Allow extra time for old records. Older paper or microfilm documents that are not imaged have to be pulled by a registry agent or in person, for an extra retrieval fee.
5. Read for the practical effect: where it applies, what it permits or forbids, who maintains what, who pays, whether you must indemnify anyone, and whether it still serves a purpose.
6. Ask questions before subjects come off. Your lawyer or notary can explain the legal effect, the municipality can explain its covenant or right of way, and a surveyor can show you where it is on the ground.

Surveys, encroachments and title insurance

A title tells you what land you are buying, by reference to a registered plan. It does not tell you where the fences, buildings and driveways sit in relation to the boundaries. The LTSA cannot help locate boundaries; for that you hire a member of the Association of British Columbia Land Surveyors.

The role of your lawyer or notary

In BC a lawyer or a notary public completes the conveyance. They search title, review the charges, confirm which ones the contract requires the seller to remove, arrange for discharges, prepare and register your transfer and mortgage, file the property transfer tax return (see the guide to transaction taxes), and handle the money. They will flag unusual charges, but they cannot know your plans for the property unless you tell them, and they are often brought in only after subjects are removed. So review the title and the key documents during your subject period, with your agent's help, and ask your lawyer or notary before subjects come off if anything is unclear. The guide to writing an offer explains how subject periods work.

Strata titles and common property

A strata lot has its own title, issued under the Strata Property Act. Its legal description names the strata lot and strata plan and includes an interest in the common property in proportion to the lot's unit entitlement. Two more records matter:

• The common property record. Charges and legal notations affecting the common property, such as rights of way and covenants over the whole development, are registered here, not on each unit's title. Search it by strata plan number; the search is free with an LTSA account, with fees to order documents.
• The strata plan. The LTSA holds the official plan, which shows the lot boundaries and any limited common property. Order it to confirm whether a parking stall or storage locker is part of the strata lot, limited common property, or simply assigned by the strata.
• Bylaws and records. The land title office will not usually have the latest bylaws. Get current bylaws, minutes, the Form B information certificate and the depreciation report from the strata or its manager.

For the rest of a strata review, see the guides to buying a condo and depreciation reports. The free BC Strata Documentation Inquisitor, available on ChatGPT and Claude, reads uploaded strata documents and produces a red-flag report; use it as an aid to your own review and your professionals' advice, not a replacement for them.

Greater Victoria issues to watch

Heritage designation versus the heritage register

These are easy to confuse and very different. In the City of Victoria, a designated heritage property is protected by a bylaw and may not be altered or demolished without Council approval; changes need a heritage alteration permit. Provincial law requires the municipality to file notice of a designation bylaw, and of a heritage revitalization agreement, in the land title office within 30 days, so these show up on title. A property that is only listed on the heritage register has no protection from the listing alone, and the listing is not filed on title; the owner is notified instead. Victoria can still withhold a demolition permit for a listed building and give it 60 days of temporary protection while it evaluates the property. Always ask the municipality, because register status will not appear in your title search. The City also runs grant programs for heritage-designated houses.

Hillside and hazard covenants

Rocky, steep lots are common in Langford, the Highlands, Metchosin and parts of Saanich. Under section 56 of the Community Charter, if a building inspector considers that land is likely to be subject to flooding, debris flows, erosion, land slip, rockfall, subsidence or avalanche, the inspector can require a report from a qualified professional. If the professional certifies the land as safe only on conditions, the owner must register a section 219 covenant to use the land only as certified, including a promise to reimburse the municipality's costs if the covenant is breached. Read the report the covenant refers to; an addition or suite may need a new one.

Floodplains

Low-lying land near creeks, lagoons and the shoreline may be in a designated floodplain, where local governments can set flood construction levels and setbacks. Flood-related conditions are often registered as section 219 covenants when a building permit or subdivision is approved. Check the covenant, basement use and your insurance.

Tree protection: bylaw or covenant

Several Greater Victoria municipalities protect trees by bylaw, and that protection does not appear on title. Saanich's Tree Protection Bylaw, for example, protects Garry oak, arbutus, Pacific dogwood and Pacific yew once they are 2 metres tall or 4 cm in diameter; Douglas-fir, grand fir, bigleaf maple and western redcedar from 30 cm in diameter; any tree 60 cm or more; and trees retained or planted through a development or other permit. Saanich notes that trees may have additional protection under a tree or natural state covenant registered on title. A covenant shows on the title search; bylaw protection you check with the municipality.

Municipal rights of way for sewer and storm

Some lots, particularly in older neighbourhoods, have a statutory right of way in favour of the municipality for a sewer or storm drain main crossing the yard. The municipality can enter to maintain its pipes, and you generally cannot build over the area. If you are thinking about a garden suite, garage or addition, find the right of way on the plan first; see the guide to secondary suites and Bill 44 zoning.

Agricultural Land Reserve

Large parts of the Saanich Peninsula, and other rural pockets of the region, are in the Agricultural Land Reserve. A title within the ALR should carry a notation that it may be affected by the Agricultural Land Commission Act, but the Commission treats the title only as a secondary reference: some titles with the notation are outside the reserve and some without it are inside, so check the ALC's maps. Inside the ALR, a principal residence is generally limited to 500 square metres of floor area, one additional residence of up to 90 square metres is allowed on parcels of 40 hectares or less if conditions are met, subdivision needs regulation or Commission approval, non-farm uses are restricted, and placing fill may need authorization. Local zoning does not override ALR rules.

A subject-to-title clause

Make your offer conditional on reviewing the title and the documents behind it, with enough time to order and read them. The wording below is an illustrative example in plain language, not a standard form; have your agent or lawyer adapt it to your deal and your plans for the property.

Pair it with your other subjects: financing, inspection, insurance and, for older houses, an oil tank scan (see the oil tank guide). If you plan to build, renovate or add a suite, say so to your lawyer and check the plans for rights of way, no-build areas and covenants before the subject date.

Title review checklist

• Get the PID from the listing, BC Assessment or the tax notice, and pull a current title.
• Confirm the owners match the sellers, and note joint tenancy or tenancy in common.
• Check the legal description against the listing, the contract and, for strata, the strata plan.
• Read every legal notation and look up what it refers to.
• List every charge with its registration number and order the documents and plans.
• Sort the charges: cleared on completion, staying, or red flag.
• For a strata lot, search the common property record as well.
• Ask the municipality about heritage register status, tree bylaws, floodplain and zoning.
• Check the ALC map if the property is rural or on the Saanich Peninsula.
• Decide whether you need a survey certificate, title insurance, or both.
• Put questions to your lawyer or notary before you remove subjects.

Questions and answers

Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licence linked in the caption.