• I. Background
  
• II. Introduction of Electronic Registration of Land Titles Documents
  
• III. Regulations and Orders
  
  • (a) Electronic Registration Act (Ministry of Consumer And Commercial Relations Statutes), 1991
    
  • (b) Land Registration Reform Act Regulations
    
  • (c) Registry Act Regulations and Orders
    
  • (d) Land Titles Act Regulations and Orders
    

The Land Registration Reform Act ("LRRA") was amended in 1994 to allow for electronic registration of documents. The legislation set the framework for electronic document registration and provided that the registration requirements were to be dealt with by Regulation. It is these requirements that are the subject matter of the Regulations and Orders that will be referred to in this Bulletin. Extensive consultation with users including the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Real Estate Lawyers Association and the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors occurred during the drafting of these regulations and during the development of the electronic registration system.

The key concepts of the 1994 LRRA amendments were the removal of the requirement that a document be in writing and signed and the creation of the authority for direct electronic transmission of the documents was permitted. The Act provides that an electronic document that creates, transfers or otherwise disposes of an estate or interest in land is not required to be in writing or to be signed. It also provides that a document registered in electronic format prevails over any copy of the document that exists in printed form that is not a printed copy of the electronic document. The Regulations introduce another key concept, that of law statements. The electronic document registration system allows for the use of law statements which replace the need for the registrant to provide evidence of the matter dealt with by the statement. Land Registrars may rely on these statements and give effect to the registration if the electronic document is otherwise capable of registration. In the electronic document registration system, it is the information required in a document which is prescribed, the form is not. Therefore, the "POLARIS" forms introduced under LRRA in 1984 do not apply to the electronic document registration system.

Once the pilot is completed in the Middlesex County (London) LRO, clients will be given sufficient notice of when the second regulation under LRRA will be filed to make electronic registration of most land titles documents mandatory in Middlesex County. Once the London pilot is completed, electronic document registration will be introduced into other LROs. Clients will be given sufficient notice of this roll-out schedule, however, it is the Ministry’s and Teranet’s expectation that electronic document registration will be introduced next in the Halton (Milton) LRO.

Bill 25, the Red Tape Reduction Act, 1998 received Royal Assent on December 18, 1998. That Act contains numerous amendments to the land registration statutes, including the Regulation making powers under LRRA required to introduce electronic document registration. It vests the authority to make certain Regulations and Orders with the Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations ("Minister") and others with the Directors of Land Registration and Titles. Generally speaking, under the Red Tape amendments, the Minister will make regulations which deal with any matter with the exception of the forms for registration or the contents thereof; the Director of Land Registration will make these regulations. The Minister will make orders dealing with such things as fees and administrative matters and the Director of Land Registration will make orders dealing with office processes. The Director of Titles will also make certain orders under the Land Titles Act.

As a result, the draft 1997 Regulations were no longer capable of being filed as the LGIC did not have the authority to make the Regulations under the relevant Statutes. The LGIC retained power to revoke those Regulations made by the LGIC. As a result, those Regulations under the land registration statutes which required revocation were revoked by the LGIC as follows:

• O.Reg 14/99 under LRRA;
• O.Reg. 20/99 under the Registry Act; and
• O.Reg 23/99 under the Land Titles Act.

There were also complementary amendments to the existing land registration regulations. It is important in reviewing these complimentary amendments to understand that their overall effect is minimal. Essentially, a number of forms that have not been in use since the introduction of the POLARIS forms with the passage of LRRA in 1984, were revoked. The existing land registration regulations also required amendment to address the change in Regulation making powers and deal with the distinction that is drawn between electronic and non-electronic formats.

The following is a summary of the Regulations and Orders.

(a) Electronic Registration Act (Ministry of Consumer And Commercial Relations Statutes), 1991

1. O.Reg. 13/99: LGIC Regulation
This statute enables electronic registration for statutes administered by the Ministry. This Regulation designates LRRA and the LTA as Acts to which this statute applies.

(b) Land Registration Reform Act Regulations

1. O.Reg. 15/99: Minister’s Regulation to Amend O.Reg. 688 under LRRA
Section 1 of O.Reg 688 had designated all lands in Ontario under Part I of LRRA. This Regulation revoked section 1 because the section was redundant as the designation was addressed in the Red Tape amendments.

2. O.Reg. 16/99: Minister’s Regulation under LRRA
This Regulation makes the electronic registration of land titles documents, on an optional basis in Middlesex County, possible. In subsection 3(2), there is the ability to designate areas in which electronic document registration is a requirement; At this time, no areas are designated. A further regulation designating the appropriate areas will be filed on completion of the pilot.

3. O.Reg. 17/99: Director of Land Registration Regulation Amending O.Reg. 688 under LRRA
This Regulation amends O.Reg 688 to include reference to a non-electronic format. The effect of this change is that the POLARIS forms are to be used for non-electronic or paper registrations.

4. O.Reg. 18/99: Minister’s Regulation under LRRA
This Regulation reiterates the powers of the Director of Land Registration with respect to issuing instructions for the execution of documents and the approved forms. It should be noted that in this Regulation, reference is made to the process of filing Standard Charge Terms. This will continue to be done in paper format.

5. O.Reg. 19/99: Director of Land Registration Regulation under LRRA
This Regulation most affects the users of the land registration system as the content of the electronic documents are prescribed here. This Regulation is essentially unchanged from the draft 1997 Regulation which was distributed, with the exception of some minor changes such as the increase of the writs clearing amounts to $50,000. (See also: Bulletin 98003) The formats and statements for documents created in the electronic document registration system were designed to comply with this Regulation.

(c) Registry Act Regulations and Orders:

O.Reg. 21/99: Minister’s Regulation under the Registry Act
This Regulations states which registry divisions are designated for the purposes of accepting french language documents.

2. O.Reg. 22/99: Director of Land Registration Regulation under the Registry Act
A certificate of discharge was formerly required to be registered in Form 24 of O.Reg 995; this form has been revoked. This certificate, which applies to non-electronic documents, is now required to be in Form 3 of O.Reg. 688 of LRRA.

3. MRPR - 002/99: Minister’s Order under the Registry Act This Order is essentially a housekeeping Order which deals with how the indices of the LRO are to be kept and with the administrative details of record keeping. (To review Order contact your local LRO)

(d) Land Titles Act Regulations and Orders

Minister’s Regulation - O.Reg. 24/99
This Regulation amends O/Reg 690 to add the definition of electronic and non-electronic format.

O.Reg. 25/99: Director of Land Registration Regulation
This Regulation amends O/Reg. 690 to deal with registrations in non-electronic format.

O.Reg. 26/99: Minister’s Regulation under the Land Titles Act
This complements the similar Regulation under the Registry Act (O.Reg. 21/99) and states which Land Titles divisions have been designated for the purposes of accepting french language documents. It also prescribes some evidentiary matters required in certain non-electronic documents.

O.Reg. 27/99: Director Of Land Registration Regulation
This complements O.Reg.17/99 under the Registry Act (see above) and amends O.Reg. 690 to include reference to a non-electronic format. This Regulation deals with the form of documents to be registered.

MRPR - 001/99: Minister’s Order under the Land Titles Act
This Order deals with the format of the records and is similar to the Order referred to above under the Registry Act (MRPR - 002/99). These requirements were previously contained in O.Reg. 690.