Pending Registration Queue For Land Titles In Alberta: What You Need To Know

Published date25 April 2023
Subject MatterReal Estate and Construction, Real Estate
Law FirmBorden Ladner Gervais LLP
AuthorMs Jodi Berry, Grace Jiyeon Shory and Patricia L. Morrison

Land registration system in Alberta: Overview

The land registration system in Alberta is based on the Torrens system, which is regulated under the legislative authority of the Land Titles Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-5 (the Act). The land registry is maintained by the Government of Alberta who is responsible to maintain a registry of all land related documents including titles, documents, and plans at the Land Titles Office (LTO). The Torrens system is based on three (3) principals: (1) the mirror principle, meaning that the title to a property will correctly and entirely reflect its current and relevant facts, (2) the curtain principle, meaning that the information provided on title includes all the relevant information about the property, and (3) the insurance principle, which refers to the public assurance fund that has been created to compensate anyone who has suffered a loss due to any negligent act or omission made in the title. Under the Torrens system the Government of Alberta guarantees the accuracy of the title.

As a result of substantial increase in real estate activity over the past few years, the LTO is dealing with unprecedent backlogs in registrations causing delays, resulting in longer wait times from the time of submission to the time of registration for all land titles documents.

Pending registration queue

Over the years, the land registry system in Alberta has increasingly been automated. One of the implementations of the LTO in recent years is the Pending Registration Queue (PRQ). In function, the PRQ shows up on title when pulled, and lists out any DRRs (as defined herein) that have been submitted to the LTO for registration but have not been reviewed and subsequently registered. The PRQ was implemented to help deal with the registration delay currently of issue at the LTO. Prior to the PRQ, any registrations that were submitted prior, but not yet registered, were unknown risks and led to uncertainty of parties. With the advent of the PRQ, parties can ascertain documents which may have priority and identify possible risks.

The PRQ allows parties to preview certain information relating to the pending registrations on the title of the specific land they are interested in, however, it does not allow parties to view the actual document submitted itself until it is registered on title. This helps parties gather information and assess possible risks about yet to be registered instruments on the land of their interest. The PRQ can help parties...

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