Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Insight

BC's New Commercial Liens Act Comes into Force June 30, 2025

On June 30, 2025, the Commercial Liens Act (the “CLA”) and Commercial Liens Regulation will come into force.1  The CLA represents a positive development for service providers (such as repairers and warehousers) that rely on liens to secure the work that they perform in respect of commercial goods.

Background

In 2003, the British Columbia Law Institute published the Report on the Uniform Liens Act (the “BCLI Report”), which includes a discussion of the economic inefficiencies that arose under the existing commercial lien statutes in B.C.  The BCLI Report highlights how the current regime requires certain service providers to maintain possession of goods to preserve their lien rights (increasing storage costs) and mandates inflexible, archaic sales processes, such as newspaper advertisement and public auctions (increasing transactional costs). The CLA addresses the concerns raised in the BCLI Report and ensures the fair and consistent treatment of service providers.

Key Changes

The CLA implements the following key changes to the current regime:

  • First, all service providers can decide whether to perfect their lien by: (i) maintaining possession of the commercial goods; or (ii) registering a lien in the Personal Property Registry.
  • Second, the CLA largely adopts the notice and sale provisions in the Personal Property Security Act.  As a result, a lienholder can choose between different sales methods, including a private sale or a public auction, and pick the approach that will maximize recovery.

The CLA repeals the five outdated lien statues and abolishes common law possessory liens.2 Liens under the Builders Lien Act and the Forestry Service Providers Protection Act will continue to be serviced by those two statutes.

The Court’s Supervisory Role
While the sales process under the CLA does not occur within a court proceeding, the court still has a supervisory role to play in the enforcement of commercial liens.  Owners and parties with an interest in a commercial good may apply to court for a determination of the validity and quantum of a lien. If a court determines that a lien is invalid, the court may order the lienholder to compensate the owner for any pecuniary losses suffered.

If you have questions about lien enforcement under the CLA or how the legislation may impact your business, please contact Edward Wilson or Joel Schachter.

Edward Wilson is a member of Lawson Lundell’s Real Estate Group and is Chair of the BCLI.

Joel Schachter is a member of Lawson Lundell’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group.

 

[1] See Bill 11 – 2022 Commercial Liens Act, 3rd Session, 42nd Parliament (2022), First Reading (link here).

[2] The five lien statutes that the CLA repeals are: the Repairers Lien Act, Warehouse Lien Act, Livestock Lien Act, Tugboat Worker Lien Act, and Woodworker Lien Act. Notably, the Woodworker Lien Act and the Tugboat Worker Lien Act are no longer used as effective protection for these workers now exists under the Employment Standards Act and the Forestry Service Providers Protection Act.

 


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