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Part II .

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Land Titles Initiative Regulations

made under

Section 9 of the

Land Titles Clarification Act

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 250

O.I.C. 2022-176 (effective July 5, 2022), N.S. Reg. 123/2022

amended to O.I.C. 2024-362 (effective September 24, 2024), N.S. Reg. 204/2024

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Interpretation

Citation

Definitions

Land Titles Initiative Commissioners

Qualifications of Land Titles Initiative commissioners

Term of commissioners

Notice of contested claim

Commissioner must provide written reasons

Fair valuation of real property and real property interests

Appraisal must account for undervaluation of properties

Annual report

Arbitrations by Commissioners

Pre-arbitration meeting

Arbitrations proceed under Commercial Arbitration Act

No appeal from arbitration

Commissioner is arbitral panel

Parties may not by agreement remove commissioner from arbitration

Referral of matter to another commissioner for conflict of interest and other issues

Notice of challenge or application

Appointing expert

Applicable laws

Mediation after arbitration has begun

Arbitral procedure

Records

Interpretation

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Land Titles Initiative Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations,

“Act” means the Land Titles Clarification Act ;

“judge” means a judge of the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia

Supreme Court, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, the Federal Court or the Federal

Court of Appeal;

“Minister” means the Minister responsible for the Office of Equity and

Anti-Racism Initiatives;

“Office” means of Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives.

Land Titles Initiative Commissioners

Qualifications of Land Titles Initiative commissioners

(1) An individual appointed under

Section 8C of the Act to be a commissioner must

meet all of the following qualifications:

(

a) they must be a practising member, in good standing, of the Nova Scotia

Barristers’ Society or a retired judge;

(

b) they must be from a historical African Nova Scotian community or

knowledgeable about the unique nature of African Nova Scotian

communities.

(2) The qualifications set out in subsection (1) are sufficient qualifications for the

purposes of a commissioner acting as an arbitrator under the Commercial

Arbitration Act.

Term of commissioners

4 A commissioner may be appointed for 3 years or less, and may be reappointed.

Notice of contested claim

4A

(1) If a matter is referred to a commissioner under clause 8F(1)(

b) of the Act, the

commissioner must do all of the following:

(

a) register a notice of contested claim, in a form prescribed by the Minister, in

the registry of deeds for the registration district in which the land is located

in the same manner as a deed of conveyance;

(

b) publish notice of the registration in a newspaper regularly circulated in the

municipality in which the land is located, or as otherwise required by the

Minister.

(2) A person who claims to have an interest in the lot of land described in a notice of

contested claim, or who is the holder of a lien, judgment, mortgage, encumbrance

or any other charge against the lot of land, may, no more than 60 days after the

date the notice is registered, apply in writing to the commissioner to be added as a

party to the matter, and the commissioner must add the person as a party to the

matter.

(3) A person who is added as a party to the matter under subsection (2) is an interest

holder for the purposes of the Act.

Commissioner must provide written reasons

(1) A commissioner must provide written reasons for any recommendation, decision

to award compensation, decision made respecting an arbitration or any other

decision or award made in relation to their duties under the Act.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), a commissioner must provide reasons no

more than 45 days after the date an arbitration, mediation or other process or

proceeding requiring reasons concludes.

(3) For extraordinary reasons, and in the commissioner’s discretion, a commissioner

may extend the deadline by which reasons must be provided by providing notice to

the parties of the extension.

Fair valuation of real property and real property interests

(1) A commissioner may retain a real property appraiser to assist in determining the

fair value of real property or a real property interest.

(2) The cost of an appraiser will be paid by the Minister.

Appraisal must account for undervaluation of properties

7 In determining fair value, an appraisal must account for any undervaluation of properties

in designated land titles clarification areas by means such as using sale values from

comparable non-racialized communities and any other means determined by a

commissioner.

Annual report

(1) A commissioner must submit an annual report to the Minister on or before

April 30 that provides a

summary of the number and types of matters initiated and

the number and types of cases brought to resolution by the commissioner in the

previous government fiscal year.

(2) An annual report must be in a form required by the Minister and include any other

information the Minister may require.

(3) Commissioners may jointly or separately submit an annual report.

Arbitrations by Commissioners

Pre-arbitration meeting

9 No more than 45 days after the date a matter is referred to a commissioner, the

commissioner must hold a pre-arbitration meeting with the parties to set dates,

procedure and discuss any other subject the commissioner requires.

Arbitrations proceed under Commercial Arbitration Act

10 If a matter referred to a commissioner proceeds by way of an arbitration,

(

a) the arbitration must be conducted in accordance with the Commercial

Arbitration Act ; and

(

b) these regulations and the relevant provisions of the Act form the arbitration

agreement for the purposes of subsection 3(3) of the Commercial

Arbitration Act .

No appeal from arbitration

11 There is no appeal from an arbitration proceeding undertaken by a commissioner for the

purposes of the Act.

Commissioner is arbitral panel

(1) If a matter that has been referred to a commissioner proceeds by way of

arbitration, the arbitral panel is the commissioner to whom the matter was referred.

(2) A commissioner may request that 1 or more other commissioners participate in an

arbitral panel and, if the other commissioner or commissioners agree, all of the

commissioners constitute the arbitral panel.

(3) If there is an even number of commissioners on an arbitral panel and the

commissioners’ decision does not achieve a majority, the decision and award of

the original commissioner is the majority decision and award.

Parties may not by agreement remove commissioner from arbitration

(1) Despite subsection 15(5) of the Commercial Arbitration Act , the parties may not

agree to remove a commissioner who is acting as an arbitrator.

(2) A party that has concerns respecting a commissioner may submit their concerns in

writing to the Minister.

Referral of matter to another commissioner for conflict of interest and other issues

14 If a commissioner declares a conflict of interest, requests a change of panel, ends their

term early or otherwise ceases to act as a commissioner, the Minister must refer the

matter to another commissioner and the new commissioner constitutes the arbitral panel.

Notice of challenge or application

(1) Further to subsection 3(2), a party may not challenge a commissioner acting on an

arbitral panel on the basis of not possessing qualifications under clause 15(1)(

b) of

the Commercial Arbitration Act .

(2) If a party intends to submit to the arbitral panel a challenge of a commissioner

acting as an arbitrator under subsection 15(1) of the Commercial Arbitration Act ,

the party must notify the Minister in writing at least 30 days in advance.

(3) If a party intends to apply to a court to seek a remedy under either subsection 15(7)

Section 17 of the Commercial Arbitration Act , the party must notify the

Minister in writing at least 60 days in advance.

Appointing expert

16 A commissioner may appoint an expert to assist with an arbitration with or without

consulting the parties.

Applicable laws

17 The laws of the Province and the laws of Canada applicable to the Province are the laws

that a commissioner must apply in an arbitration.

Mediation after arbitration has begun

(1) If parties agree to adjourn an arbitration proceeding and refer the matters in dispute

to mediation, the Office will organize and administer the mediation, including

determining the mediation process.

(2) A commissioner may set a time limit on how long an arbitration proceeding may

be adjourned for the purposes of mediation.

Arbitral procedure

(1) A commissioner must determine the arbitration procedure to be used in the

arbitration.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a commissioner may adopt the arbitration

procedures set out in

Schedule A or

Schedule B to the Commercial Arbitration

Act , with any modifications the commissioner decides.

Records

(1) A commissioner must retain a record of an arbitration proceeding including

submissions, expert reports, decisions and awards and minutes of settlement from

mediation.

(2) In consultation with the Minister,

(

a) the commissioners must establish reasonable records storage, security,

retrieval and other records-related standards;

(

b) once the meditation, arbitration proceeding and any related proceedings

have concluded, the commissioners must transfer the records referred to in

subsection (1) to the Province as directed by the Minister.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Land Titles Initiative Regulations

N.S. Reg.

123/2022

Land Titles Clarification Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Land Titles Initiative Regulations made

under the Land Titles Clarification Act includes

all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

123/2022

Jul 5, 2022

date specified

Jul 15, 2022

204/2024

Sep 24, 2024

date specified

Oct 4, 2024

The following regulations are not

yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

4A ....................................................

ad. 204/2024

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

References to the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism

Initiatives should be read as references to the Office of Equity and

Anti-Racism in accordance with O.I.C. 2024-246 under the Public Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.

Jun 17, 2024

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.