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1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE CATHY McGREGOR

MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT,

LANDS AND PARKS

BILL 16 – 1998

OCCUPIERS LIABILITY AMENDMENT ACT, 1998

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 3 (3) of the Occupiers Liability Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 337, is repealed and the

following substituted:

(3) Despite subsection (1), an occupier has no duty of care to a person in respect of

risks willingly assumed by that person other than a duty not to

(

a) create a danger with intent to do harm to the person or damage to the

person's property, or

(

b) act with reckless disregard to the safety of the person or the integrity of the

person's property.

(3.1) A person who is trespassing on premises while committing, or with the intention

of committing, a criminal act is deemed to have willingly assumed all risks and

the occupier of those premises is subject only to the duty of care set out in

subsection (3).

(3.2) A person who enters any of the categories of premises described in

subsection (3.3) is deemed to have willingly assumed all risks and the occupier

of those premises is subject only to the duty of care set out in subsection (3) if

(

a) the person who enters is trespassing, or

(

b) the entry is for the purpose of a recreational activity and

(

i) the occupier receives no payment or other consideration for the entry

or activity of the person, other than a payment or other consideration

from a government or government agency or a non-profit recreational

club or association, and

(ii) the occupier is not providing the person with living accommodation

on those premises.

(3.3) The categories of premises referred to in subsection (3.2) are as follows:

(

a) premises that the occupier uses primarily for agricultural purposes;

(

b) rural premises that are

(

i) used for forestry or range purposes,

(ii) vacant or undeveloped premises,

(iii) forested or wilderness premises, or

(iv) private roads reasonably marked as private roads;

(

c) recreational trails reasonably marked as recreational trails;

(

d) utility rights of way and corridors excluding structures located on them.

Section 8 (2) is amended

(

a) by repealing paragraph (

a) and substituting the following:

(

a) a public highway, other than a recreational trail referred to in

section 3 (3.3)

(c), , and

(

b) by repealing paragraph (

d) and substituting the following:

(

d) a private road as defined in

section 2 (1) of the

Motor Vehicle Act , other than a private road referred to in

section 3

(3.3) (b) (iv) of this Act.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Occupiers Liability Act, amends

section 3] extends the lower duty of care

provided for in

section 3 (3) to new categories of entrants as follows:

persons entering particular categories of premises if the persons are

engaged in a non-paying recreational activity or if the persons are trespassing.

The categories of premises to which the lower duty of care applies

are described in

section 3 (3.3).

persons trespassing on any premises for the purpose of committing a

criminal act.

SECTION 2: [Occupiers Liability Act, amends

section 8 (2)] clarifies that the lower duty of

care provided for in

section 3 (3) applies to

a public highway if the highway is a recreational trail, and

a private road if the private road is located on rural premises.

Copyright © 1999: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada