Land Owner Transparency Act (SBC 2019, Chapter 23).

The Land Owner Transparency Act (LOTA) is organised in 9 Parts and 2 Schedules. Part 1 provides definitions, interpretation and application; Part 2 concerns transparency declarations and transparency reports; Part 3 lays down rules to access to transparency records, reported information and publicly accessible information; Part 4 is on administration and enforcement; Part 5 contains general and miscellaneous provisions on the issue; Part 6 concerns offences; Part 7 identifies the authority and possible regulations that can be passed; Part 8 and 9 contains amendments provisions. The Act does not apply to Indigenous land or prescribed land.
The Act regulates disclosure and reporting requirements to the Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) of British Columbia when there is an application to register an interest in land. Under the Act an “interest in land” means: (a) an estate in fee simple; (b) a life estate in land; (c) a right to occupy land under a lease that has a term of more than 10 years; (d) a right under an agreement for sale to occupy land, or require the transfer of an estate in fee simple; (e) a prescribed estate, right or interest.
The Act, under Art. 10, establishes that on an application to register an interest in land, each transferee, must file with the administrator a transparency declaration. If the transferee is a “Reporting Body” needs also to specify if it is a relevant corporation, a trustee of a relevant trust, or partner of relevant partnership. Furthermore, Art. 12 and Division 3 (Content of Transparency Reports) require that the Reporting Body taking or holding legal title to an interest in land must identify and disclose individuals who have an interest in the land defined as “interest holders”, including if relevant settlors of a trust. Interest holders under the Act means: (a) in relation to an interest in land registered or to be registered in the name of a trustee of a relevant trust, a beneficial owner; (b) in relation to a relevant corporation, a corporate interest holder; (c) in relation to an interest in land registered or to be registered in the name of a partner of a relevant partnership, a partnership interest holder. Section 21 sets out the process that Reporting Bodies should follow if they are unable to obtain all the required information. Art. 24 establishes that the Reporting Body must also make reasonable efforts to give written notice to Interest Holders informing them of the purposes for which their information is being sought, their right under Art. 40 to request that certain information be obscured or omitted from public access, and the timeframe of when the information in relation to the individual will be publicly accessible.