CONVEYANCING UNDER THE ONTARIO REGISTRY ACT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PRIORITY PROVISIONS AND SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR REFORM

Abstract

After surveying the difficulties arising out of the common law land conveyancing system and the efforts to simplify that system encompassed by the deeds registration and title registration systems, this article discusses the application of each system to land in Ontario. Given that most Ontario land is still governed by a deed registration system, and therefore the Ontario Registry Act, the author focuses on what he sees as the heart of that legislation: the priority provisions. After a brief introduction to the administration of the Act and methods of conducting searches under it, he goes on to explain the historical background of direct priority provisions and those which affect priority conflicts incidentally, and to discuss the interaction between these two kinds of provisions, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. He then analyses the operation of the priority provisions against other legislation passed with the object of simplifying conveyancing and recommends that, given the unlikelihood of abandoning the current registration system to implement a new and improved system, the existing priority provisions should be improved in certain ways.