TITLES-04-01

TITLES DIVISION                                                                                                                               

To reduce the number of fees and to encourage administrative savings, the Titles Division has revised some of its fees and the annual permit rental schedule.  The changes, outlined below, are expected to be revenue neutral and will take effect
June 1, 2004:

Flat-Fee at Title Issue - $500 per title:

There will be one flat-fee of $500 at title issue date for Permits, Drilling Licences and Leases.  This represents no change to Permits and Drilling Licence issue fees, but increases the Lease Issue fee from the current level of $200.  Lease issue fees, at the revised fee level, will be charged when leases are issued from a Crown Disposition, a Drilling Licence, a Permit, or another lease (split lease).

Miscellaneous Fees No Longer Required:

 The following fees will no longer be charged.  The services will be included in the
  initial title issue fee:

Amalgamations (previous fee, $10.00)

Change of Company Name (previous fee, $10.00)

Grouping Fees (previous fee, $37.50)

Power of Attorney (previous fee, $12.50)

Transfers (previous fee, $50.00)

Changes to Encumbrances:

The separate recording and discharge fees currently set at $12.50 each will be replaced with one fee of $50.00, upon recording the encumbrance.  This up-front fee includes subsequent discharges.  The increased fee level will fully reflect the cost of providing the services of both registering and releasing encumbrances.

Revised Annual Rental Rate for Permits:

Annual rental rates for all permit types (A, B, C, and D) will be $1.05 for renewal years 0-5 and $1.75 for the 6^th and subsequent renewal years.  The previous permit rental schedule incorporated five different rental rates, based on the renewal year, for each of the four separate permit types. 

Note:   
Permit rental payments are still subject to a $500 annual permit renewal fee, per Section 2 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act Fee, Rental and Work Requirement Regulation.

 The new permit rental schedule, is as follows: 

For further information contact:

Hayley Thomas
Manager, Compliance & Administration
Titles Division
PO Box 9326, Stn Prov Gov't
6th floor, 1810 Blanshard Street
Victoria, BC  V8W 9N3
Telephone:  250-952-0336
Facsimile:  250-952-0331
EMail:  Debbie.Fischer@gov.bc.ca

Gerald German
Executive Director
Titles Division

 February 4, 2004