2024

The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) invites all British Columbians to Law Week activities around BC. Attend a free public law class, take a courthouse tour and enjoy free legal advice from volunteer lawyers.

We are very excited to announce a new public-facing website dedicated to raising public awareness of unbundling in BC: www.unbundlinglaw.ca

The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) welcomes the announcement of a one-time grant of $7.9 million to support the development of a new framework for legal aid funding.

The Law Society has advised that they plan to make some amendments to the rules concerning fiduciary property.  Before doing so, the Law Society would like to hear from lawyers who may be affected by the proposed rule changes. 

The Law Society of British Columbia has recently contacted the Chairs of the CBABC Wills and Trusts Sections to advise that the Law Society is planning to make amendments to the rules concerning fiduciary property. 

The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) applauds new recommendations for changes to the BC Mental Health Act (MHA) made by the Office of the Ombudsperson in its Special Report No. 42: Committed to Change. The Report is the result of an investigation commenced in August 2017 into the involuntary admission process under the MHA.

The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) is very pleased to announce Kerry L. Simmons, QC as its new Executive Director. Ms. Simmons assumes the role effective immediately, after serving as acting Executive Director since late last year.

The Law Foundation of British Columbia, Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) and People’s Law School are pleased to announce Dial-A-Law is now available through the People’s Law School. In 1983, CBABC identified a need for public access to legal information on a variety of law topics. With funding from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, CBABC initiated Dial-A-Law, featuring over 125 scripts of legal information written and edited by volunteer lawyers in British Columbia.

“We are pleased to welcome the report’s recommendations for meaningful change to legal aid in British Columbia,” said CBABC President Margaret A. Mereigh. “Recommendation 1 endorses the Canadian Bar Association’s proposal for national benchmarks, set in 2016, for integrated public legal assistance services that are sustainably funded, evidence-based and people-centred.”

The Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2, Bill C-86 (Bill), was introduced in the House of Commons on October 29 and received Royal Assent on December 13. Once in force, the Bill will consolidate existing consumer provisions and regulations and strengthen consumer protection provisions that apply to banks and authorized foreign banks under the Bank Act (BA).