The Deputy Attorney General of British Columbia, Allan P. Seckel QC, has, on November 13, 2007, advised the public and the profession of proposed amendments to the Notaries Act. The proposed changes would remove the limitation on the number of notaries that may practice in British Columbia, and remove the geographical restriction on the provision of services by notaries.

The announcement also cites that the proposed changes are necessary to comply with British Columbia’s obligations under the British Columbia - Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement.

Currently, the Schedule to the Notaries Act restricts the number of notaries public to 323 and allocates the number of notaries that may practise within each of 81 notarial districts.

The consultation document is available on the Ministry of the Attorney General's website [1].

Source: Canadian Bar Association British Columbia Branch [2]

Input from the public is sought until December 14, 2007. To respond to the call for consultation email: AGWEBFEEDBACK@gov.bc.ca [3]