Pentalogy: Recommendations for Reform of the “Seller In Possession” Statutory Regimes of Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan

Abstract

This article concludes a five-part series of articles dedicated to the exposition of and improvement to “seller in possession” disputes in common law Canada. Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan most appropriately define the risk that a buyer is exposed to when they leave bought goods in the seller’s possession. These provinces and territories also offer the most suitable registration facilities for the protection of the buyer’s non-possessory interest in the goods.

Therefore, this article focuses on the scope of registration-based protection and the eligibility in these provinces and territories for registration-based protection with respect to buyers who leave bought goods in the seller’s possession. Legislators in these provinces and territories should not expand eligibility for registration-based protection to conditional buyers out of possession. Additionally, registration-based protection should only be extended to a conditional buyer out of possession if the Sale of Goods Act in these jurisdictions is modernized in a manner that places less emphasis on title and the nemo dat principle.