A Survey and Critique of the “Seller in Possession” Statutory Regimes of Common Law Canada: An ABC Prequel

The article examines the various provincial and territorial statutory regimes that apply to resolve title disputes emanating from a “seller in possession” scenario in which an initial buyer leaves bought goods in the possession of a seller who then transfers them to a subsequent bona de purchaser. Presently there are four distinct statutory models in force across common law Canada. Some provinces and territories incorporate modernized electronic personal property registry infrastructure into their statutory priority regimes, while others do not. The author undertakes a comparative assessment of the four models, highlights their strengths and weaknesses, and asserts that Model 2—representative of the statutory regimes of Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Saskatchewan—most appropriately denes the initial buyer’s risk exposure while offering reasonable registration facilities for the protection of his or her non- possessory ownership interest