Edward L. Wilson,

Edward has a strong track record in B.C. real estate development, with noted expertise in strata wind-ups. In addition to advising on industrial, commercial and condo developments, he also has experience handling air space parcels. His experience also includes advising on subdivisions.

- Chambers Canada, 2021 Guide

Ed practices in the real estate and municipal law fields with a specialty in real estate development.

Ed has assisted clients in such projects as: redevelopment of industrial sites to permit multi-family residential uses; heritage designation and density bonusing arrangements; rezoning and redevelopment of shopping centres; development of office and industrial parks; development of numerous condominium projects; development and marketing of strata title hotels; restructuring of strata corporation bylaws; purchase of abandoned mining towns; development of mine sites; subdivision of pulp mills and saw mills; assisting municipalities on the redevelopment of downtown urban centres; and commercial lease negotiations for a wide variety of tenants and landlords.

Ed has been involved in large land assemblies, subdivisions, bare land strata plans, air space parcels, real estate acquisitions, financings, sales, and structuring forms of ownership and transactions.

Ed has provided advice to private proponents on public-private partnership matters particularly relating to medical infrastructure and transportation projects.

Working closely with sellers. buyers, and developers, Ed is a trusted advisor in connection with property and development projects spanning a wide variety of commercial, residential, industrial, resort and financing matters. Ed also provides advice on environmental matters in connection with real property.

He is one of the leading experts on strata corporation windups having completed a number of strata corporation windups as well as the first court approved windup in BC. Ed has been an active member of a number of committees over the years proposing changes to strata property law, including the BC Law Institute’s committee that recommended changes to the Strata Property Act that allows for more the flexible rules facilitating windups.  

Ed has assisted clients on a number of energy related projects including cogeneration plants, run off river electrical generation plants, electrical transmission lines, and natural gas pipelines and LNG plants.

Ed’s expertise also includes advising clients on the development of standard form documentation in the real estate, strata management and mortgage broker fields and advising professional practicing in those fields.

Ed has been retained by the B.C. Law Society to provide advice on complaints against members and insurance claims in the real estate field. Ed has acted for the Provincial Government and the Land Title and Survey Authority in the development of amendments to the Land Title Act to facilitate the Electronic Filings System and the Digital Plan System. Ed assisted the BC Real Estate Association in drafting sample legislation, much of which found its way into the Real Estate Services Act.

• British Columbia Law Institute, Chair
• Canadian Council for Public & Private Partnerships, Member
• Mortgage Brokers Association of B.C., Member
• National Association of Industrial & Office Properties, Member
• SPA – Strata Property Agents of British Columbia, Associate Member
• Urban Development Institute, Member

Canadian Bar Association

• Municipal Law and Environmental Subsections Member
• Vancouver Real Property Subsection (“VRPS”), Chair; Executive Committee Member; Strata Property Act Committee Member; Standard Form Undertaking Letter Committee Chair; Real Estate Act Amendment Committee Member; Personal Property Security Act Committee Member
• Presentations on a variety of topics including: Standard Form Contract of Purchase and Sale, Property Law Act, Standard Form Undertaking Letter, Title Insurance, and Electronic Filing
• VRPS Title Insurance Committee, Chair
• CBA Representative on BC Real Estate Association’s Standard Form Committee
• Land Title and Survey Authority Electronic Filing Committee, CBA Representative

Law Society of BC

• Retained by the Law Society to advise on real estate fraud prevention measures
• Retained by the Law Society and Lawyer’s Insurance Fund to advise on complaints against members and insurance claims in the real estate field
• Law Society of B.C. Task Force on Lawyers Selling Real Estate – 2003 – 2004, Member
• Law Society of B.C. Conveyancing Practices Task Force – 2002, Member

Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia

Ed is the CLEBC’s leading volunteer having chaired more than 10 courses and written over 30 publications on such topics as: Strata Property Act, Real Estate Development, Commercial Condominium By-laws, Property Transfer Tax, Financing Urban Growth, Easements, Resort Developments and Hotel Properties, Electronic Filing, Liability Issues for Strata Agents and more.

• Take a Hike Youth at Risk Society, Board Member
• Medallion Housing Society, Board Member
• Vancouver Curling Club, Former Board Member

• Chambers Canada:
  • Real Estate - British Columbia (Senior Statesperson), 2024-2025
  • Real Estate - British Columbia (Band 2), 2022
• Best Lawyers in Canada: Municipal Law and Real Estate Law, 2009-2025
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Property Development and Property Leasing (Leading Practitioner), 2023-2024
• The Continuing Legal Education Society of BC: BC Leaders in Learning Award, 2007
• Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory: AV Peer Review rated

Ed has particular expertise with respect to the unique land issues which arise in relation to the acquisition of and on-going access to linear projects.  Ed’s recent representative experience includes:

• Providing BC Hydro with legal assistance in connection with the strategic acquisition of Statutory Right of Way interests over private property for the purposes of the Dawson Creek/ Chetwynd Area Transmission (DCAT) project.
• Acting for one of Canada’s major pipeline companies with respect major natural gas transmission projects
• Advising on obtaining rights to use provincial Crown land for an LNG terminal in the Douglas Channel Energy Partnership in the development and permitting of their LNG project in Douglas Channel, including issues relating to the City of Kitimat’s land use controls.  
• Providing another project proponent with legal assistance in connection with the strategic acquisition of Statutory Right of Way interests over crown land and private property for the purposes of a proposed linear project having its terminus in Kitimat. 
• Providing a mining corporation with legal assistance in connection with the procurement and/or acquisition of various land tenures over crown land and private property for the purposes of various linear infrastructure components serving the project (including roads and electrical transmission lines). 
• Negotiated long term ground leases and development agreements with Port Metro Vancouver on behalf  of warehousing and logistics firms, cement and aggregate terminal operators, and grain terminal operators. 
• Familiar with B.C. expropriation procedures and have assisted numerous clients in such matters.
• Assisted clients on other projects requiring various form of crown tenures (licenses, work permits, leases, rights of way) or interests in private lands (such as option to purchase, purchase agreements, lease etc.).