How Can I Find Out Who Owns Apartment Buildings in BC?

Last revised February 25, 2020

In British Columbia, it isn’t always obvious who the owner of an apartment building actually is.  Each building has its own Parcel Identification Number (PID). The PID is a unique 9-digit number used to identify parcels of land within BC.

Discovering who owns an apartment building is a two-step process, though step 1 can be skipped if the building’s PID is known already. 

Step 1:

Enter the building's street (civic) address into either BC Assessment's e-Value tool online, or the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC’s (LTSA) ParcelMap BC tool, or if the property you are interested in is within the city of Vancouver, then the city's Property Inquiry tool.  Either will display the property's PID number, though e-Value requires you to expand the additional property details to view it.

Step 2:

Conduct a title search online using the appropriate LTSA service at https://apps.ltsa.ca/iam/signup.  This will require signing up for an account and the service costs a fee.

or

Take the PID to the BC Land Title Office in New Westminster, Kamloops or Victoria or contact them by mail and have them conduct a title search on the property.  The title search will give you the name registered as the property’s owner.  This service costs a fee.