BC Rescission Period Calculator

The two things people get wrong

The first is the start. Acceptance day is day zero, so an offer accepted on a Monday runs Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Counting Monday as day one costs a day of a three-day right.

The second is the word holiday. It does not mean the days an employer gives you. It means the list in section 29 of the Interpretation Act, which includes Easter Monday and December 26. Neither of those is a BC statutory holiday. It also works the other way: where one of those days falls on a weekend, the Monday taken in lieu is an ordinary business day and counts. That is the opposite of the rule for court filing deadlines, which is where the confusion usually starts.

The right cannot be waived and applies even where the contract has no subjects. The fee is 0.25% of the purchase price, so rescinding a $1,000,000 purchase costs $2,500.

Questions people ask about the rescission period

• Does the rescission period apply to a presale?+

  No. A presale bought under a disclosure statement carries its own seven-day right under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act, which runs separately and is not what this page counts. The rescission period covers resale residential property.
• Can I give up the rescission period to make my offer stronger?+

  No. The right cannot be waived, by either side, and it applies even where the contract is written with no subjects at all. An offer promising to waive it promises something that does not exist.
• What does it cost to rescind?+

  A quarter of one percent of the purchase price, with no statutory cap. On a $1,000,000 purchase that is $2,500, payable to the seller. The deposit is returned less that amount.
• Does the deadline fall at the end of the day?+

  The written notice has to reach the seller within the period, so treat the last business day as the deadline and send it well before the end of that day rather than at the close of it.
• Which holidays actually drop out?+

  The ones named in section 29 of the Interpretation Act: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, British Columbia Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and December 26. Easter Monday and December 26 are the two that surprise people, and a Monday taken in lieu of a weekend holiday is not one of them.