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Free NCA Property Examination Practice Questions

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Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the NCA Property Examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

  1. 1Which approach best reflects the place of law within the Indigenous legal traditions described by the Department of Justice?

    1. A.Rules about land may be intertwined with kinship responsibilities.Correct answer: A
    2. B.Rules about land arise only after a Canadian statute adopts them.
    3. C.Rules about land form an isolated category separate from social duties.
    4. D.Rules about land are excluded from traditions transmitted orally.

    Explanation: The source states: "kinship was law.". Indigenous legal traditions may connect responsibilities toward people, land and water rather than divide them into Western subject categories. The other options incorrectly require statutory creation, compartmentalization or written transmission.

    Reference: Department of Justice — Restorative Justice and Indigenous Legal Traditions — E. Problematic Aspects, discussion of interconnected law

  2. 2An Alberta title identifies land by a registered survey plan, block and lot. Which description system is being used?

    1. A.Alberta Township System
    2. B.Plan/Block/LotCorrect answer: B
    3. C.Metes and bounds
    4. D.Natural water boundary

    Explanation: The source states: "This system identifies land based on registered survey plans, which divide land into lots and blocks.". The title uses the PBL system. ATS instead uses township-grid components; metes and bounds uses courses and distances, while a water boundary follows a natural feature.

    Reference: Alberta Land Titles — Legal Land Description — Plan/Block/Lot (PBL)

  3. 3Which combination identifies the two core elements of possession in the Law Commission's analysis of the common-law concept?

    1. A.Physical custody or control and an intention to possessCorrect answer: A
    2. B.A registered title and a right to receive income
    3. C.Payment of consideration and delivery of a deed
    4. D.Mere awareness of an object and an intention to buy it

    Explanation: The source states: "factual custody and control, and an intention to exercise such custody and control". Corpus concerns factual custody or control; animus concerns the intention to exercise it. Title, purchase and awareness alone do not supply those two elements.

    Reference: Law Commission — Electronic Trade Documents, Consultation Paper 254 — paras. 5.6–5.7

  4. 4When studying creation of a fee simple under the historical common-law rule, before statutory relaxation, what significance did prescribed words of limitation have?

    1. A.They were required to create the intended fee simple.Correct answer: A
    2. B.They were optional whenever perpetual ownership was intended.
    3. C.They were required only for a conveyance without consideration.
    4. D.They were required only for a conveyance to several co-owners.

    Explanation: The source states: "creation at common law (“magic words” required)". The historical rule required prescribed words. Intention alone did not dispense with them; their necessity was not confined to gratuitous grants or multiple grantees. Statutory relaxation is outside this historical question.

    Reference: NCA Property Syllabus, Revised for October 2025 — p. 8, Topic 4, concept 1(a)

  5. 5What distinguishes the origin of Aboriginal title from the origin of an ordinary Crown-granted fee simple?

    1. A.Aboriginal title originates only in a registered Crown conveyance.
    2. B.Aboriginal title arises from possession before assertion of British sovereignty.Correct answer: B
    3. C.Aboriginal title arises only on the date a court issues a declaration.
    4. D.Aboriginal title originates in the same grant as a provincial mining licence.

    Explanation: The source states: "it arises from possession before the assertion of British sovereignty". Recognition of title is not its creation by an ordinary Crown grant. The pre-sovereignty source distinguishes it from a fee simple acquired after sovereignty, a later declaration or a regulatory licence.

    Reference: Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, 2014 SCC 44 — para. 14

  6. 6A trust gives land to Priya only if she obtains a specified professional qualification. She has not yet qualified. How is her interest classified while that prerequisite remains unsatisfied?

    1. A.A vested interest subject only to delayed possession.
    2. B.A contingent interest subject to a condition precedent.Correct answer: B
    3. C.A vested interest subject to a condition subsequent.
    4. D.A present life estate measured by the settlor's life.

    Explanation: The source states: "A condition precedent is one which must be fulfilled before the beneficiary is entitled to a vested interest.". Qualification is a prerequisite to entitlement, not an event divesting an already vested estate. The disposition also contains no present life estate. This tests an unmet substantive prerequisite, rather than mere postponement of enjoyment.

    Reference: New Zealand Law Commission — Perpetuities, Issues Paper 22 — Paragraph 1.24, common-law background

  7. 7Which statement captures the dual nature of a commercial lease recognized in V Hazelton?

    1. A.It is a contract but conveys no estate in the property.
    2. B.It is a revocable licence coupled with a rent payment.
    3. C.It conveys a property interest and also has contractual elements.Correct answer: C
    4. D.It transfers a freehold estate subject to personal promises.

    Explanation: The source states: "a commercial lease also has contractual elements". A lease conveys a legal interest while also operating as a contract. Calling it only a contract or a licence misses the proprietary element; the estate conveyed is leasehold, not freehold.

    Reference: V Hazelton Ltd. v. Perfect Smile Dental Inc., 2019 ONCA 423 — Paragraphs 28–29

  8. 8Two people hold both legal and beneficial title as joint tenants. No severance occurs before one dies. What happens to the deceased joint tenant's interest?

    1. A.It passes as a separate share under the deceased's will.
    2. B.It passes to the surviving joint tenant through survivorship.Correct answer: B
    3. C.It passes to the survivor only if the deceased's will permits this.
    4. D.Legal title passes to the survivor but the estate retains the beneficial half.

    Explanation: The source states: "the entire interest in the property passes to the survivor". Both legal and beneficial joint ownership remain unsevered, so survivorship operates without testamentary permission. There is no separate testamentary share or retained beneficial half for the estate. That last result would require a different beneficial ownership arrangement.

    Reference: Hansen Estate v. Hansen, 2012 ONCA 112 — Paragraph 31

  9. 9What is the basic proprietary character of an easement such as a right of way benefiting neighbouring land?

    1. A.Ownership of a physically divided portion of the neighbouring land.
    2. B.A right to use another's land for a defined purpose without owning it.Correct answer: B
    3. C.A lease giving exclusive possession of the neighbouring land for a term.
    4. D.A right to take and remove the natural produce of the neighbouring land.

    Explanation: The source states: "the right to use the land of another in some way, or to prevent it from being used for certain purposes.". An easement permits a particular use or restriction without conveying ownership or exclusive leasehold possession. A right to take natural produce is characteristic of a profit à prendre.

    Reference: Alberta Land Titles Procedures Manual — Easements, EAS 1 — Page 1, Background — Easement

  10. 10Under the basic common-law rule, two inconsistent legal interests are granted successively in the same land. No statute or postponing conduct changes priority. Which interest ordinarily prevails?

    1. A.The later interest if its holder paid a higher purchase price.
    2. B.The later interest if its holder lacked notice of the first.
    3. C.Both interests equally regardless of their creation dates.
    4. D.The first legal interest created.Correct answer: D

    Explanation: The source states: "the first legal interest created prevails over subsequent legal ones.". Temporal priority governs this legal-versus-legal contest on the stated assumptions. Lack of notice or a higher price does not by itself displace an existing legal interest, and the conflict does not automatically produce equal ranking.

    Reference: NCA Property Syllabus, Revised for October 2025 — Page 18, Topic 11, introductory paragraph

Exam Review

About NCA Property Examination

NCA Property Examination · CA

Key exam facts

Provider
National Committee on Accreditation (NCA), a standing committee of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada
Format
Online, open-book, fact-based written examination requiring reasons. This four-option practice bank is not an exact simulation.
Time limit
3 hours
Passing score
50% (pass/fail)
Exam fee
CAD 500 plus applicable taxes per examination; applicable to examinations held from April 2025.

Topics covered

  • PROPERTY IN CONTEXT

    • 1. The Sources of Canadian Property Law
    • (a) Indigenous traditions
    • (b) English law
    • i) feudal structures and the doctrines of tenures and estates
    • ii) origin and rationale
    • iii) forms, especially free and common socage
    • iv) incidents of tenure
    • v) truncation and decay of the feudal structure: Statute Quia Emptores, 1290 and the Tenures Abolition Act, 1660
    • (c) reception of English law and overlay of English law on existing Aboriginal property rights
    • 2. Basic Divisions in the Law of Property
    • (a) Private, public, shared, and open-access property
    • (b) Real and personal property
    • (c) Legal and equitable interests
    • (d) Other categorizations
    • 3. The Numerus Clausus principle
    • 4. Property and the State
    • (a) Limits on executive power and the federal division of powers over private property
    • (b) The Charter and other direct protections of private property
    • (c) Constructive taking of property

  • THE BOUNDARIES OF PROPERTY

    • 1. Land: Airspace and Subsurface Rights
    • (a) The “Latin Maxim” cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelum et ad inferos
    • (b) Mines and minerals
    • 2. Land Bounded by Land
    • (a) legal description
    • (b) rights of lateral and vertical support
    • 3. Land Bounded by Water
    • i) legal description
    • ii) riparian rights
    • iii) accretion
    • 4. Fixtures
    • (a) The fixtures tests
    • (b) Tenants’ fixtures
    • (c) Fixtures and security interests

  • POSSESSION

    • 1. Possession, generally
    • (a) corpus and animus possidendi
    • (b) possessory title (The Tubantia)
    • (c) pre-possessory interest (Popov v Hasyashi)
    • 2. The Relative Nature of Title: Finders (Parker v British Airways; Trachuk v Olinek; Stewart v Gustafson)
    • (a) rights of a finder as against the true owner; an occupier; a prior possessor
    • (b) rights and obligations of the finder
    • (c) rights and obligations of an occupier
    • 3. Abandonment
    • 4. Transfer of Title through Delivery: Gifts inter vivos
    • (a) rationale for delivery requirement
    • (b) doctrinal elements of a gift
    • (c) doctrinal elements of donatio mortis causa
    • 5. Bailment
    • (a) what constitutes a bailment and its various forms
    • (b) breach of bailment
    • (c) sub-bailments

  • ESTATES

    • 1. The Fee Simple
    • (a) creation at common law (“magic words” required)
    • (b) statutory reforms: in most (but not all) provinces, “magic words” are no longer required. Note: For the purpose of the NCA exam, a grant or devise will be presumed to create an estate in fee simple, unless a contrary intention appears from the instrument. However, it is important to check the provincial conveyancing legislation where you intend to practice to ensure that you are using the correct language to describe the nature of the estate in a conveyance.
    • 2. The Fee Tail
    • (a) historic development
    • (b) abolition
    • 3. The Life Estate
    • (a) general nature
    • (b) creation
    • (c) powers and obligations of the tenant for life (encroachment; waste)
    • 4. Interpretation (Re Walker; Re Taylor; Christiansen v. Martini Estate)

  • INDIGENOUS RIGHTS IN LAND

    • 1. Nature of Aboriginal Title
    • (a) sources
    • (b) attributes/content
    • (c) limits
    • 2. Proof of Aboriginal title
    • 3. The Role of Consent and the Infringement (Tsilhqot’in Nation v. BC) *Pay attention to what the SCC says in Tsilhqot’in Nation regarding consent, and be aware that, absent consent, the infringement test for proven Aboriginal title is established by the SCC in Tsilhqot’in and it is not the same test as the Sparrow infringement test for Aboriginal rights
    • 4. The Duty to Consult and Accommodate prior to Recognition of Aboriginal Title
    • 5. Rights Short of Title
    • (a) nature
    • (b) test for recognition
    • 6. Reserves under the Indian Act and the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act
    • (a) Certificates of Possession
    • (b) Land Codes
    • 7. Self Government and Indigenous Tenure under Modern Treaties
    • (a) Nisga’a Final Agreement

  • EQUITABLE INTERESTS

    • 1. Historic Development of Equity
    • (a) the development of equitable property interests in the Court of Chancery
    • (b) administrative fusion of land and equity
    • (c) the relationship between legal and equitable principles
    • 2. The Statute of Uses
    • (a) purpose
    • (b) effect
    • 3. Creating a Modern Trust in Real Property after the Statute of Uses
    • (a) avoidance: leases, personalty, active duties
    • (b) exhaustion: “unto and to the use of”
    • 4. The Nature of Modern Equitable Interests
    • (a) express trusts
    • (b) resulting trusts, and the presumption of advancement (Pecore v. Pecore)
    • (c) constructive trusts: institutional forms (Soulos v. Korkontzilas)
    • (d) the remedial constructive trust
    • i) historical development in Canada
    • ii) the Joint Family Venture (Kerr v. Baranow et al.)

  • CONDITIONAL TRANSFERS AND FUTURE INTERESTS

    • 1. Vested and Contingent Interests (Stuartburn (Municipality) v. Kiansky)
    • 2. Determinable and Conditional Estates
    • 3. Invalidity
    • (a) the effects of invalidity
    • (b) uncertainty (H.J. Hayes v. Meade)
    • i) various contexts in which certainty is relevant
    • ii) test of certainty for conditions subsequent
    • iii) conditions precedent
    • (c) conditions that seek to interfere with marriage (MacDonald v. Brown Estate)
    • (d) conditions contrary to 'public policy' (Leonard Foundation; McCorkill v. Streed)
    • (e) restraints on alienation (Blackburn v McCallum)
    • 4. The Rule Against Perpetuities
    • (a) origins and rationale
    • (b) elements of the common law rule
    • i) an interest
    • ii) must vest
    • iii) if at all
    • iv) within the perpetuity period
    • (c) the perpetuity period
    • i) lives in being or ‘en ventre sa mere’ (measuring lives) ii) plus 21 years

  • LEASES AND LICENCES

    • 1. The Nature of a Lease Pay attention to the dual nature of the lease, which is both proprietary and contractual.
    • 2. The Nature of the Landlord’s and the Tenant’s Interests
    • (a) assignment versus sublease
    • (b) assignment of the tenant's interest: generally
    • (c) the rule in Spencer's case (Merger Restaurants v. D.M.E. Foods)
    • (d) limits on the tenant's right to alienate (Richfield Properties Ltd. v. Sundance Investment Corp.) Pay close attention to the specific language of the lease in Richfield Properties. Remember that the default position at common lawis that the tenant has the right to assign the lease, but that if the tenant gives up that right, the landlord may withhold consent even arbitrarily and unreasonably .
    • (c) Obligations of Landlords and Tenants
    • (i) rent
    • (ii) the covenant for quiet enjoyment
    • (d) Termination and Remedies (Highway Properties v. Kelly Douglas & Co.)
    • (e) The Proprietary Status of Licences
    • (f) Residential Tenancy Reform: General Principles

  • SHARED OWNERSHIP

    • 1. Traditional Forms of Co-ownership
    • 2. Joint Tenancies
    • (a) the four unities
    • i) possession
    • ii) interest
    • iii) title
    • iv) time
    • (b) intention
    • i) the presumption as to intention at common law
    • ii) equity's attitude
    • iii) statutory intervention
    • 3. Tenancy in Common
    • (a) requirements and general nature
    • (b) express creation and “words of severance”
    • (c) statutory presumption
    • 4. Severance of a Joint Tenancy
    • (a) the starting point – the dictum in Williams v. Hensman
    • (b) means of severance
    • i) an act by a joint tenant
    • ii) agreement to sever
    • iii) course of conduct
    • 5. Resolving Concurrent Ownership Disputes
    • (a) the basic position (the courts will not police the relationship)
    • (b) termination by partition or sale
    • (c) accounting and financial adjustments between co-owners

  • SERVITUDES OVER PROPERTY

    • 1. The Nature of Easements
    • (a) the basic concept
    • (b) the requirements for a valid easement
    • i) dominant and servient tenements
    • ii) accommodating the dominant tenement
    • iii) different ownership and occupation of the tenements
    • iv) the easement must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant
    • (c) positive and negative easements
    • 2. Creation of Easements
    • (a) express grant
    • (b) implied grant
    • i) necessity
    • ii) intended easements
    • iii) the rule in Wheeldon v. Burrows
    • (c) reservations
    • (d) estoppel
    • (e) prescription
    • 3. Scope, Location, and Termination
    • (a) general principles
    • (b) application (Laurie v. Winch; Malden Farms)
    • (c) the rule in Harris v. Flower
    • (d) termination of easements
    • 4. Covenants Running With Property (Restrictive Covenants)
    • (a) the running of covenants in equity, generally
    • (b) the running of the burden: the historical starting-point (Tulk v. Moxhay)
    • (c) the general requirements
    • (i) the covenant must be negative in substance
    • (ii) covenant must be made for the benefit of land retained by the covenantee
    • (iii) the covenant must have been intended to run with the covenantor's land
    • (iv) general equitable principles apply; including the requirement of notice
    • (d) the running of the benefit
    • (i) express vs. implied annexation
    • (ii) assignment
    • (iii) building schemes (Berry v. Indian Park Assn.)
    • 5. Positive Covenants (Durham C.C. No. 123 v. Amberwood Investments)
    • (a) the basic rule
    • (b) by-pass options
    • 6. Invalidity and Termination
    • (a) generally
    • (b) public policy and other bases of invalidity
    • 7. The Profit a Prendre

  • PRIORITIES AND REGISTRATION

    • 1. Priorities at Common Law and in Equity
    • (a) the four contests
    • i) prior legal vs. subsequent legal
    • ii) prior equitable vs. subsequent equitable
    • iii) prior legal vs. subsequent equitable
    • iv) prior equitable vs. subsequent legal
    • (b) application of common law priority rules
    • (c) providing a sufficient root of title
    • 2. The Advent of Registration
    • (a) deed registration systems
    • i) race
    • ii) notice
    • iii) race-notice
    • (b) relationship between registration system and priority rules
    • 3. Title Registration
    • (a) the three cardinal elements of title registration systems – the curtain, the mirror and the net
    • (b) land titles and fraud
    • (c) the curtain
    • i) immediate indefeasibility
    • ii) deferred indefeasibility
    • (d) the mirror: title registration and prior unregistered interests
    • (e) the assurance fund

How to prepare

Work through the topics, read the explanation after each answer, and revisit the areas where you miss questions. Use the official outline and reference materials below to guide your study.

These independent practice questions are not actual exam items and do not guarantee a passing result.

Frequently asked questions

What is the exam format?

Online, open-book, fact-based written examination requiring reasons. This four-option practice bank is not an exact simulation.

How long is the exam?

3 hours

What is the passing score?

50% (pass/fail)

How much does the exam cost?

CAD 500 plus applicable taxes per examination; applicable to examinations held from April 2025.

Official sources and references

Confirm current exam arrangements with the exam provider.