ACOL and the Territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are providing access to limited ACOL Personal Property Registry System (PPRS) functions prior to the transition to the Northwest Territories Personal Property Registry (NT PPR) and Nunavut Personal Property Registry (NU PPR) services through ACOL. This bulletin describes the ACOL and PPRS limitations related to NT PPR and NU PPR.

It is very important that you read this bulletin in its entirety.

Note that limitations are related to PPRS functions for Northwest Territories and Nunavut only. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador Personal Property Registries are not affected by these limitations. Likewise, ACOL Client Services functions such as Change Password, User Information and Account Statement Query are not affected by these limitations.

Limitations:

1. All registrations for NT and NU -- new (original), amendment, renewal, discharge, re-registration and global change of registered interest -- affect only SAMPLE REGISTRATIONS in TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES. These registrations in no way relate to registrations in the Personal Property Registry as established by the NT PPSA or NU PPSA.
    
2. All searches for NT and NU affect searches only on SAMPLE REGISTRATIONS resident in the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES. These searches in no way relate to registrations in the Personal Property Registry as established by the NT PPSA or NU PPSA.
    
3. All "fees" for NT and NU PPRS functions displayed by the ACOL Desktop Software have been temporarily set to zero so that fees will not actually be charged to your ACOL account. Beginning with NT and NU PPR Live, fees for PPRS functions are as defined in the NT and NU PPSA Regulations.
    
4. SAMPLE REGISTRATIONS entered into the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES are not guaranteed to continuously remain in the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES up to the live date of the NT and NU PPR through the ACOL service. ACOL will endeavor to keep all SAMPLE REGISTRATIONS in the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES in order to best facilitate users' familiarization, testing and training.
    
5. PPR Client Information and Secured Party Numbers created and updated in the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES prior to the live date of the NT and NU PPR through the ACOL service will be carried forward into the Registry after the live date.
    
6. ACOL and the Territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories will endeavor to make the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES available during standard ACOL and PPRS service hours; however, neither ACOL nor the Territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories guarantee that the TEMPORARY NT and NU DATABASES will always be available during the pre-live period.

New and existing ACOL clients who will be using PPRS to perform registrations in Northwest Territories or in Nunavut are advised to complete the following steps during the current "pre-live" period, prior to the transition of the Northwest Territories Personal Property Registry (NT PPR) and the Nunavut Personal Property Registry (NU PPR) to the ACOL service.

New ACOL Users

1. Establish an ACOL client account. Call 1-888-624-ACOL (2265) or visit http//www.acol.ca for more information.
    
2. Install ACOL Desktop software on all machines requiring access to ACOL.
    
3. Confirm ability of ACOL Desktop software on installed machines to connect to ACOL.
    
4. Confirm you have adequate funds in your ACOL account to pay for your anticipated transactions. A Prime Contact or Contact user may view the account balance using the function "Account Status".
    
5. Have every ACOL user (i.e. using every user ID for your account) logon to ACOL and perform the "change password" operation required for all new ACOL users. (If a user has already logged on and changed the password prior to this notice, there is no need to logon again.)

All ACOL Users

1. To apply for NT PPR access or for NU PPR access, complete the "ACOL Addendum to Client Application" and return it to ACOL. Call 1-888-624-ACOL (2265) or visit http://www.acol.ca for more information.
    
2. Complete the entry of PPR Client Information for NT and/or NU for your client account. Your PPR Administrator using the function "Create Northwest Territories PPR Client" and/or "Create Nunavut PPR Client" performs this action (see "Create New PPR Client" for access to this function).
    
   IMPORTANT NOTE: PPR Client Information is province/territory-specific and the ability to create this information is controlled by subscription options. Entry of PPR Client Information for either Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick or Newfoundland and Labrador will not permit you to perform registrations in Northwest Territories or Nunavut. If your PPR Administrator does not have access to "Create Northwest Territories PPR Client" or "Create Nunavut PPR Client", and you need to perform registrations in Northwest Territories or Nunavut, contact the ACOL Business Office.
    
3. Complete the creation of any additional Secured Party Numbers required for use in NT and NU registrations. This action is performed by Secured Party Administrators using the function "Create New Secured Party Number".
    
4. Perform at least one sample registration and search in Northwest Territories and/or Nunavut. Remember that the current pre-live period is your last chance to try these functions free of charge prior to the NT PPR and NU PPR being activated through the ACOL service. The NT and NU pre-live period terminates at the end of business on Thursday 3 May 2001.

As the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) proclamation approaches, you must take steps to facilitate the transition to the new Northwest Territories Personal Property Registry (NT PPR) and Nunavut Personal Property Registry (NU PPR) for your organization. These include:

1. For non-ACOL clients, you must establish a client account with ACOL, and apply specifically for access to the NT PPR and NU PPR databases, to have the right to access the NT PPR and NU PPR.
   
   -- or --
   
   For current ACOL clients, you must complete the "ACOL Addendum to Client Application" to apply for NT PPR and/or NU PPR access, and return it to ACOL.
    
2. Call 1-888-624-ACOL (2265) or visit http://www.acol.ca for more information.
    
3. Once you have access to the ACOL service and the right to access the NT PPR and/or NU PPR system through ACOL, you should take advantage of the NT and NU PPR "pre-live period".
    

NT and NU PPR Pre-Live Period

The ACOL NT and NU PPR "pre-live period" means that this system operates only so that you can set up administrative functions and practice NT PPR and NU PPR registrations and searches. The current method is the only one where registrations and searches have legal standing. This ACOL NT and NU PPR pre-live period is scheduled to start on Monday, 9 April 2001.

Note that if you have not completed the administrative functions prior to the system going live through the ACOL service, you will need to perform these functions after the system is live before you can submit registration notices. Please read the upcoming "Being Ready for NT and NU PPR Live" bulletin for more information.

The April 2001 ACOL Desktop Software Update will implement the following changes to the ACOL Personal Property Registry System (PPRS).

1. Serial Numbered Collateral searching will be changed to only require the searcher to specify the serial number of the collateral of interest. That is, the searcher will no longer specify the "Collateral Type" as part of the search criteria. This change will affect all serial numbered collateral searches in all jurisdictions immediately upon completion of the April 2001 ACOL Desktop Software Update.

 
2. Support will be added for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut personal property registry systems. For additional information about personal property registry reform in the Northwest Territories, please read the following bulletin:
   • Northwest Territories and Nunavut Personal Property Registry Reform
   and see the following newsletters concerning Northwest Territories and Nunavut reform initiatives:
   • February newletter
   • March newsletter


3. As part of the support for the Northwest Territories (NT) and Nunavut (NU), the ACOL PPRS will add the following features which will be applicable to NT and NU registrations and searches only:
   1. Unlike Atlantic PPRS, inactive debtors and serial numbered collateral will remain searchable throughout the NT and NU transition periods. "Inactive" refers to debtors and serial numbered collateral which are part of a registration which has been discharged or expired for more than 30 days or which have been deleted for more than 30 days. Note that there is no change to searching in the Atlantic PPRS provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
   2. Some NT and NU registration types feature a pre-defined Term In Years value and a fixed registration fee of $0.00 or $15.00 (as opposed to a variable fee based on the Term In Years). For registration types where the Term In Years is predefined, the system will display the Term In Years value, but will not permit the registrant to change this value.
   3. Some NT and NU registration types require court or lien related "date" and "file number" information which are named differently than "Judgment Date" and "Court File Number" as ascribed in Atlantic PPRS registration types. Various names for date information required include "Judgment Date", "Issuance Date", "Order Date" and "Date of Lien". Various names for file number information required include "Court File Number" and "Sheriff's File Number". Please refer to NT and NU PPSA Regulations for specific registration requirements.


4. On-line PPRS Help features new topics and updated glossary items to assist French-language PPRS users in overcoming minor differences between PPRS French-language terminology and Northwest Territories and Nunavut Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) legislation and regulations French-language terminology.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the Client Support Centre at 1-888-624-2265.

The transfer of historical data to an off-line database will occur in late February or early March 2001. Should prior years' activity within your account be required, the ACOL Business Office would be pleased to produce a report for you for a nominal charge. As part of this procedure, we will also develop a rolling archival process such that 12 months, plus the current month, are always available on line to our clients.

If you have any concerns or require additional information, please contact the ACOL Business Office at 1-888-624-2265 (select option "4").