> Free as long as you didn't sign an agreement saying you'd be responsible for the cost of SAR. Such as breaking resort rules by going out of bounds[1].

The article you posted is from 2009. That no longer occurs. Also, it was a "fine" from a private resort. It was not legally enforceable, as the resort themselves stated. It was basically just a request that they make a donation to NSR. The resort is, of course, within their rights to ban them.

However, none of this changes the fact that in practise SAR is completely free in Canada no matter where you are. I'm aware that SAR in the US is slightly less black and white, but none of that applies to Canada. This is coming from someone who skis 100 days a year in both the resort and backcountry in British Columbia. NSR is deployed multiple times per week year round, and 0% of those rescues are paid for by the people being rescued. Resort staff may help out once in while if the rescue is close to the resort, but the resort is never compensated for it.

> If it's the resort, you might've agreed to give them the legal right to claw back costs.

No resort in Canada has ever, and would never follow though, because the resort doesn't want you to hesitate to call for help. A dead person is the worst case scenario for them. They can, and do, ban people for entering closed terrain though.

And in the case where you didn't enter the BC from the resort, you would have no agreement with the resort to begin with.