Overview Of The Land Act

Under the Act, the Minister of Forests administers Crown lands, except for land specifically under the administration of another ministry, branch, or agency of government. The Act establishes land districts and land recording districts. It also provides for the application for and disposition of Crown land and for the cancellation, amendment, and abandonment of dispositions. Other provisions of the Act deal with unauthorized use, trespass, surveys, access to private land through Crown lands, and mortgages in favour of the government for the purchase of Crown lands.

GENERAL EFFECT ON LAND TITLE PRACTICE

The Minister of Forests may sell Crown land by Crown grant, add it to treaty lands of a treaty First Nation, lease it, grant a right of way or easement over it, or grant a licence to occupy it. Dispositions may be made subject to the terms, covenants, stipulations, and reservations that the minister considers advisable. Furthermore, dispositions are subject to various exceptions and reservations set out in s. 50 of the Act and to provisions reserving the title to roads or to beds or shores of bodies of water to the Crown.

Section 54 of the Act requires that Crown grants be transmitted to the proper land title office for registration and, provided that the registrar is satisfied that the boundaries of the land are sufficiently defined by the description in a Crown grant, the registrar must register an indefeasible title to the land described in the grant. The registrar also registers amendments to or cancellations of Crown grants. Other sections of the Act set out survey and plan requirements for Crown grants and enable the minister to order the removal of unencumbered lands registered in the name of the government from the operation of the Land Title Act.