News release

Province Streamlines Process for Ungranted Crown Lands

Natural Resources (to July 2018)

An amendment introduced today, April 19, will allow the province to release ownership of some ungranted Crown lands in a more timely, efficient manner.

The change to the Court and Administrative Reform Act will give authority to the Natural Resources Minister to sign certificates of release for parcels of land less than 200 hectares. The certificates will be issued under Part II of the Land Titles Clarification Act.

"This amendment will not only provide efficiencies and reduce red tape, but also free up resources for the department," said Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker.

The department has identified 28,000 parcels of land, consisting of more than 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres), as unacknowledged ungranted lands. A focused effort is underway to make recommendations on the Crown's ownership of these parcels by March 31, 2013.

The certificates of release are issued once it is determined that through historic and current use, the province has lost interest in these ungranted lands, which have never been surveyed or managed as Crown land.

Most of the land is located in rural Nova Scotia. This streamlined process will prove beneficial to those residents.