Land Tenure Systems, Land Governance in Canada and Accreditation Arrangements for Cadastral Surveyors

Registration of Deeds and Registration of Titles

Internationally, two main types of land registration systems have evolved: registration of deeds and registration of titles. In Canada, both systems are used.

Registration of Deeds

In a deed registration system, a copy of all documents that affect the property must be published at the land registry office in order for them to be enforceable against third parties. Each document is usually written by a qualified expert (notary or lawyer). A search in the register makes it possible to find the terms and conditions for acquiring an asset. A deed registration system does not guarantee the title. It only provides access to the transaction history. It is necessary to study the chain of transactions to clearly define all the rights and restrictions that may apply to a property. A deed registration system is functional if the parcel boundaries are correctly defined and shown on a plan. The deed registration system has its origins in Roman law and is mainly found in countries with or influenced by Latin culture (France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

Registration of Titles

In most title registration systems, the land parcel is identified on a plan or map,² and the rights associated with it, as well as the owner’s name, are recorded in the land register. Under this system, land ownership can be guaranteed, but not necessarily its extent. Anyone who suffers a loss due to an error related to the validity or accuracy of a title in the land register is compensated, even if the error was not made by those in charge of the register, for example in the event of fraud. The title registration system has its origins in Germanic culture and is mainly found in central European countries (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). Eastern and northern European countries have implemented systems that feature variants of the German system. The Torrens system is also inspired by the Germanic system.

The Torrens System

The Torrens system is a land title registration system designed by Australian statesman Sir Robert Richard Torrens. The system operates according to three principles:

In the Torrens system, the land title registry guarantees the accuracy of each land title so that if an error occurs, compensation is available. The Torrens system was first established in southern Australia in 1858 and was quickly implemented in the other Australian states and New Zealand in 1870. Surprisingly, the Torrens system was established in Canada on Vancouver Island (then a British colony) in 1861, even before it was deployed across Australia. This first use of the Torrens system outside of Australia helped give it international credibility. It was later adopted in a number of Commonwealth countries and then spread to several countries in Asia-Pacific, Africa, and South America. In Canada, the Torrens system is used in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Nisga’a Nation.

Although land management in most Canadian provinces is based on the Torrens system, both systems are used successfully, contributing to security of tenure.

Land Governance in the Provinces and Territories³

Canada is distinguished by the diversity of the land management systems in use across the country. All are valid, secure, and adapted to the needs of the provinces and territories. The following table shows the essential features of each of the provincial, territorial, and aboriginal jurisdictions.

Figure 2.

British Columbia – Torrens Title Registration System

The Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) is the entity responsible for maintaining the quality of the survey structure and preserving plans, ensuring the integrity of the land titles registration system and issuing rights granted on public lands to the private territory.

It is an independent, not-for-profit corporation responsible for managing the land titles and survey systems for public and private lands in the province. Self-financed and managed by a board of directors, it is officially recognized by a Constituent Act and an Operating Agreement issued by the provincial government. This agreement, signed in 2006, has a renewable term of sixty years.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development also maintains a database of public land registry. It also contains transfers of public lands to First Nations.

Alberta – Torrens Title Registration System

The Alberta Land Titles System (ALTA) is administered by the Land Title and Survey Branch of Service Alberta. This is a government agency created by a provincial Act. The Registrar of Titles is the custodian of all titles, documents, and survey plans, and is legally responsible for the validity and security of all information recorded on land titles. The government guarantees the accuracy of the title.

Public lands are administered under the Public Land Act and are subject to the same survey system (ALTA), under the direction of the Department of Environment and Parks.

A third category of land is also present in the province. This is Métis land, administered by the Metis Settlement Land Registry.

Saskatchewan – Torrens Title Registration System

The organization responsible for administering the land registry and survey directory is the Office of Public Registry Administration (OPRA), under the authority of the Department of Justice. This organization is also responsible for the relations with the Information Service Corporation, a private company responsible for managing the registers within the limits of existing legislation and policies defined by the government. This is an example of public-private partnership.

The provincial government retains responsibility for the registers and retains ownership of all the information they contain. It is also responsible for future development.

Manitoba – Torrens Title Registration and Deeds System

This province offers another example of public-private partnership. The Manitoba government and Teranet Manitoba established this partnership in 2013 to operate the land titles registry offices. This private company electronically registers and maintains titles and other rights to land. The Office of the Registrar General of Manitoba is responsible for the general oversight of Teranet Manitoba as a service provider, in accordance with the Act.

Ontario – Title and Deed Registration System

Ontario was a pioneer in the establishment of public-private partnerships. Teranet Inc. has been a business partner of the province since the early 1990s.

The most recent agreement runs until 2060. It includes commitments to ensure that Ontario’s land registry system remains modern, user-friendly, reliable, and secure. Under this agreement, the government will continue to oversee the registry system.

The position of Commissioner of Electronic Land Titles Services was created under the Electronic Land Titles Services Act of 2010 to oversee and regulate the financial and operational relationships between Teranet Inc., the government, and third-party service providers.

On the public lands side, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is responsible for land management. It determines how public lands can be used. Registers of persons authorized to occupy public lands are maintained.

Quebec – Deed Registration System

Quebec is the only French-speaking province where civil law is codified. Elsewhere, common law applies. The Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) is responsible for the land rights infrastructure covering the entire territory, both private and public. A major program, the reform of the Quebec cadastre, has just been completed. During this 27-year program, responsibility was shared between private enterprise and the government. The government was the program’s prime contractor, and private land surveying firms were contracted to undertake all the surveying work related to the province’s 3.8 million private parcels. The Quebec cadastre can be viewed on the Infolot website.⁴ To report on the steps taken in this major project and on the benefits and spinoffs, a review of the Québec Cadastre Reform Program (in French only) was produced.⁵ The abstract of this review is also available in English.⁶

Quebec has the unique feature of bringing together under one authority the main functions involved in the management of private and public land. Land registry, cadastre, public land management and geospatial information management are under the full governance of the MRNF. The private sector’s role is to present citizens’ requests by producing the documents needed to update the cadastre and ensure the real estate transactions in the land register, which supports a deed registration system.

The Registre du domaine de l’État (RDE) represents all existing rights and constraints on public land covering 92% of the province’s area.

The provincial government remains the registrar, owner, and disseminator of these three registers (land register, cadastre and RDE). All activities related to these registers are self-financed by the “Land Information Fund”, which was initially set up to finance the Quebec Cadastre Reform Program.

Prince Edward Island – Deed Registration System

Prince Edward Island – by far the smallest province in the country – offers a public registry office for real estate documents. It is under the responsibility of the Registrar under the Registry Act. Title deeds are registered for all parcels in the “GeoLinc” system.

The same applies to public land, which accounts for only 12% of the province’s surface area.

New Brunswick – Title and Deed Registration System

The Land Registry is managed by the Registrar General of Service New Brunswick (SNB). This is a public corporation administered by the province and overseen by an independent board of directors. Land titles issued by SNB guarantee the rights of individuals to parcels of land, but do not guarantee the extent of these rights.

Public lands are managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy Development. All survey plans showing the location and boundaries of public lands are available here.

Nova Scotia – Title and Deed Registration System

Property Online (POL) is an internet browser application that provides online access to land ownership and related information collected through the province’s Land Registration Offices and other sources. POL, available to subscribers, contains ownership information, including property maps for the entire province. Lawyers and surveyors who work in the land registration system must subscribe to POL in order to submit applications for registration or for parcel description certification.

The Land Services Branch of the Department of Lands and Forestry oversees the administration of public lands and manages matters relating to the surveying, records, acquisition and disposal of public lands and interests in public lands. This includes applications for structures/activities on public lands, including submerged land, campsite leases, leasing of public lands, letters of authority for trails, and applications for other activities on public lands. The branch includes a Survey Division, responsible for coordinating, managing, and leading the department’s land surveying program.

Newfoundland and Labrador – Deed Registration System

Following the example of New Brunswick and Alberta, this province has set up a service covering various aspects of government management by creating the “Service NL” entity. It is under this authority that the Registry of Deeds is kept. It contains the registry of private properties and land transactions, as well as that of condominiums.

Public lands are managed by the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources. The public land registry maps all surveyed and allotted properties.

Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon

In these three territories, land titles offices are responsible for registering rights on both public and private land. Surveying is carried out by Canada Lands Surveyors, under the direction of the Surveyor General of Canada.

Reserves (Indian Act) – Deed-like Registration System

Under the Indian Act,⁷ “Reserves [are] to be held for use and benefit of Indians. Subject to this Act, reserves are held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the respective bands for which they were set apart, and subject to this Act and to the terms of any treaty or surrender, the Governor in Council may determine whether any purpose for which lands in a reserve are used or are to be used is for the use and benefit of the band.”

Following the Indian Act, “there shall be kept in the Department a register, to be known as the Reserve Land Register, in which shall be entered particulars relating to Certificates of Possession and Certificates of Occupation and other transactions respecting lands in a reserve.”

Information from this register can be accessed online through the Indian Land Registration System (ILRS) on the Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) website. Mirror registry systems have been put in place for First Nations who have opted out, in part or in whole, of the Indian Act through sectoral self-government initiatives such as the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management and the Westbank First Nation Self-Government Agreement.

Outside the Indian reserves, various land registrations systems have been put in place: