Crown Grants
If you are reading
this in British
Columbia, take a second look around you. Every single piece of land
around you has a history as Crown land. All private land was originally
Crown granted. Your own land was originally Crown granted or was
part of a Crown grant of a larger parcel. All future private lands
will have been Crown granted at some time.
British Columbia sells
Crown land to individuals and private sector interests. Crown
grants are the legal instrument by which Crown lands are transferred
to a purchaser. Each Crown grant sets out terms and conditions
unique to each grant. Registries Department is responsible for
production and issuance of Crown grants.
Crown grants normally consist
of a document in two parts. One page is a prose or written document
setting out the conditions upon which the land may be acquired and
the second page is a plan showing the parcel. This colour plan is
called a "tracing" which shows the Crown granted parcel in red,
as well as other applicable information necessary to identify the
parcel of land. Not all Crown grants have tracings. This is especially
true for parcels that have been granted more than once.
The Registries Department
also maintains the historic records of approximately 235,000
pages of Crown grants including grants made before British
Columbia joined Confederation with Canada. All Crown grant
records are stored in a protective vault and are open to
the public under the supervision of branch staff. Copies
of these records may be purchased. Should you wish to inquire
if any Crown grant information is available for a particular
property, please contact the Crown Grant Unit at Archaeology
and Registry Services Branch. You may also research historic
Crown grants online at the following
Online
Database.
The online database is
not complete, only Crown grants issued during the years 1860
to 1930 are available online. The online research application
also allows you to view small "thumbnail" images of
the Crown grant document and tracing. Once you have identified
specific Crown grants through the online application, you can
go to another online application called Tantalis
GATOR where you can purchase copies of both the
Crown grant document and the coloured tracing.
Anyone interested in obtaining
Crown land should contact an office of Land
and Water British Columbia Inc., which has been authorized
on behalf of government to undertake activities related to the
management, development, marketing, and sale of Crown land.
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