As some of you have probably heard there was an extremely egregious unsubstantiated ruling from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, dated 2025 08 07. This ruling has effectively removed “fee-simple” ownership of land, homes, businesses, etc. You may/do not own what you think you own and as it stands there are now 209,000+/- people who are homeless because of this ruling. The people of Richmond BC and Lulu Island cannot sell or do anything with the land/property unless the Cowichan allow it. This also gives the Cowichan the right to evict these people from their homes so members of the Cowichan can move in AND THE RESIDENT CANNOT DO ANYTHING as it is not their titles land/property any longer!
Every municipal, provincial and/or federal government public lands are no longer the people’s public land – there is no ownership because the “treaties” once signed may not be the solid documents they once were. Any small sub-tribe can make a land claim because they may or may not have been involved in what the “nation,” they were under the protection of, didn’t include them. Prime example is the Algonquin Land Claim in eastern Ontario.
If you want to have any chance of protecting your property, and as I am not a lawyer and do not give legal advice, the following is merely a thought as to what you might want to do.
Firstly – obtain a notarized copy of your Crown Grant/Letters Patent. The instructions for this can be found on the Ontario Landowners Association website:
Crown Grants/Letters Patent are the only means for the Sovereign to remove the Crown domain and constitutes your “fee-simple” and/or other means of ownership. It takes a lot of ink to explain Crown Grants/Letters Patent, but suffice it to say these documents are the absolute root to your title to your land/property. With these documents it shows the intent of the Sovereign/Crown and to simplify this to as basic as is possible, these documents are your “contract”/”treaty” with the Crown showing your ownership.
Secondly, whether your lawyer has or has not done a complete title search is because they are only required to search back 40 years. You need to have a complete title search done on your property. DO NOT let lawyers tell you differently as there have been case law expressing their failings at not performing this exercise.
Thirdly, due to the Land Registration Reform Act, lawyers do not supply you with deeds. YOU MUST HAVE A DEED OR YOU OWN NOTHING. If your lawyer will not/cannot figure out how to write a deed, tell he/she to learn how or find a lawyer who will. Suffice it to say property ownership is not to be based on “convenience” it is one of the largest purchases you will ever have – so get a deed. You don’t purchase a car without a “bill of sale” to be used and kept for the transfer, do you, so why in the world would anyone think land/property ownership would be lesser.
Fourthly, understand your rights and responsibilities. Both of these go hand in hand. Yes, you must pay property taxes; yes, you have obligations – but first you need to obtain the very documents needed. If you value your homes, businesses, etc., the land and property involved must also be protected and this is one way you can.
No – this is not the “sovereign citizen” idiocrasy nor is it the “free-man-of-the-land” idiocrasy. This is reality and the Crown Grants/Letters Patent can be found in a number of pieces of legislation.
The Evidence Act, is merely one example:
“Letters patent
24 Letters patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, or of any other of His Majesty’s dominions, may be proved by the production of an exemplification thereof, or of the enrolment thereof, under the Great Seal under which such letters patent were issued, and such exemplification has the like force and effect for all purposes as the letters patent thereby exemplified or enrolled, as well against His Majesty as against all other persons whomsoever. R.S.O. 1990, c. E.23, s. 24; 2024, c. 2, Sched. 19, s. 6 (3).”
Fifthly, your mortgage is at stake and so are our financial institutions. With the Cowichan ruling, EVERY MORTGAGE can be forfeited. You, with this ruling have absolutely NO COLLATERAL, meaning you have nothing to support your mortgage. Same for business loans if it is based on the collateral of the land/property your business is on. Everyone, including all financial institutions should be made aware of this ruling because of this ruling, there can be no security for land/property ownership in this country.
And why is this ruling coming down…the federal government killed real property ownership across this entire nation with the “United Nations Declaration of Rights for Indigenous People Act,” (UNDRIP Act). It is this Act that has effectively removed all Crown land from our sovereignty because the Crown/Sovereign cannot grant something it does not own, ergo until this Act is repealed there is no fee-simple ownership in this country.
It doesn’t matter if the Crown Grants/Letters Patent are “pre” or “post” confederation and anyone who says differently is misleading you. There is only one Sovereign that instructs the government on this, under the Sovereign’s prerogative.
The above is merely thoughts and your wake-up call and if interested it is now time for you to get to work to save your home and business.
Elizabeth Marshall
Author
Director of Research – Ontario Landowners Association
Past Chair – Canadian Justice Review Board
Legal/Legislative/General Researcher –
MPs, MPPs, Senators, Municipal Officials, Lawyers, etc.
I am not a lawyer and do not give legal advice.