Private Land

Using Private Land and Crown Land Leases

The same rules apply to Crown Land Leases. On this page, "private land" means both.

The simple approach is to stay off private land. This works in much of the Cariboo and Omineca, but not along parts of the Fraser River.

To see private land on MTO maps, see the Private Land section of the Making Maps page.

The Basics

• explore anywhere you can get a claim
• explore, develop and mine placer minerals on a claim
• use or build roads required for these mining activities

Notice may be given by mail, email, fax or hand-delivered to the owner. More information and the correct form to use are available on the government's Landowner Notification page.

It seems that you don't need the landowner's consent, but if the owner objects, you can't enter the land until you make an agreement.

Exceptions to the Right to Enter

• land occupied by a building
• the area used around a residence
• orchard land or land under cultivation
• protected heritage property without permission
• in a park, where other rules apply

Private Land and Mineral Rights

Finding the Landowner

In most cases, you can find the owner of private land by...

1. Get the District and District Lot Number from the government's MTO Mapping System
2. Have a Land Titles search done

Getting the District/Lot Number

The two map-layers we care about are:
    Land Act Survey Parcels - Tantalis - Legal Descriptions
    Land Act Survey Parcels - Tantalis - Outlines
These layers are in the third layer group:     Crown Land Layers - Tantalis.

If these layers have been turned off, they must be turned back on. The map must be zoomed in enough to see the light grey Survey Parcel outlines.

Turn on Identify Features - click the white "i" in a circle on the horizontal blue bar at the top-left of the map. You can select which layer to use - you want the layer:
Land Act Survey Parcels - Tantalis - Legal Descriptions".

You can click on the map in the private property (a survey parcel). Information will be displayed to the right of the map. If you run the mouse-cursor down this list to the right, it will highlight the property. (There may be a larger block that contains the property; it can generally be ignored.)

Click on the down arrow/triangle beside the number for the survey parcel and information about the parcel will be displayed. You want the Parcel Legal Description, which might look like...

"DISTRICT LOT 1234, LILLOOET DISTRICT"

For more information, you can click on the link near the top of the info about a parcel, you can get a variety of information, possibly including...

• scanned images of the original Crown Grant and parcel-map(s)
• the Parcel Identification number, the PID - good for the land titles office - there may or may not be a PID listed

Land Title Search

• You can get info about all the options, find offices and maybe pay to have a search done online by visiting BC LTSA - the Land Title and Survey Authority
• You can visit the appropriate Land Titles Office and they will do the search for a fee (about $10 or $15) paid by cheque, credit/debit card or money order, but not cash.
• You can apparently do this by mail - it seems you should "order a State of Title Certificate". I have heard of people getting a name/address over the phone, but they generally don't do this.
• You can hire a service that does this for their clients - Accurate Mining Services in Quesnel will probably either do it or know someone who can.

Giving Notice to the Land Owner

The rules are set up to give the owner time to object, and then make an agreement, without anyone starting a lawsuit.

If the landowner objects, steps are followed until you get an agreement...

1. The owner contacts you and you try to make an agreement.
2. You or the owner can ask the Mineral Titles to help you make an agreement by contacting Mineral.Titles@gov.bc.ca or 1-866-616-4999.
3. If this doesn't work, you or the owner can apply to the Surface Rights Board and they will try to help, and if necessary, they will make an agreement that you and the owner have to follow.

If You Cannot Give Notice

APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION (PDF)

Learning the Details

Information Update No. 7 - A Guide to Surface and Subsurface Rights and Responsibilities in British Columbia (PDF) is about the whole process for you and the landowner

Information Update No. 29b - Notice Requirements for Mining Activities on Private Land and Land Act Leases (PDF) is about giving notice, what to do if you can't, online tools to find private land and owners, and applying costs to the work required to renew your claim

Landowner Notification page has another good summary about entering private land, plus links to an FAQ, how to find out who owns land, some online tools, and the two forms to do with giving notice - for the forms, see the links at the bottom of this page.

Mining Right of Way Act is about using existing roads and build roads on private land

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