As you know, land can be developed for commercial purposes, housing developments, and many other revenue-generating opportunities, creating new employment opportunities for the community.

But did you know that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada where you don’t have to register your land?

So, how can municipalities manage their most valuable commodity if they don’t know who owns it? How can they generate new employment opportunities and tax revenue if they don’t know the possibility exists?

Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science!

Here is our easy-to-follow process for identifying your municipality’s unencumbered lands.

How to Identify your Municipality’s Unencumbered Land

STEP 1 – Identify the Land

The initial work is the first step to identifying your municipality’s unencumbered land. This initial work includes site visits, community interviews, and historic photo research.

After this process, you will have either found or not found a name and can proceed to Step 2.

STEP 2 – Is the Land Registered to a Name?

STEP 2A – Registry of Deeds

If a name was found during Step 1, you will do a title search by name or address. If a title is found, it is private land. If there is no title found, you can now decide whether to apply for land and move on to Step 2B.

STEP 2B – Crown Lands’ Office Mapping Search

If no title is found after the mapping search, the land is presumed Crown Land, and you can decide whether to apply for land.

If Quieting of Titles is found, the land is presumed to be private land.

If an Original Grant from Crown was found, you can go back to step 2A and complete the title search.

That’s it! Pretty simple, right?

If you want to learn more about how we can help find your hidden revenue-generating gems, send us email or give us a call, and we’ll help get you started!

Thanks for reading,

Neil Dawe