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Free Crown Grant/Nominal Rent Tenure Program
Provincial Context
Government has historically provided Crown land to local governments, public agencies and community organizations to support public purposes. This land has been provided at less than market value through a Crown Grant or Nominal Rent Tenure. This promotes economic and social development through providing access to Crown land for public facilities and community infrastructure.In April 2004, Cabinet approved a program that incorporates standardized selection
criteria and clear accounting processes for this category of future Crown land dispositions.
Under this program, the fair market value of Crown Grants and Nominal Rent Tenures
are budgeted for, and recorded as an expense against the Crown Land Special Account. The
program is open to eligible applicants including municipalities, regional districts, First
Nations, public service agencies and community organizations.
The program requires all new Free Crown Grant applications, and new Nominal Rent Tenure applications with a concessionary value greater than $100,000, to be:
- sponsored by a provincial ministry, which will ensure the application is meeting government’s strategic priorities; and
- recorded against an annual budget in the Crown Land Special Account, which ensures the process is fiscally accountable.
Free Crown Grants and Nominal Rent Tenures are two means by which the provincial
government makes parcels of Crown land available to communities and institutional
organizations for uses that support the community, social and economic goals of the Province
of British Columbia.
Free Crown Grants (FCG) are free transfers of Crown land
from the province to public sector bodies, in particular municipalities and regional
districts.
Nominal Rent Tenures (NRT) are leases and licences of
occupation of Crown land that are provided to eligible organizations such as local
governments, charities, First Nations, non-profit organizations and public sector
organizations for a token or nominal amount of rent.
Details on this program are available from the
Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
The Ministry's Role
The Ministry of Community Services' role in the process is to review all requests for Free Crown Grants and Nominal Rent Tenures with a value greater than $100,000. These requests are received from Front Counter BC (FCBC), which is the first stop for applicants to help them assemble the required documentation.The review and evaluation process ensures that the proposed use of the
property meets Provincial criteria as approved by Cabinet for this program. The
Ministry of Community Services is responsible for reviewing all applications by local
governments and community groups.
Once FCBC has confirmed that the property in
question is eligible for Free Crown Grant consideration, the Ministry of Community
Services reviews and ranks the applications and makes recommendations to the
Minister. Ranking is required to ensure that Crown resources are put to the best
use and deserving proposals are accepted.
The total amount of money requested each year through this process is expected to
exceed the total amount of money set aside for this purpose in the Ministry’s
budget. Any qualified applications not sponsored in a year may apply again the next
year for consideration.
Should an applicant wish to acquire a regular Crown Grant without funding assistance
they may purchase the property directly without the need of Ministry sponsorship. The same
applies for NRTs with a value of less than $100,000.
For more detailed information on the FCG/NRT framework, the Ministry’s role
in this program and the Provincial and Ministry review process contact
Community Development.
