Policy proposal on adjusting certain Public Lands Act administrative fees

Description of policy

The Public Lands Act (PLA) provides the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) with responsibility for the management, sale and disposition of Crown lands including: establishing rent for the occupation of Crown land; collecting royalties for use of Crown resources; and levying administrative fees to recover the cost of delivering services (e.g. issuance of leases, land use permits, documents, etc.).

PLA administrative fees have not been adjusted since 2003. A thorough review of certain PLA administrative fees has been completed, indicating that for many transactions, the cost to deliver these services exceeds the 2003 rate structure.

Three batches of PLA administrative fees are proposed for fee adjustment.

Batch A: Dispositions and patent copy issuances

Batch A includes six fees associated with initial issuance of Crown land dispositions and the reproduction of Crown land patent records. A rigorous full cost recovery analysis indicates that fee adjustments are required to reflect the intensive work involved during the Crown land disposition review process and to reflect the costs associated with producing copies of Crown land patent records.

The following fee adjustments are proposed for fiscal year 2018/2019 implementation, along with annual inflationary index increases thereafter: For certain fee types, the fee adjustment will be phased-in over a four year period.

1. Sales and Patents
   • increase from $1,000 to $1,795
2. Crown land patent records
   • certified: increase from $50/record up to 3 pages + $4/extra page + shipping and handling to $55/record flat rate
   • non-certified: increase from $32/record up to 3 pages + $4/extra page + shipping and handling to $53/record flat rate
3. Land use permit
   • issuance of initial permit to the applicant - increase from $150 to
     • $505 in April 1, 2018
     • $859 in April 1, 2019
     • $1,214 in April 1, 2020
     • $1,569 in April 1, 2021
     • Annual inflationary index increases apply on April 1, 2022 and annually thereafter
4. Leases
   • one time fee (when no annual rent applies) - increase from $1,000 to $1,849
   • initial first issuance of lease and any subsequent new lease, versus lease renewal (where annual rent applies ) - increase from $300 to:
     • $687 in April 1, 2018
     • $1,074 in April 1, 2019
     • $1,462 in April 1, 2020
     • $1,849 in April 1, 2021
     • Annual inflationary index increases apply on April 1, 2022 and annually thereafter
5. Licences of occupation (LO)
   • initial first issuance of single LO, and any subsequent new LO, versus LO renewal (when annual rent applies) - increase from $270 to
     • $657 in April 1, 2018
     • $1,044 in April 1, 2019
     • $1,431 in April 1, 2020
     • $1,818 in April 1, 2021
     • Annual inflationary index increases apply on April 1, 2022 and annually thereafter
   • multi-site LO one time fee for communication towers - increase from $1,000 to $1,818
   • single LO one time fee (when no annual rent applies) - increase from $1,000 to $1,818
6. Easements
   • one time fee - increase from $1,000 to $1,852

Batch B: Transfers, voidances and releases and other infrequent transactions

Batch B includes fees for those transactions that are infrequent.

It is proposed that these fees be indexed annually starting April 1, 2018.

1. Disposition Fees
   • Transfer of administration and control by Minister’s Order ($1,000)
   • Quit claim letters patent ($1,000)
   • Beach management agreements ($1,000)
2. Transaction Fees
   • Assignment of sale ($200)
   • Consent to transfer, assign, renew, sub-lease, mortgage, charge, debenture or other financial dealings with a licence of occupation, easement, Crown lease or summer resort lease, excluding mining leases ($200)
   • Amending agreement requested by a lessee or the holder of an easement, including partial surrender of a water power lease agreement ($665)
3. Voidance Certificates
   • Certificate issued under PLA Section 61 (4) for voidance of mines and minerals reservation in some letters patent ($135)
   • Certificate issued under PLA Section 69 (1) as to a condition, provision or reservation otherwise void by Public Lands Act ($135)
4. Releasing Orders
   • Order releasing a land use condition per PLA Section 19 ($665)
   • Release of land use restriction (Order in Council) per Section 28 (g) of Interpretations Act ($1,000)
   • Roads or access to shore (includes right-of-way reservation) per PLA sections 66(1) and 66(2) ($665)
   • Release of reservations for trees - any or all species ($665 one time fee)
   • Release of sand and gravel per PLA Section 68.1 (2) and O. Reg. 110/01 - Class 2 ($665)
   • Release of other reservations (e.g. fishery, access, surface rights in roads, percent of surface rights in roads, railway right-of-way not constructed) per PLA S 68.1 (2) and O. Reg. 110/01 - Class 3-7 ($665)
5. Annual Fees
   • Licence of occupation – annual fee ($30)
   • Lease – annual fee ($30)

Batch C: Remaining Land Use Permit Related Fees

Land Use Permits (LUP) authorize short term occupations of Crown land and do not grant any title or interest to land. In addition to the initial fee for new LUP’s included in Batch A, there are two other fees associated with LUP’s:

• $150 fee for issuance of a new LUP upon expiration of a previous LUP, permitting same activity at same location
• $30 annual fee

Full cost recovery of these two fees will be subject to future analysis. In the interim, it is proposed that these two fees be subject to annual CPI indexing starting on April 1, 2018.

Purpose of policy

The purpose of this proposal is to adjust certain Public Lands Act administrative fees.

If approved, MNRF will affect these various fee increases for April 1, 2018 implementation through revisions to relevant PLA policies listing the various fees including:

• PLAPL 4.10.02 Communication Tower Sites on Crown Land
• PLAPL 4.11.04 Easements (Grants of)
• PLAPL 6.01.02 Crown Land Rental Policy
• PLAPL 6.02.01 Administrative Fees for Public Land Transactions

Other information

The following web links provide additional (or supporting) information.

A link to the Public Lands Act

A link to the Administrative Fees for Public Lands Transactions Policy PL 6.02.01

A link to the Crown Land Rental Policy PL 6.01.02

A link to the Easements (Grants of) Policy PL 4.11.04

A link to the Communication Tower Sites on Crown Land Policy PL 4.10.02

Public consultation

This proposal was posted for a 46 day public review and comment period starting August 25, 2017. Comments were to be received by October 10, 2017.

All comments received during the comment period are being considered as part of the decision-making process by the Ministry.

Please Note: All comments and submissions received have become part of the public record.

Other public consultation opportunities

Regulatory Impact Statement:

There are no environmentally significant impacts associated with these proposed adjustments to certain fees.

In terms of financial impacts, while the proposed Batch A fee increases represent an adjustment over current 2003 rates, these increases: reflect the true cost of providing these services; are often one time only fees; are similar to those rates charged by other government agencies and municipalities for similar land tenure related transactions; and reflect a shift to user and beneficiary pay principles associated with PLA fee rates. Where some proposed Batch A fee increases are more significant, the proposed four year phase-in will mitigate the financial impact to clients. The proposed annual inflationary adjustment of Batch A, B and C fees is not expected to represent to significant financial burden and will ensure that these fees stay current.