T-7.1, r. 1 - Regulation respecting the alienation of agricultural lands in the domain of the State to certain occupants

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter T-7.1, r. 1

Regulation respecting the alienation of agricultural lands in the domain of the State to certain occupants

Act respecting agricultural lands in the domain of the State

(chapter T-7.1, ss. 9 and 47).

DIVISION I APPLICATION

1. This Regulation applies to the alienation to an occupant by the Minister of ungranted land within the meaning of section 1 of the Act respecting agricultural lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-7.1).

O.C. 5-90, s. 1.

2. For the purposes of this Regulation, an occupant is a person who, at 1 July 1984, occupied without right a parcel of land that was ungranted or that has become ungranted since that date.

The first paragraph also applies to a person who becomes a transferee of the occupant after that date.

O.C. 5-90, s. 2.

3. The Minister may, at any time, register in respect of a parcel of land, whether occupied or not, a declaration stating that it forms part of the domain of the State, in accordance with section 19 of the Act respecting the lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-8.1).

O.C. 5-90, s. 3.

DIVISION II CONDITIONS FOR ALIENATING LAND

4. An occupant who wishes to acquire the land that he occupies must apply in writing to the Minister so that the Minister may, where appropriate, alienate that land to him.

The occupant must demonstrate to the Minister that occupancy of the land by himself and by his predecessors in title has, up to the time of his application, been continuous, uninterrupted, peaceful, public, unequivocal and in the capacity of owner.

The occupant must indicate in his application all parcels of land that he owned or occupied at 1 July 1984: land not indicated in the application that the applicant must submit may not subsequently be transferred under this Regulation.

O.C. 5-90, s. 4.

5. The occupant must prove that he occupied the land with or without title at 1 July 1984 and that the land was occupied until that date.

Where a parcel of land was the subject of a cancellation of a grant under section 40 of the Colonization Land Sales Act (chapter T-8), the duration of occupancy shall be calculated from the date of cancellation to 1 July 1984.

O.C. 5-90, s. 5.

6. The Minister may notify an occupant that he may acquire the land that he occupies; to acquire that land, the occupant must apply in writing within 60 days following receipt of a notice to that effect.

The Minister may also require that the occupant produce, within a period of 60 days, any document that the Minister considers necessary.

If the occupant fails to apply or to produce the required documents within the prescribed time, he is presumed to have refused to avail himself of the provisions of this Regulation.

O.C. 5-90, s. 6.

7. Where the occupant does not produce a title, the land may be alienated to him only if he occupies it mainly for the purposes of a permanent principal or secondary residence or for community purposes, or if he carries out on that land, for remuneration, activities related to agriculture, fisheries or food supply or of an industrial, commercial or sylvicultural nature.

For the purposes of this Regulation, only forestry operations involving growing, planting or reforestation are considered sylvicultural activities; only industrial operations involving the production, processing, conservation or marketing of an agricultural product are considered food-related activities; activities related simply to the distribution of agricultural products are not considered food-related activities.

O.C. 5-90, s. 7.

8. The area of land that may be alienated to the same occupant who does not produce a title is the area of land that he uses or that he requires, but may not be more than half a hectare where the land is occupied mainly for residential purposes.

Where the land is used for sylvicultural purposes, the alienable area of land is that which is actually used and necessary for those purposes.

Where the land is occupied and used for other than residential, sylvicultural, agricultural, fishery or food-supply purposes, the maximum alienable area of land is 4 ha.

O.C. 5-90, s. 8.

9. Where the occupant provides a title, the alienable area of land is that indicated in the title, except where it is necessary to increase that area of land to bring it into compliance with municipal zoning, subdivision or construction standards and where the location of the land so permits; any additional area of land thus alienated shall be sold at its actual value in accordance with section 15.

An area of land of more than 81 ha may not be alienated to the same occupant, unless the land is used for agriculture, fishery or food-supply purposes.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, where an occupant provides a title dated prior to 1 July 1984, the maximum alienable area of land is that which could have been alienated to the occupant’s predecessor in title on that date under this Regulation.

With the occupant’s consent, an area of land smaller than that indicated in his title may also be alienated for the purposes provided for in section 7.

O.C. 5-90, s. 9.

10. An occupant must notify the Minister of his decision in writing within 60 days of receiving the alienation proposal from the Minister. If he accepts the proposal, he must send to the Minister, along with his acceptance, the amounts payable and any other document required within the 60-day period.

If the occupant fails to notify the Minister of his acceptance and to send the Minister the amounts payable and the documents required within the time specified in the first paragraph, the occupant is presumed to have refused the Minister’s proposal.

If the occupant disputes the Minister’s proposal, he must, within the time specified in the first paragraph, notify to the Minister the reasons for his disputing, in which case the Minister shall evaluate those reasons and send the occupant a final proposal that the occupant may accept only within 60 days by remitting the amounts payable and supplying the documents required.

O.C. 5-90, s. 10; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP).

11. Notwithstanding registration of the declaration referred to in section 3, and if the Minister has not alienated or otherwise disposed of the land in question, an occupant without right who has not submitted an application or received the notice provided for in section 6 may avail himself of the provisions of this Regulation.

In the same circumstances, an occupant who has received the notice provided for in section 6 and who has not submitted the application or produced the documents required within the time prescribed in that section may also avail himself of the provisions of this Regulation but only within the limits of sections 8 and 15.

O.C. 5-90, s. 11.

DIVISION III ALIENATION PRICE

12. The price at which a parcel of land is alienated to an occupant shall be determined according to the actual value of that land as established in accordance with the Act respecting municipal taxation (chapter F-2.1), without taking into account the buildings or other works erected by the occupant or by his predecessors in title, and shall correspond to a percentage of the actual value as determined according to the duration of occupancy as provided in Schedule I.

Where an occupant produces a chain of titles of a duration different from the duration of occupancy of the land, the alienation price shall be the lower of the percentage of the actual value established for the duration of occupancy without title that the occupant can demonstrate and the percentage of the actual value corresponding to the duration of occupancy with title.

The actual value of a parcel of land is that established when the alienation proposal was made by the Minister.

O.C. 5-90, s. 12.

13. The alienation price may under no circumstances be less than $345.

O.C. 5-90, s. 13.

14. Where the occupant demonstrates that he has occupied a parcel of land for 35 years or more or provides a chain of titles covering a period of 30 years or more, the alienation price of the land shall be $345.

The occupant shall then be exempted from paying the fees provided for in paragraph 1 of section 2 of the Regulation respecting administration fees payable under the Act respecting agricultural lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-7.1, r. 5).

O.C. 5-90, s. 14.

15. The price of land alienated under the first paragraph of section 9 and the second paragraph of section 11 corresponds to its actual value as established in accordance with the Act respecting municipal taxation (chapter F-2.1), but does not take into account buildings erected or other works carried out by the occupant or his predecessors in title.

O.C. 5-90, s. 15.

16. Where the grantee of a parcel of land under concession that was the subject of a cancellation under section 40 of the Colonization Land Sales Act (chapter T-8) or his transferee transfered ownership of a parcel of land before the grant was cancelled, and the Minister received on deposit and did not formally refuse before 1 January 1973 the title for the transfer of property, the price at which the parcel of land or part thereof is sold to an occupant who produces a chain of titles originating from the first title shall be $345.

O.C. 5-90, s. 16.

17. The prices established in sections 13, 14 and 16 shall be adjusted on 1 April of each year according to the variation in the average Consumer Price Index for the preceding year, taking as a base the index established for all of Québec by Statistics Canada.

O.C. 5-90, s. 17.

DIVISION IV MISCELLANEOUS

18. An occupant who avails himself of the provisions of this Regulation must pay administration fees in order to obtain the services provided for in the Regulation respecting administration fees payable under the Act respecting agricultural lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-7.1, r. 5).

Where part of a parcel of land is alienated, the occupant must, if necessary, have that part surveyed and registered at his expense.

The cost of registration at the Land Registry Office shall be borne by the occupant. The same applies to the cost of preparing and receiving the deed where the land is alienated by notarial act.

O.C. 5-90, s. 18; S.Q. 2020, c. 17, s. 113.

19. Where cadastral or land-surveying documents must be prepared for a parcel of land occupied without right or for any adjoining or contiguous land, the Minister may, at any time, have the plans for any land occupied without right prepared at the occupant’s expense.

Any such alienation may not be carried out if the occupant has not paid the amount provided for in paragraph 8 of section 2 of the Regulation respecting administration fees payable under the Act respecting agricultural lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-7.1, r. 5).

O.C. 5-90, s. 19.

20. The Minister may reserve in favour of any contiguous or nearby land or in favour of any person whom he designates a right of way or any other right over a parcel of land that is alienated.

The occupant of land inaccessible by public highway must obtain at his expense, before delivery of the title confirming the alienation, a perpetual right of way over a parcel of land that is not under the authority of the Minister.

O.C. 5-90, s. 20.

21. The Minister may offer to sell an occupant fulfilling the conditions provided for in this Regulation a parcel of land other than the one he occupies, on the terms and at the price that would have been applicable if he had purchased that land.

O.C. 5-90, s. 21.

DIVISION V FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL

22. A person who, on the day on which this Regulation comes into force, occupies certain buildings located on a parcel of land acquired under the Programme de réaménagement foncier du secteur agricole may avail himself of the provisions of this Regulation, with the necessary modifications, subject to this Division.

That occupant may acquire the land on which the buildings thus occupied within the limits of the first paragraph of section 8 are situated, any other occupancy being entirely subject to this Regulation.

This section also applies to the transferee of the person referred to in the first paragraph.

O.C. 5-90, s. 22.

23. Wherever an application for alienation concerns a parcel of land acquired under the Programme de réaménagement foncier du secteur agricole, the occupant must obtain the approval of the municipality in question in order to avail himself of this Regulation.

O.C. 5-90, s. 23.

24. In the case of sections 22 and 23, the alienation price of land shall be calculated according to the duration of occupancy in accordance with Division III; in the case of occupancy that began after 1 July 1984, the alienation price shall correspond to the actual value of that land as established in accordance with the Act respecting municipal taxation (chapter F-2.1).

The alienation price of buildings and appartenances shall be equal to the price paid to acquire them under the program.

O.C. 5-90, s. 24.

25. This Regulation does not apply to land acquired by a municipality, school service centre or school board for non-payment of taxes, except land transferred to a third party before this Regulation came into force and land designated and used for municipal purposes on that date.

O.C. 5-90, s. 25; O.C. 816-2021, s. 104.

26. (Omitted).

O.C. 5-90, s. 26.

27. (Omitted).

O.C. 5-90, s. 27.

SCHEDULE I

(s. 12)

ALIENATION PRICE

     Duration of                Occupancy                   Occupancy      
     occupancy                  without title               with title         

     34 years                       3% of actual value         -
     33 years                       6%                         -
     32 years                       9%                         -
     31 years                      12%                         -
     30 years                      15%                         -
     29 years                      18%                        3% of actual value
     28 years                      21%                        6%
     27 years                      24%                        9%
     26 years                      27%                       12%
     25 years                      30%                       15%
     24 years                      33%                       18%
     23 years                      36%                       21%
     22 years                      39%                       24%
     21 years                      42%                       27%
     20 years                      45%                       30%
     19 years                      48%                       33%
     18 years                      51%                       36%
     17 years                      54%                       39%
     16 years                      57%                       42%
     15 years                      60%                       45%
     14 years                      63%                       48%
     13 years                      66%                       51%
     12 years                      69%                       54%
     11 years                      72%                       57%
     10 years                      75%                       60%
      9 years                      80%                       65%
      8 years                      85%                       70%
      7 years                      90%                       75%
      6 years                      95%                       80%
      5 years                      95%                       80%
      4 years                      95%                       80%
      3 years                     100%                       85%
      2 years                     100%                       90%
      1 year or less              100%                      100%

O.C. 5-90, Sch. I.

REFERENCES

O.C. 5-90, 1990 G.O. 2, 56

O.C. 816-2021, 2021 G.O. 2, 2103

S.Q. 2020, c. 17, s. 113