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The
Prince Edward Island
Lands Protection Act
Frequently Asked
Questions
Including
Information on Non-Resident,
Corporate & Global Permit Applications
for Land Acquisition in
Prince Edward Island
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1.
Why is there a Lands Protection Act?
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The issues involving land ownership and land use in Prince Edward Island
began in the early history of the province. The Island was initially divided into
sixty-seven 20,000-acre lots or townships. These lots were allocated in advance of
settlement to a relatively small elite group of absentee proprietors. Over time, the land
was purchased from the absentee landlords and returned to local ownership.
Issues associated with
absentee landlords resurfaced again in the 1960's, as non-residents began investing
in local real estate throughout the province. As a result, substantial amounts of land in
the coastal areas fell out of the control of local residents. In 1972, Government
introduced amendments to the Real Property Act to restrict the purchase of land by
non-residents.
In 1981, an application by a
non-resident corporation to acquire 6,000 acres prompted public concern over the perceived
impacts of land ownership distribution and its implications for the future. Some viewed
this as giving pre-eminent control of the province's agricultural industry to one
company. This led to the introduction of Bill 37 - the
Lands Protection Act
(the
Act) in 1982.
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2.
What is an aggregate land holding?
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A person's aggregate land holding consists of:
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all land holdings of that
person and of his/her minor children;
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the relevant amount of
land holdings of any corporation in which he/she, they or any of them, hold more than 5%
of the issued voting shares; and
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the relevant amount of the
land holdings of any other corporation in which the person in
#1 or any corporation in #2 holds more than 5% of the
issued voting shares.
A corporation's
aggregate
land holding consists of:
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all land holdings of that
corporation;
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all land holdings of any
person who holds more than 5% of the issued voting shares in that corporation and of
his/her minor children; and
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the relevant amount of the
land holdings of any other corporation in which the corporation in
#1 or any person in #2 holds more than 5% of the
issued voting shares.
A
"corporation" includes a partnership, cooperative association or
body corporate and for the purposes of the
Act, a corporation
and other corporations directly or indirectly controlled by the
same person, group or organization shall be "deemed" to be one
corporation.
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3.
What is the Commission's role?
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The
Commission is responsible for the general administration of the
Act.
It reviews and
obtains pertinent information and makes recommendations to Government on applications for
land purchases governed by the
Act.
4.
What is Government's role?
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Executive Council, on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor in Council,
makes the final decision on applications for land acquisitions governed by the
Act
based on
the recommendations of the Commission.
5. What
factors does the Commission consider?
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Among the factors considered by the Commission are:
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● aggregate land holding |
● coastal access |
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● shareholder structure |
● potential economic impact
of the purchase |
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● residency status |
● local significance of
the property |
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● number of parcels/acreage
to be acquired |
● general land use in area |
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● shore frontage |
● traditional land use in area |
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● concentration of
non-resident ownership in the community where the land is
located |
● speculative intent/nature |
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● intended use and best
use of the land |
● impact on land values |
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● capability for agriculture |
● land fragmentation |
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●
ecological value |
● compliance with
requirement to advertise land |
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● land value |
● need for identification |
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● intention of
purchaser to relocate to PEI |
● number of
parcels/acreage already owned by applicant
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6.Who must
make an application?
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A non-resident person or corporation, or a resident
corporation must make application if the person or corporation
will have an aggregate land holding
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in excess of 5 acres, or
- having shore frontage in
excess of 165 feet. Refer to Shore Frontage Regulations by clicking
here.
A non-resident person who
acquires a land holding by gift, devise or inheritance from a spouse, sibling or direct
descendent or ancestor is exempt from making application.
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7.
Do I need to make an application to "lease" or "rent"
land?
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Yes, Executive Council approval
is required if you are a corporation or a non-resident person who will
have an aggregate land holding in excess of 5 acres or shore frontage
in excess of 165 feet, and you have or intend to have use, possession
or control of a parcel regardless of the value and formality of the
agreement. You may apply to obtain approval to hold
specific parcels of land by way of lease on the appropriate
application
Form 1 or
Form 2, or apply for a Global Lease Permit (Form
8A).
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8.
What is a Global Lease Permit?
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A Global Lease Permit enables you
to apply for permission to acquire land by way of lease and to continue to
hold a permitted number of acres of land as part of your aggregate
land holding. This permit is especially useful for farm
corporations that use different parcels of land each year in their crop
rotation process. Application can be made to change the
permitted acreage amount.
A statement (Global Lease Permit
Report - Form 8B)
must be filed with the Commission by every global lease
permit holder on or before December 31 of each year, whether
or not you leased land that particular year. The total
permitted acreage of a global permit is included in the
calculation of a person or corporation's aggregate land
holding, whether the acreage leased in is equal to the total
permitted amount or not. This ensures that the
allowable land holding limits are not exceeded. If you
have a global lease permit but do not lease land, the total amount
of your permit is still included in your aggregate land holdings.
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9.
Do I need to include lands that I lease out as part of my
land holdings?
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Landowners are able to deduct 50% of the land leased out to
another person or corporation, up to the lesser of one-half the
number of acres of arable land held to a maximum of 500 acres of
arable land for a person, and 1,500 acres of arable land for a
corporation.
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10.
Under what conditions can an application be approved?
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Government may approve a land purchase
with conditions, including:
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That land not be
subdivided except for:
- agricultural, forestry or fisheries production;
- a conservation use pursuant to a designation as a natural area, archaeological site or
heritage place;
- a parks use by Federal, provincial or municipal government;
- a residential use by the owner.
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That land be identified
for non-development use under the
Land
Identification Regulations.
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That land be consolidated
with adjoining parcel(s) of land.
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That the applicant becomes
a resident within a specified time period.
11.
Do the conditions of identification for non-development use or no
subdivision always remain on the land?
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The
conditions of identification and no subdivision run with the
land and continue to be in effect even if the land is sold or
conveyed to another party.
All identification agreements and no-subdivision conditions expire
automatically after 10 years and without application by the
land owner. Information to cancel, suspend or amend a
condition prior to 10 years can be accessed by clicking
here.
12.
For what reasons have applications been denied?
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Applications
have been denied for the following reasons:
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A large acreage of farm land would be controlled by
non-resident(s) that had no intention to relocate to the
province;
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Aggregate land holdings
were beyond the limits set out in the
Act;
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Land holdings of a person
or corporation in a particular area of the province were at a level beyond what was
believed to be in the public interest;
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Land flipping and
speculation appeared to motivate the transaction;
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The purchase would have
resulted in the control of the majority of the shore frontage of a local
body of water being held
by a non-resident person;
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Government wanted to
provide an opportunity to local residents/farmers to purchase the land;
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A significant proportion
of land or shore frontage in a local area was already controlled by non-residents; and
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An intention to circumvent
the land identification program appeared to motivate the transaction.
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13. What is the
maximum amount of land that a person or
corporation can hold in Prince Edward Island?
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A person or
corporation can hold an aggregate land holding of no more than:
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1,000 acres for a person;
and
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3,000 acres for a
corporation
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14. Some of my land that I own or lease is woodland, pasture,
marsh, a buffer zone, etc. so I can't use it for planting crops. Can I deduct this non-arable acreage from my
aggregate land holdings?
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Yes, the
non-arable acreages can be excluded from the calculation of
the aggregate land holding of up to 400 acres for a person or
1,200 acres for a corporation. However, the exclusion of
non-arable land does not exempt the requirement to make
application for approval to acquire the land (i.e. if a
corporation or a non-resident person is acquiring 10 acres of
land, 6 acres of which is non-arable land, an application
would still be necessary).
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15. How long
does it take
to process an application?
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Generally 3-4
weeks is required from the date an application is filed to the date a decision is
rendered. However, depending on the complexity of the application, additional time may be
required.
The Order confirming
Government's decision is usually issued within one week to 10 days of the date of the
decision and should be registered with the deed.
Please see the Application
Review Process at the end of this publication.
16. What is
required in
making an application?
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An
application for a land purchase must include the following:
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a completed
application form;
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an orthophoto or
GeoLinc
map of the parcel(s) outlined in red;
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a legal description of the
subject parcel(s);
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if the applicant is a non-resident person or corporation, details of
recent advertising of the land on the local real estate market (for
more information click
here); and
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a fee of $550 or 1% of the
agreed purchase price, whichever is greater [for all applications by non-resident
corporations or corporations where the majority of voting shares are owned by
non-resident(s), and most non-residents]
(for more information click
here).
Cheques should be made payable to the Island Regulatory and
Appeals Commission.
The completed application is
submitted to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission. Click
here for a tentative schedule for land applications.
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17. I or my corporation have received Executive
Council approval to acquire a property.
It has now been determined that the transaction will
not occur. What should I do?
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It is
important that you return the Executive Council Order to the
Commission with a request that the Order be rescinded, especially if
the Order states that the approval is conditional, i.e. subject to
identification for non-development use or subject to the condition
that the parcel not be subdivided, etc. Executive Council
conditions only attach to a parcel at the time title is transferred to
the applicant. Therefore, rescinding Orders that will not occur
enables the Commission to change our database to reflect that the
condition does not apply to the parcel because the applicant did not
acquire the land. Otherwise, the parcel will continue to show as
"identified", "subject to no subdivision", etc., in our records.
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18. Is the
application fee
refundable?
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When an
application is denied or is approved but no part of the purchase has been or will be
completed, the Commission may refund up to 50% of the application fee upon application. An
application must be made to the Commission within six months of the date of the decision
and must include:
19. Does the Commission
monitor my land holdings?
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A person having an aggregate land holding in excess of 750
acres or a corporation having an aggregate land holding in
excess of 2,250 acres is required to file an annual land
holding disclosure statement with the Commission. |
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20.
How is the Act enforced?
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Pursuant to subsection 15(1) of the
Act, the
Minister responsible for the
Act,
the
Commission or any person authorized by the Minister may request information and conduct an
investigation for the purpose of determining whether a
person or corporation has contravened the
Act
or the
regulations. The
Act
provides for penalties for non-compliance that can be
imposed by the Commission and/or the Minister. For example,
the Minister may issue an order requiring that a person or
corporation reduce his aggregate land holding to comply with
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21.
What should I do if I did not make an application at the
time that I acquired an interest in land?
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Your should file a retroactive application to ensure that you
are in full compliance with the
Act. |
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22. Questions?
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Further
information can be obtained by contacting:
The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission
Prince Edward Island
5th Floor, National Bank Tower
134 Kent Street, PO Box 577
Charlottetown PE, Canada C1A 7L1
Tel. (902) 892-3501 Fax (902) 566-4076
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The
Application Review Process |
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Commission reviews and makes recommendation
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Commission submits recommendation to Lieutenant Governor in Council
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Lieutenant Governor in Council reviews and makes final decision
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Lieutenant Governor in Council sends Order containing disposition of
application to applicant or his/her representative
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Order is registered with the deed for the parcel
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The
information contained in this publication is intended as a guide
and not as a legal reference. The
PEI Lands Protection Act
should be consulted for an exact statement of law.
Initially Published:
1997-08-25
Last Reviewed or Updated:
2019-09-05 |
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