Fee Simple for Nisga’a Citizens
The Nisga’a Landholding Transition Act makes it possible for Nisga’a citizens to obtain the fee simple title to residential lots within Nisga’a Villages. A Nisga’a citizen who obtains the fee simple title to a lot under the Act is then able to mortgage or transfer that fee simple title, without restriction. This permits the Nisga’a citizen to offer a mortgage of their lot as security for a loan from a bank or other financial institution and also permits the Nisga’a citizen to transfer their lot to any other person, Nisga’a or non-Nisga’a.
If you are a Nisga’a citizen and the owner of an entitlement
If you are a Nisga’a citizen that already holds a Nisga’a Village entitlement or Nisga’a Nation entitlement in one of the Nisga’a villages, the Village government may offer you the fee simple interest in your existing parcel. If the Village government does not offer it to you, you may request it, and the Village government may not unreasonably refuse your request.
No fee can be charged for the parcel. There are certain conditions that must be met before the fee simple interest in the parcel can be offered to a Nisga’a citizen:
- the existing entitlement, if there is one, cannot be subject to a registered mortgage
- the parcel cannot be greater than .2 hectares in area
- the principal use of the parcel permitted under a zoning law enacted by the Nisga’a Village government having jurisdiction must be residential.
If you are a Nisga’a citizen and do not own an entitlement
Nisga’a Village governments may also offer the fee simple interest in parcels that do not currently have an entitlement registered on them. In this case, the Nisga’a Village can charge whatever fee it deems appropriate for the parcel and there are land title office transaction fees that must be paid by the applicant for a fee simple transfer. Again, however, there are conditions that must be met:
- the parcel cannot be greater than .2 hectares in area
- the principal use of the parcel permitted under a zoning law enacted by the Nisga’a Village government having jurisdiction must be residential.
Once the fee simple title is owned by a Nisga’a citizen, there are no further restrictions on the transferability of the title.
Please see the Forms and Applications pages for further information. Alternately, you may download one of our application kits:
