And their crown land maps are NOT up to date.
Was talking, in person, to our regional CO a couple days back. There was a couple of parcels of crown land (noted) on a county map.
They seemed to be surrounded completely by farms/private property so asked about "un-opened crown road allowances" that "supposedly" give you access.
He made a few statements that I found surprising. He did bracket his comments by saying that their budget had been hacked so much over the years that most things are in disarray.
Anyhow, he said (at least in Ontario) that any reference to crown land in Ontario is drastically out of date and that no particular office tracks it. He didn't know if the "identified" crown land in his district was in fact "still crown" and didn't even know who to contact to find out. In many cases "administration" of the crown land has been passed to the county (so the land use desk at the county office "may" be able to help **I know for a fact that in Renfrew County you can "lease" a patch of hunting ground from the County, put up a structure etc - you pay "land tax" on the piece even though it is Crown land - but paying the tax gives you the privilege of setting up "permanent" buildings, stands etc).
As to the "un-opened crown road allowances" - he stated that there is two different classes - one that allows you access the other that doesn't (can't remember the terminology that he used), but that he likewise, didn't know where to get details as to which class was in effect for a particular allowance.
So the answer is, the MNRF is NOT the final authority on Crown Land in Ontario - there is literally nobody there that actually knows where it is (currently) and who controls it.
Was talking, in person, to our regional CO a couple days back. There was a couple of parcels of crown land (noted) on a county map.
They seemed to be surrounded completely by farms/private property so asked about "un-opened crown road allowances" that "supposedly" give you access.
He made a few statements that I found surprising. He did bracket his comments by saying that their budget had been hacked so much over the years that most things are in disarray.
Anyhow, he said (at least in Ontario) that any reference to crown land in Ontario is drastically out of date and that no particular office tracks it. He didn't know if the "identified" crown land in his district was in fact "still crown" and didn't even know who to contact to find out. In many cases "administration" of the crown land has been passed to the county (so the land use desk at the county office "may" be able to help **I know for a fact that in Renfrew County you can "lease" a patch of hunting ground from the County, put up a structure etc - you pay "land tax" on the piece even though it is Crown land - but paying the tax gives you the privilege of setting up "permanent" buildings, stands etc).
As to the "un-opened crown road allowances" - he stated that there is two different classes - one that allows you access the other that doesn't (can't remember the terminology that he used), but that he likewise, didn't know where to get details as to which class was in effect for a particular allowance.
So the answer is, the MNRF is NOT the final authority on Crown Land in Ontario - there is literally nobody there that actually knows where it is (currently) and who controls it.
