# Land calims/ squatters rights in canada?



## Onemanbandit (Mar 1, 2011)

How do I go about a woods commune legally? and if I can't what's my safest bet. As much information as you can asap please becasue I need to start farming.


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## salamat (Jan 7, 2012)

i dont know about the rest of canada but in b.c. there have been no squatters rights since 1977.
but what you can do is get a prospecting licence and stake a mineral claim i think for like $50.
you can pay $500 a year for the lease or put in ten hours of work a year in improvements and its yours for free.
its a little known trick i've used in the past for someplace to put up my yurt without hassle.
i really dont know why more people dont do this.
i do belive you can do this in most provinces, but you may need to do a bit of research for your area.
i hope this info helps you out, better late then never


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## GuerrillaLorax (Sep 12, 2012)

Jeez, some bad news on this thread. Salamat, thanks for the information! I shall look into that. And I sure hope that hostility is lower in the west.


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## r3yn (Apr 13, 2020)

I've been researching squatter's rights, or "adverse possession", for the past while. Seems like under current Canadian law, every province has it's own rules, but generally it takes about 10+ years. And yeah, BC is impossible to get squatter's rights in. 

I think most people have been using adverse possession laws for fences and other miscellany. Actually squatting on someone's land for 20 years would be a third of your life, anyway, and probably the commune wouldn't last that long.

Crown Land, or public land in Canada, is a different mountain of red tape. Seems like most provinces have similar-ish rules for "applying" for Crown Land, but most Canadians seem very cynical about the prospects of doing it. Seems like, sure, you can apply -- but you need to get a whole bunch of ecological / environmental surveys done. Seems a bit expensive.

Salamat has an interesting idea about just buying a cheap mineral claim. I don't know how that works, exactly, but I'm going to do more research on it (I see many adds on Kijiji for this -- still seems like a scam, though).

I also found a few stories of guys who just went out and built a cabin somewhere. One guy, in Ontario, was spotted in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE up past Timmins near a lake and, of course, in good "safe" Canadian fashion, the person reported him. He got fined.
Another was a Norwegian guy who flew into the most desolate lake he could find in NWT, and built his own cabin and lived there for 6 months.
Yet another guy built a treehouse on the side of a hill near Squamish, BC, and apparently was living off-grid up there. Nice little hide-away.
Overall, I think you can get away with it, usually, but if you're caught they'll kick you out, fine you, and probably burn the place down (that's what all the old timers in Ontario say, anyway.....)

My current plan is to use one of the concepts in applying for Crown Land, that being "for tourism and recreational purposes", and make a wilderness hostel. Then, you can have a group of rad people, and more rad people from across the world. Go canoeing and have bonfires and dance around like mad people. 
If the Crown land idea doesn't pan out, I've got 50k saved so far, but fuck, it's not our parents' or grandparents' age: land is fucking EXPENSIVE pretty much everywhere -- especially in BC (where I'd like to live, i.e. warmer winters). Most land I see on REALTOR.ca or ZILLOW.com, for even about 5-10 acres, seems to be about 50-100k, and waterfront (which is essential for me) doubles that, at least. Even more upsetting than the price tag is that all this private land is usually small, awkwardly cut-off from other bigger chunks of land, or part of planned new cottage country / subdivision developments (long fingers of land).

But, I guess if this quest was easy everyone would do it.
Hope you haven't given up on that dream!


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## Deleted member 23824 (Apr 13, 2020)

I’ll bet he has given up on the dream, since he’s not logged into StP since 2011. Gotta check the dates on the threads you randomly reply to, folks . . .


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## r3yn (Apr 13, 2020)

I noticed that when I was posting; i.e. the message to consider not posting because it's an old thread. 

I don't understand that. What's wrong with continuing a discussion from a long time ago? Personally, I think that's one of the best features of the internet -- the great conversation will carry on across centuries.


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## Deleted member 23824 (Apr 13, 2020)

r3yn said:


> I noticed that when I was posting; i.e. the message to consider not posting because it's an old thread.
> 
> I don't understand that. What's wrong with continuing a discussion from a long time ago? Personally, I think that's one of the best features of the internet -- the great conversation will carry on across centuries.



Many consider it annoying , and poor internet etiquette to drag up posts from the grave, and continue a conversation as if it was from a minute ago. I mean, you did adress a direct question to someone who’s not logged on here in nine years. If you just need an outlet to talk randomly, why not start a fresh thread?


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## r3yn (Apr 14, 2020)

....


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