Back to: Tenure Toolkit
What Opportunities Are Out There?
Ways to Secure Timber Supply
- Business-to-business purchase agreements: Buying a forest licence from an industry partner. This includes purchasing and transferring the rights held in a forest licence—an agreement with the Ministry of Forests granting logging rights on Crown land.
- Applying to the Ministry of Forests: Tenure, such as Woodlot Licences or Community Forest Agreements, can be acquired or expanded through government applications.
- Negotiating land access through reconciliation or Treaty processes: This may include agreements for access to private or Crown lands.
- Purchasing private land: Land can be bought and designated as “Managed Forest Land” for the purposes of entering the forest industry.
- Direct Award: Forest license could be directly awarded to a Nation or licensee from the province.
How Is Forest Tenure Transferred?
When a Nation purchases tenure from the forest industry, the rights must be formally transferred. This transfer happens through the Nation’s economic development company, which is wholly owned by the First Nation, working with the Ministry of Forests to complete the process.
This Request for Approval Intended Transfer (RAIT) letter serves as a formal expression of intent to transfer tenure, and this happens alongside a forest tenure purchase and/or forest tenure transfer.
Once a Nation has agreed to purchase tenure, the process moves forward with the understanding that there is a willing seller. From there, several steps must take place:
- Consultations: The Province requires consultations with both First Nations and the public. These consultations are scheduled by the Province on its own timeline, and may be grouped with other timber transfers within the same Timber Supply Area.
- Public Interest Submission: The buyer (the First Nation’s development company) must prepare and publish a Public Interest Submission to Request a Tenure Agreement Transfer.
- Engagements: Meetings must be held with affected First Nations and any interested members of the public. All feedback and engagement must be thoroughly documented.
- Provincial Review: A final meeting with the Province is required to confirm that every step has been completed to their satisfaction.
Timeline: Although parts of the process can move quickly, it generally takes longer than two months to complete. In most cases, the full transfer process is expected to take ten months.
