Lands and Regulations • Issues & Advocacy

The PDAC’s Lands and Regulations Committee is an amalgamation of the former Lands and Mining Regulations committees. The new committee, chaired by Eira Thomas, is participating in a number of land use/regulatory initiatives with aboriginal groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government and is also conducting land-use research. A study to quantify the land-based footprint of the mineral industry is currently underway to provide accurate information on the amount of deforestation caused by mineral activities. The committee will also be reviewing the free entry principle of the mineral tenure system, in light of evolving public priorities and expectations. Other initiatives and programs are listed below.

Lands (Page Index)
Protected areas
PDAC’s land-use strategy
Integrated Landscape Management
Canadian Boreal Initiative

Regulations (Page Index)
Map staking/ground staking
Northern regulatory regime
Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative
Nunavut land use planning and impact assessment act
Ontario government’s review of mining act and Far North planning
Mineral Exploration OS / Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)

Lands

The PDAC National Database on Protected Area Strategies was developed in November 2003 and is posted on this site. The database is one of a kind and represents the only source of national information on protected areas and the status of protected area strategies in Canada. The database is updated annually.

Access to land for mineral exploration in Canada is an important issue for the PDAC and exploration sector in Canada. In 2002, the PDAC’s board of directors approved a land-use strategy. In the fall of 2006, during a new round of strategic planning, access to land and aboriginal affairs were identified as priority issues for the association. Of particular importance is the settling of aboriginal land claims in Canada and the building of industry-community relationships. Goals and objectives to maximize the exploration land base and assure mineral tenure and land access were approved by the board of directors in the spring of 2007, and an action plan and performance criteria are now being generated. Once developed, these will be posted on this site.

Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) embodies a new vision for a more effective approach to land and resource management in Canada that takes traditional approaches, recent progress and the most current identified conservation and development needs and combines them all into a powerful, integrated concept of applying sustainable development to land use.

Its operational principles and concepts have been drawn up by the Canadian Integrated Landscape Management Coalition which was founded in 2003 and includes representatives of the conservation community, resource industries (including the PDAC and the Mining Association of Canada), aboriginal peoples, academia, provincial and federal government agencies. The coalition is committed to promoting ILM as a balanced, practical approach to achieving conservation and development objectives in Canada and to advocating its adoption across the country. In May 2005, the coalition released its seminal paper, Integrated Landscape Management: Applying sustainable development to land use. This paper explains what ILM is, why it is important and provides a checklist of elements for a fully functioning ILM system.

The committee is monitoring activities of the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) and developing strategies to engage in the process. Of particular concern is that the CBI’s intent to conserve 50 per cent of the Canadian Boreal ecosystem will increase industry uncertainty about land tenure and seriously limit the land base that is open for exploration.

Regulations

In March 2003 the board of directors agreed that the association should advocate map staking as a strategy for acquiring mineral rights in Canada but that this position should not be interpreted as opposition to ground staking.

Subsequently, an ad hoc committee was set up to examine the current status of claim staking across Canada and to consider the issue of mapstaking and its implications for the exploration community. The committee compiled baseline data to lay the foundation for an examination of all aspects of mineral tenure in Canada.

At its January 2004 meeting, the board approved the committee’s recommendations as follows:

1. map staking be adopted in surveyed areas. Staked areas should follow the cadastral survey boundaries;

2. map staking be adopted in areas remote from infrastructure and communities. Staked areas should be based on the NAD 83 UTM grid;

3. in any change to the acts and regulations, right of access to explore and develop be guaranteed;

4. the cost to apply for a map-staked claim be the same as the present cost to record a physically-staked claim.

5. Click here for a full copy of the report

Three years later, in July 2007, the PDAC board of directors agreed that the association should develop and advocate for a Canadian map staking policy on a “first come basis” which protects the confidentiality, mineral title and tenure of the claimant. The board agreed further that this policy will acknowledge that access to land acquired through map staking for mineral exploration and/or development will be subject to appropriate consultation-communication protocols with landowners (federal, provincial/territorial, or First Nations).

The board has directed the Regulations Committee to develop a position paper on free entry. Committee chair, Michael Bourassa, is a member of Ontario’s Mining Act Advisory Committee. The Ontario government is contemplating the use of map staking south of the French River, essentially following the lead of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments in offering map selection in surveyed areas. It is hoped that the introduction of map staking in southeast Ontario will reduce the potential for conflict between surface title and mining rights holders, a situation that has put the free entry system at risk.

On July 18, 2007, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development of Mines began a 60-day public consultation process on possible changes to claim staking and mineral exploration rules on property where the mining rights and surface rights are held separately. The stated objectives of the changes are "to address concerns of surface rights holders and to provide the mineral exploration industry with certainty of investment through clearer rules for exploration" in Ontario.

Proponents of map staking in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut continue to look to the PDAC for support.

For more information, contact the PDAC, info@pdac.ca.

The Industry-Government Overview Committee on the Northern Regulatory Regime (IGOC) was formed in 2000 to identify problems associated with working in Canada’s three northern territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon), make recommendations and take actions to resolve them. The committee, which reports to the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), consists of senior officials from INAC, Natural Resources Canada and the three territories, mining companies and exploration interests, associations, including the PDAC, and aboriginal representatives. Some progress has been made in strengthening the development mandate of INAC, passing much needed legislation, addressing problems with the regulatory boards, obtaining additional funding for geoscience, identifying issues around the permitting process and bringing back the annual Northern Mines Ministers Conference.

On March 9, 2006, the PDAC wrote to INAC Minister Jim Prentice expressing the association’s concerns about a proposed Dehcho land use plan in the Northwest Territories. Implementation of the plan would effectively remove 75 per cent of the Dehcho territory from the allowable exploration area. Click here for a copy of the letter and background information. The association has been seeking an extension of the plan’s deadline and has conducted consultations with communities in the area.

On November 7, 2007, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Hon. Chuck Strahl, announced the appointment of Neil A. McCrank, Q.C., P.Eng., as the Minister's Special Representative to conduct the Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative. The federal government has defined the Northern Regulatory Improvement Initiative as a strategy to improve the current regulatory regimes in the North, particularly the Northwest Territories. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development asked that Mr. McCrank pay particular attention to three over-arching issues during the course of his review: (a) Board capacity and stable funding; (b) policy and management frameworks; and (c) targeted legislative and regulatory amendments.

Following the November 7 announcement, the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, and the Mining Association of Canada established a Working Group to ensure a coordinated and cohesive industry response to this initiative. On February 28, 2008, the Working Group submitted its recommendations on behalf of the three associations. Please click here for a copy of the submission.

On May 6, 2009, the PDAC, NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, and the Mining Association of Canada, submitted comments and recommendations to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada on the proposed Nunavut Land Use Planning and Impact Assessment Act. Click here for a copy.

The federal government recently announced its intention to table a draft Nunavut Land Use Planning and Impact Assessment Act in Parliament in June of this year.  The proposed bill fulfills a commitment made in the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) to enact federal legislation establishing the Nunavut Planning Commission and the Nunavut Impact Review Board in law.   While these agencies have been in existence since 1996, they have operated entirely under the provisions of the NLCA since that time.

While modelled on the sections of the NLCA that provide for land use planning and environmental and socio-economic impact assessment, the new legislative scheme is expected to have significant implications for mineral exploration, mine development and mining operations in Nunavut for decades to come.  As a result, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, and the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines are preparing a joint industry submission to the federal government on the draft bill with the assistance of external legal advice.

For further information, please contact:

Philip Bousquet
Senior Program Director
416-362-1969 Ext 230

Copy of Bill 173

 PDAC Home • PDAC Convention