The ''Dominion Lands Act'' (long title: ''An Act Respecting the Public Lands of the Dominion'') was an 1872 Canadian law that aimed to encourage the settlement of the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

and to help prevent the area being claimed by the United States. The Act was closely based on the U.S. ''

Homestead Act of 1862 The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of ...

'', setting conditions in which the western lands could be settled and their natural resources developed. In 1871, the Government of Canada entered into

Treaty 1 ''Treaty 1'' (also known as the "Stone Fort Treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Imperial Crown of Great Britain and Ireland and the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree nations. The first of a series of treaties called the ...

and

Treaty 2 ''Treaty 2'' was entered in to on 21 August 1871 at Manitoba House, Rupertsland, with representatives of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. The original Anishinaabe (Chippewa and Cree), who were present, constitute ''Treaty 2'' today. It ...

to obtain the consent of the Indigenous nations from the territories set out respectively in each Treaty. The Treaties provided for the taking up of lands "for immigration and settlement". In order to settle the area, Canada invited mass emigration by European and American pioneers, and by settlers from eastern Canada. It echoed the American homestead system by offering ownership of 160 acres of land free (except for a small registration fee) to any man over 18 or any woman heading a household. They did not need to be British subjects, but had to live on the plot and improve it.

Application

Unlike in eastern Canada, the federal government had assumed control over public lands and natural resources in most of western Canada. Its jurisdiction to do so is controversial with First Nations, who assert they were not only not compensated for their lands, but that only the lands taken up for immigration and settlement were covered in the

Numbered Treaties The Numbered Treaties (or Post-Confederation Treaties) are a series of eleven treaties signed between the First Nations, one of three groups of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and the reigning monarch of Canada (Victoria, Edward VII or George V) ...

, and that other lands and natural resources were not covered. The Act was applied to the province of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and to the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. Upon the creation of the provinces of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

from the Northwest Territories, the Act continued to apply to them. It was also extended to the Peace River Block of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. In 1930, the federal government agreed to transfer control over the public lands and natural resource to the prairie provinces by means of the Natural Resources Acts. From that point onwards, the Dominion Lands Act only applied in the North-West Territories.

Requirements

The Act gave a claimant for free, the only cost to the farmer being a $10 administration fee. Any male farmer who was at least 21 years of age and agreed to cultivate at least of the land and build a permanent dwelling on it (within three years) qualified. This condition of "proving up the homestead" was instituted to prevent speculators from gaining control of the land. The Act also launched the

Dominion Lands Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; french: links=no, arpentage des terres fédérales, ATF) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout ...

, which laid the framework for the layout of the Prairie provinces that continues to this day. An important difference between the Canadian and U.S. systems was that farmers under the Canadian system could buy a neighboring lot for an additional $10 registration fee, once they had made certain improvements to their original quarter-section. This allowed most farmsteads to quickly double in size, and was especially important in the southern

Palliser's Triangle Palliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Prairie Provinces, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be un ...

area of the prairies, which was very arid. There it was all but impossible to have a functional farm on only , but it could be managed with 320. Canadian agriculture was consequently more successful than U.S. agriculture in this arid region. Bloc settlements were encouraged by section 37 which allowed associations of 10 or more settlers to group their houses together to form a settlement to fulfil their cultivation obligations on their own homestead while residing in a hamlet.

Results

Also, the first version of the Act set up extensive exclusion zones. Claimants were limited to areas further than 20 miles (32 km) from any railway (much of the land closer having been granted to the railways at the time of construction). Since it was extremely difficult to farm wheat profitably if you had to transport it over by wagon, this was a major discouragement. Farmers could buy land within the zone, but at a much higher price of $2.50 per acre ($6.20/ha). In 1879 the exclusion zone was shrunk to only 10 miles (16 km) from the tracks; and in 1882 it was finally eliminated. Less than half the arable land in the West was ever to open to farmers for homesteading under the Act. The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

, which had once owned the entire prairies, had kept 5 per cent of the land as part of the terms of the surrender of its charter. These two companies sold land to land companies and to farmers on the open market. Additional areas were set aside for schools and government buildings. Overall, about of land were given away by the government under the Act.

Repeal of the Act

From 1930 onwards, the Act only applied to the public lands in the Northwest Territories. The homestead provisions of the Act, designed to encourage agricultural settlement on the prairies, had little application to the conditions in the Northwest Territories. Parliament repealed the Act in 1950, replacing it with the ''Territorial Lands Act'',''Territorial Lands Act'', S.C. 1950, c. 22, s. 26. which was better adapted to the conditions in the Territories. The new Act did not contain any homesteading provisions.

Notes

External links

Moving Here, Staying Here: The Canadian Immigrant Experience
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191707/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/immigrants/021017-2210-e.html , date=2007-09-30 at Library and Archives Canada Political history of Canada Economic history of Canada Economy of Alberta Economy of British Columbia Economy of Manitoba Economy of Saskatchewan Economy of the Northwest Territories Legal history of Canada 1872 in Canadian law Post-Confederation Canada (1867–1914) History of immigration to Canada Canadian federal legislation Settlement schemes Immigration to Manitoba Immigration to Alberta Immigration to the Northwest Territories Immigration to Saskatchewan