By Grant Warkentin
BC’s Court of Appeal has made another judgment about aboriginal rights and title that has implications for property owners around BC.
In a judgment released today, the court ruled the Nuchatlaht nation on Nootka Island hold title over 210 square kilometres of land, based on historical and archaeological evidence of their occupation.
“In our opinion, the identification of the territory over which the Nuchatlaht exercised exclusive occupation, coupled with the evidence of the Nuu-chah-nulth’s firm concept of ownership extending to ‘the fishing places in the rivers and the sea, and hunting and gathering locales,’ and regular use of these resources throughout the claim area is sufficient to establish the title claim on a balance of probabilities,” reads the judgment.
The decision from the three judges, Justices Peter M. Willcock, Janet Winteringham, and Geoffrey B. Gomery, was unanimous.
Ten other indigenous groups from around Vancouver Island were involved with the case as intervenors, as it has implications for other aboriginal land and title claims and court cases. They were:
- Cowichan Nation
- Cowichan Tribes
- Penelakut Tribe
- Halault First Nation
- Stz’uminus First Nation
- Dzawada’enuxw First Nation
- Ehattesaht First Nation
- Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation
- shíshálh Nation
- Tseshaht First Nation
Perhaps not coincidentally, after a meeting this morning with First Nations leaders, Premier David Eby said he plans to put a “temporary pause on a number of sections” of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) for up to three years.
Property owners might not want to get their hopes up, however; he says it was concerns from the indigenous leaders about proposed amendments to the legislation that prompted the pause.
The province is appealing two recent court decisions that have cast doubt on the strength of property rights in BC: the Cowichan decision, which gave the Cowichan Tribes title over lands in Richmond, and the Gitxaała decision, which ruled that BC’s system for granting mineral rights is incompatible with DRIPA.
Since then, there’s been a chilling effect on the real estate market in the affected region of Richmond, with not a single property reported sold since the Cowichan decision in August 2025. Some banks and lenders pulled out of the market because with aboriginal title on the properties in conflict with fee simple title of the owners, the properties can’t be used as collateral. The province has offered $150 million in loan insurance, but the collective value of the affected properties is more than $2 billion.
As well, industry groups and exploration companies have expressed concern that the Gitxaała ruling plus the implications of DRIPA have made the province an unattractive place to do business.
Eby says he’s committed to introducing amendments to DRIPA legislation before the end of May, so it can be debated this spring.
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