Canadian Court Win Sparks Property Rights Panic

A landmark court ruling granting Indigenous title over hundreds of acres in metro Vancouver has sent shockwaves through Canada’s real estate world, raising fears over property rights and financing in one of the country’s priciest markets.

In August, the Supreme Court of British Columbia recognized the Cowichan people’s aboriginal title to about 800 acres of land in Richmond — an area now dominated by industrial tenants and home to billions in property value, Bloomberg reported. The judgment found that Crown land grants made between 1871 and 1914 “unjustifiably infringe” on the Cowichan’s rights, ruling that their title “lies beyond the land title system in British Columbia.”

The city, province and federal government are all appealing the decision, citing “potentially significant nationwide implications,” a federal spokesperson told the outlet.

The ruling takes effect in February 2027, but uncertainty is already rippling through the market. Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie warned residents in a letter that their “ownership status and validity” could be compromised, sparking outrage and a packed town meeting on Oct. 28.

City officials said lenders have already begun rethinking loans in the affected zone, which includes major industrial holdings along the Fraser River leased by tenants such as Coca-Cola Canada Bottling.

“This can wreak havoc on the economy of British Columbia,” said Richmond’s city solicitor Anthony Capuccinello Iraci at the meeting, noting concerns that properties could lose their function as collateral.

The Cowichan Nation insists the panic is misplaced. Its leaders said the case targets governments, not individual landowners, and that any compensation for diminished title would come from the province, not private citizens. “It does not erase private property,” the group said in a statement.

Still, the decision exposes the fragility of land ownership in British Columbia, where most territory was never covered by treaties with Indigenous nations. That gap, long known to legal scholars, has now become a mainstream concern for property owners and developers.

Land values within the disputed area top $1.1 billion according to B.C. tax records. Montrose Properties CEO Ken Low, whose firm owns industrial parcels in the zone, said the uncertainty has already stalled projects.

Legal experts are divided. Some call the ruling “destabilizing” for Canadian property law, while others, including former BC Attorney General Andrew Petter, say fears of homeowners losing their deeds are overblown.

With appeals likely to drag on for years, Richmond’s real estate market could potentially get caught in limbo.

— Eric Weilbacher