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Submitting a Land Claim

Claims are normally submitted to both the federal and provincial governments, depending on the issues under claim and the role and responsibility of each government in the events giving rise to the claim.

Who can submit a land claim?

The council or governing body of an Aboriginal community may submit a land claim to the province of Ontario, the federal government or both.

What is required to submit a claim?

The following documents need to be included in the land claim submission so that the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs can review the claim:

• Statement of Claim
• Historical Report
• Document Collection
• Document Index
• Map Collection
• Map Index
• Sources Consulted

While claims are sometimes submitted without all of this information, please try to include as much as possible. This will help the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs conduct a more thorough review.

Any gaps in the research and documentation provided are identified during the initial review. The ministry then determines if more historical research is needed.

In the statement of claim, the claimant must clearly:

• Explain the basis of the claim.
• Set out all facts and events that are relevant to the claim, even if they do not support the assertions.

For example, the statement should:

• Identify the losses or damages experienced by the Aboriginal community.
• Describe Ontario's role in the historical events leading up to the claim.
• Describe the role, if any, played by the federal government or other parties in the events giving rise to the claim.
• Outline how Ontario has not met its legal obligations.
• Identify whether Ontario owns or administers the land at issue.
• Describe how Ontario has obtained the land and benefited from its use.
• Identify or describe the claimed land that ought to be reserve land.
• If there is more than one claimant First Nation, describe the relationships of the claimants to one another.
• Specify the compensation sought.

If there is any information in the statement of claim that is unclear, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs will ask the claimant to clarify.

The historical report, or narrative, is an important part of the land claim submission.

Together with the statement of claim, this report sets out the historical events that gave rise to the claim. It should also show how Ontario and the federal government have been historically involved in the claim.

The historical report should include:

• An executive summary of the research report.
• All historical evidence that is relevant to the claim, even if it does not support the assertions.
• Footnotes, or endnotes, citing the sources used to support each statement in the historical report.

Please provide the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs with an electronic version of the report in Microsoft Word format and a printed version of the report.

The document collection includes both the primary and secondary historical documents used to support the claim.

When putting the document collection together, please:

• Number each document sequentially (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.) in the top-right corner. A document's number must be the same as its number in the:
• Document index
• Historical report
• Statement of land claim
• Scan images/documents and index them using document management software.
• Link scanned documents to the document index.
• Submit paper copies if there is no access to scanning equipment or document management software.
• Submit documents on legal-sized paper (8½" x 14").
• Submit copies of oversized documents (e.g. maps and survey plans) to scale.
• Transcribe illegible documents.

The document index lists all the documents that make up the document collection. When creating a document index, please:

• Use Microsoft Word or Excel.
• Display the following information in a table:
• Document number
• Document date
• Document author
• Document name
• Brief description of the document
• Document source

The map collection includes all the maps used to support the claim. If maps are used, please:

• Number each one in the top-right corner.
• Cite the map's number whenever referring to it in the submission.

A map index lists all the maps that make up the map collection. When creating a map index, please:

• Use Microsoft Word or Excel.
• List all the maps used in a table.

List all the research sources consulted, but not relied upon, in preparing the submission.

Oral History

If applicable, evidence of the claimant community's oral history of the claim should be included.

Checklist

Electronic and print versions of the following items should be included in the land claim submission:

• Statement of land claim, including allegations that are clear and detail Ontario's involvement in the events leading to the claim
• A historical report that includes:
• An executive summary
• Footnotes, or endnotes, indicating the document in the document collection that is being cited to support statements in the report
• Documents used to support the historical report, numbered sequentially (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.)
• Document index listing the number, date, author and brief description of each document used
• List of research sources consulted
• Numbered maps (if maps are relevant to the submission)
• Map index (if maps are included in the submission)

Download printer-friendly version of checklist (PDF)

Land claim submissions should be mailed to:

Director, Negotiations Branch
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
160 Bloor Street East, 4th floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M7A 2E6

For More Information

For more information on submitting a claim, please submit your question using our online form, or please contact:

Kelly Roy
Research Coordinator
Negotiations Branch
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
160 Bloor Street East, 4th floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M7A 2E6

For more information on land claims, please visit the:

• Land Claims section of our website.
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website.