Territorial Coal and Land Use Amendments

Summary#

These are final amendments to the Territorial Coal Regulations and the Territorial Land Use Regulations, registered as SOR/2024-281 on December 16, 2024 and published in the Canada Gazette on January 1, 2025. They mainly update who certain titles refer to, allow local, informal permission for small coal collection in some isolated areas, and change wording about what happens when survey monuments are disturbed.

What it does#

• Changes who is meant by "Chief" in the Territorial Coal Regulations so that it now means the Director, Lands, of the Nunavut Regional Office of the Department of Crown‑Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.
• Changes who is meant by "Minister" in both the Territorial Coal Regulations and the Territorial Land Use Regulations to the Minister of Northern Affairs.
• In the Territorial Coal Regulations, adds that in isolated parts of the Northwest Territories, Indians and Inuit who want to take small amounts of coal can be given permission by an agent of territorial lands or by a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stationed there, without paying and without filing a formal application under the regulations.
• Alters the English text of subsection 15(2) in the Territorial Land Use Regulations so the rule about when a topographic or geodetic monument is damaged, destroyed, moved or altered now begins with “(2) Where a topographic or geodetic monument is damaged, destroyed, moved or altered in the course of a land use operation, the permittee shall …”. The Gazette excerpt cuts off at that point, so the rest of the obligation is not shown there.
• States the amendments come into force on the day they were registered (December 16, 2024).

Who's affected#

• Indians and Inuit living in or visiting isolated parts of the Northwest Territories who collect or mine small amounts of coal.
• Local agents of territorial lands and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who might be asked to grant permissions on the spot.
• People or companies holding land‑use permits (permittees) whose work might damage or move survey monuments.
• The Department of Crown‑Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and the office that is now named in the regulations (the Director, Lands, Nunavut Regional Office), because the amendments change who is officially referenced.

If you want to know exactly what a permittee must do about damaged survey monuments, the Gazette excerpt does not show the full text, so that part is unclear from this notice alone.

Why it matters#

• For people in remote communities, the change can make it easier and quicker to get permission to take small amounts of coal without a formal application or fee.
• It shifts some practical decision‑making to people on the ground (territorial lands agents or local RCMP), which may speed access but could also produce inconsistent outcomes between places.
• The update to the land‑use wording likely imposes a duty on permittees when survey monuments are altered, which matters to builders, miners and surveyors — but the exact duty is not visible in the published excerpt.
• Renaming which officials the rules refer to is largely administrative, but it clarifies who in the federal northern administration is responsible under the regulations.