Soldier Settlement Act (R.S.C. 1927, c. 188)

Marginal note:Board may acquire lands and other property by agreement

7 The Board may, for the execution of any of the purposes of this Act,

• (a) purchase by agreement, at prices which to it shall seem reasonable; or

• (b) in any other manner acquire by consent or agreement, from all persons, firms and corporations;

such agricultural land, situate in any part of Canada, and such live stock, farm equipment and building materials as it may deem necessary.

Marginal note:Compulsory purchase

8 The Board may, for the execution of any of the purposes of this Act, acquire by way of compulsory purchase, in the manner provided by Part III of this Act, from all persons, firms, and corporations, such agricultural land as it may deem necessary.

Marginal note:Arrangements with provincial governments to acquire agricultural lands

9 The Board may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, arrange with the Government of any province

• (a) for the acquiring or utilizing for any of the purposes of this Act of any Crown or other agricultural lands of such province; and

• (b) the terms and conditions upon which the Board will acquire, hold and dispose of or will utilize such lands, or upon which it will assist settlers to whom such province itself shall grant or convey any of such lands, such terms and conditions to be, as nearly as possible, the same as those which are by or under this Act provided with respect to settlers to whom the Board shall sell lands acquired by it.

Marginal note:Indian lands

10 The Board may acquire from His Majesty by purchase, upon terms not inconsistent with those of the release or surrender, any Indian lands which, under the Indian Act, have been validly released or surrendered.

Marginal note:School lands

• 11  Notwithstanding anything in the Dominion Lands Act having reference to school lands, the Governor in Council may, for such price as two arbitrators, one thereof appointed by the Minister and the other by the Government of the province concerned, shall in writing certify to the Minister as fair and reasonable, grant or convey to the Board any school lands held pursuant to the provisions of that Act.

• Marginal note:Application of amount paid

  2. The amount payable by the Board for the acquirement of such lands shall be applied as if received as the proceeds of a sale of the same lands made pursuant to the provisions of the Dominion Lands Act.

Marginal note:Valuation of land purchased not to be enhanced because value increased by settlement

12 The valuation of any land purchased or proposed to be purchased by the Board, whether by agreement or compulsorily, shall not be enhanced merely because its value has, by reason or in consequence of settlement or settlement operations in the vicinity thereof in execution of any of the purposes of this Act, become enhanced; and, in the absence of satisfactory proof to a contrary effect, any enhancement in the value of the land which has ensued subsequent to such settlement or settlement operations shall be deemed to have ensued by reason or in consequence of such settlement or settlement operations, and the value of the land at the time of its purchase by the Board shall be deemed not greater than its value prior to such settlement or settlement operations.

Marginal note:Tenants, guardians executors, trustees, etc., may sell to Board

• 13  Any tenant in tail or for life, grevé de substitution, seigneur, guardian, tutor, curator, committee, executor, administrator, trustee, master or person, not only for and on behalf of himself, his heirs, successors, and assigns, but also for and on behalf of those whom he represents, whether infants, issue unborn, lunatics, idiots, married women, or other persons, seized, possessed, or interested in any land or other property, may contract and agree with the Board for the sale of the whole or any part thereof, and may convey the same to the Board; and may also contract and agree with the Board as to the amount of compensation to be paid for any such land or property and give acquittance therefor.

• Marginal note:Persons under disability

  2. In any case in which there is no guardian or other person to represent any person under any disability, the Court may, on the application of the Board after due notice to the persons interested, appoint a guardian or person to represent for the purposes hereof such person so under such disability, with authority to give such acquittance.

• Marginal note:Application of compensation money

  3. The Court in making any order in this section mentioned shall give such directions as to the disposal, application or investment of such compensation money as it deems necessary to secure the interest of all persons interested therein.

• Marginal note:Validity of contracts hereunder

  4. Any contract or agreement made hereunder, or any conveyance or other instrument made or given in pursuance of such contract or agreement shall be good and valid to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

• Marginal note:Binding for six months on owner

  5. Every such contract or agreement shall be binding on the owner and on all who may take or claim through or under him, for six months from the date of the contract or agreement, although such land has in the meantime devolved upon or been conveyed or assigned to a third person.

• Marginal note:Registration unnecessary to preserve right of Board

  6. No surrender, conveyance, mortgage, charge, agreement or award under this Act shall require registration or enrolment to preserve the right of the Board under it, but the same may be registered in the Registry of Deeds for the place where the land lies, if the Board deems it advisable.

• Marginal note:Application of section

  7. This section shall apply to all Parts of this Act.

Agricultural Training

Marginal note:Training and instruction in agriculture and economics, and allowances to settlers for same

14 The Board may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make provision for

• (a) the placing of settlers with farmers for instruction in farming;

• (b) the establishment of agricultural training stations for settlers;

• (c) the supply of instructors and inspectors to visit and assist settlers with information and instruction in farming;

• (d) the training in home economics of the wives and female dependents of settlers; and

• (e) the payment of subsistence allowances to settlers, for themselves and their dependents, while such settlers are in receipt of such instruction or training.

Soldier Grants

Marginal note:Free soldier grants

• 15  The Minister may issue, free, to any settler a soldier grant for not more than one quarter section, of one hundred and sixty acres, more or less, of lands reserved pursuant to section six of this Act.

• Marginal note:To whom grants not to be accorded

  2. Unless the Board shall, for special reasons, otherwise recommend, no such free grant shall be made to any settler who

  • (a) has, pursuant to the provisions of this Act, purchased from the Board any land, or

  • (b) has, pursuant to the provisions of this or of the former Act, secured from the Board any advance of money for the clearing of encumbrances on, or the purchase of, or the improvement of, any land, or

  • (c) is owner of or has a vested, possessory interest in, agricultural land of such area as, in the opinion of the Board, constitutes an average farm for the district within which the land is situate, or which, in the opinion of the Board, is of the value of five thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Conditions provided by Governor in Council

  3. The Governor in Council may provide, as respects such free grants, such conditions of improvement and occupation as he deems necessary to secure the use of the land for the purposes for which it is granted.

PART IISales and Advances to Settlers

Sales of Land

Marginal note:Conditions of sale and conveyance of lands by Board to settlers

16 The Board may sell, or dispose of, and, upon full payment made, may convey, to settlers, any lands granted, conveyed or transferred to or acquired by it, or which it may have power to sell or dispose of, but subject in every case of sale of lands acquired by purchase, whether by agreement or compulsorily, to the following provisions: —

• (a) where the parcel to be sold has been separately acquired the sale price shall be the cost of the parcel to the Board;

• (b) where the parcel to be sold has been acquired as portion of one or more other parcels the sale price shall be such amount as, in the opinion of the Board, bears the same proportion of the cost of the entire parcel or parcels so acquired as the value of the parcel to be sold bears to the value of the parcel or parcels so acquired;

• (c) the terms of payment shall be all cash down, or, at the option of the settler, not less than ten per centum cash down and the balance payable in twenty-five or less equal, consecutive, annual instalments, with interest at five per centum per annum, on the amortization plan, with full privilege of prepayment: provided that the Board may, in the case of a special settler, dispense the settler from the making of the whole or any part of the cash down payment, in which case the full or the remaining portion of the sale price shall be paid, in manner hereinbefore provided with respect to a balance of such price, by instalments;

• (d) no sale shall be made of a larger area than three hundred and twenty acres, unless, in the opinion of the Board, owing to the character of the land, such acreage will not be adequate to enable successful farming operations, nor, except in the case of a settler who is within the terms of the proviso in the next preceding paragraph of this section, shall the balance of sale price left unpaid to the Board at the time of sale exceed four thousand five hundred dollars, nor in the excepted case shall the balance or amount left unpaid exceed five thousand dollars.

Marginal note:Calculation of price by Board

• 17  The Board shall calculate in each case of sale the price at which any land may be sold under the provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Improvements to be considered

  2. In calculating the cost to the Board of any land, the Board shall take into consideration not only the cost of the land but also the cost of improvements, if any, effected or to be effected by the Board.

Sales of Stock and Equipment

Marginal note:Conditions as to payment of price and balances on sale of live stock and equipment by Board to settler

• 18  The Board may sell to settlers any live stock or equipment acquired under authority of this Act, but subject in every case of sale to the following provisions: —

  • (a) the sale price shall be such sum as, according to the calculations of the Board, is the cost to it of the live stock or equipment to be sold;

  • (b) the terms of payment shall be all cash down, or, at the option of the settler, payment in four equal, consecutive, annual instalments, commencing not later than three years from the date of the sale, with interest at five per centum per annum, on the amortization plan, said interest to begin to accrue two years from the date of the sale; the amount owing to the Board upon such sale shall by force of this Act constitute a first charge on any land purchased by the settler from the Board and, as well, on the settler’s own land, if any, and, cumulatively, the title, ownership and right of possession of the live stock, and of the increase thereof, and of the equipment so sold, shall, until the sale price thereof is paid, remain in the Board; the settler to have full privilege of prepayment;

  • (c) the balance of sale price left unpaid to the Board at the time of sale shall not exceed two thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Limitation as to balance of sale price left unpaid to Board

  2. In addition to any assistance which a settler, as defined in the former Act, holding any entry on Dominion lands, may have secured or may secure by virtue of the provisions of that Act, the Board may sell to such settler live stock and equipment on the terms of payment set out in this section, save that the balance of sale price left unpaid to the Board shall not exceed one thousand dollars, all other provisions of this Act relating to sales of live stock and equipment made to settlers being deemed to refer and apply mutatis mutandis to any such sale of live stock and equipment, whether such sale is or was made under authority of this subsection or by virtue of the provisions of any Order in Council passed before the seventh day of July, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, but so that the total made by

  • (a) the advances of the Board to the settler in any connection under authority of this Act; and

  • (b) the amounts, exclusive of interest, due by him to the Board as the result of any sale made under authority of this subsection, shall not exceed three thousand dollars.