For decades, thousands of Canadians have owned cottages on land leased from First Nations. Many have bought, sold, renovated, and passed these properties down through generations, often treating them much like any other cottage. But, unlike traditional fee simple property ownership, a cottage on leased reserve land comes with an important legal distinction: You can build it with your own money, yet never own what you built. As leases approach expiry, that distinction can determine whether a cottage remains, is removed, or becomes the subject of a new lease agreement.
Any legal analysis of these leases begins with the unique framework governing interests in First Nations reserve lands. Unlike conventional leasehold arrangements, leases on reserve lands are not subject to provincial landlord-tenant legislation, such as The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17. See Derrickson v. Derrickson, [1986] S.C.R. 285, at para 41. Instead, leasehold interests on reserve lands are
