Natural Resources Acts

The Natural Resources Acts were a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of Canada and the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1930 to transfer control over crown lands and natural resources within these provinces from the Government of Canada to the provincial governments. Alberta,[1] Manitoba[2] and Saskatchewan[3] had not been given control over their natural resources when they entered Confederation, unlike the other Canadian provinces.[4] British Columbia had surrendered certain portions of its natural resources and Crown lands to the federal government, the Railway Belt and the Peace River Block, when it entered Confederation in 1871,[5] as part of the agreement for the building of the transcontinental railway.

Alberta Natural Resources Act Railway Belt and Peace River Block Act Manitoba Natural Resources Act Saskatchewan Natural Resources Act
Parliament of Canada
Long title An Act respecting the transfer of the Natural Resources of Alberta An Act respecting the transfer of the Railway Belt and the Peace River Block An Act respecting the transfer of the Natural Resources of Manitoba An Act respecting the transfer of the Natural Resources of Saskatchewan
Citation	S.C. 1930, c. 3 [Alta.] S.C, 1930, c. 37 [B.C.] S.C. 1930, c. 29 [Man.] S.C. 1930, c. 41 [Sask.]
Enacted by	Parliament of Canada
Assented to	30 May 1930
Keywords
Natural Resources Transfer Agreements Constitution Act, 1930

Natural Resources Agreement Act
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Long title An Act to ratify a certain Agreement between the Government of the Dominion of Canada, represented therein by the Honourable Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, and the Honourable Charles Stewart, Minister of the Interior, of the first part, and the Government of the Province of Saskatchewan, represented therein by the Honourable James Thomas Milton Anderson, Premier and Minister of Education of the Province, and the Honourable Murdoch Alexander MacPherson, Attorney-General, of the second part.
Enacted by	Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Assented to	10 April 1930
Keywords
Saskatchewan Natural Resources Transfer Agreement Constitution Act, 1930

Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Act
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Long title Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Act
Citation	C.C.S.M. c. N30
Enacted by	Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Keywords
Manitoba Natural Resources Transfer Agreement Constitution Act, 1930

Following protracted negotiations, in 1930 the Government of Canada and the four provinces reached a series of agreements for the transfer of the administration of the natural resources to the provincial governments, called the Natural Resources Transfer Agreements. Parliament[6] and the four provincial legislatures[7] then passed acts to implement the agreements. Finally, the British Parliament passed the Constitution Act, 1930,[8] to ratify the agreements, entrenching them in the Constitution of Canada. The passage of these Acts rendered the Dominion Lands Act obsolete, since these same lands were no longer under federal jurisdiction.

A few small sections of resource-rich territory were excluded from the act, although they would be transferred later. First Nations reserves and lands reserved for indigenous persons were excluded under the Indian Act. National parks were also excluded - they remain under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and are generally off-limits to resource development.