This lock was placed on a surface title at the time of conversion to indicate that a surface certificate of title did not reference to mines and minerals.  Therefore, at the time of conversion the Registrar was uncertain of the mineral ownership. "Silent" really means unknown or undeclared.

When a certificate of title is converted, ISC makes every effort to exactly reproduce the certificate of title. Where commodity ownership was "silent", ISC did not have the resources at conversion to do the necessary research to determine mineral ownership. Without enough information, no mineral parcel was created. As there was no mineral parcel, there was no mineral title.

In the case of minerals, the "silence" carried forward on to the electronic record. In the former land titles system, a title to a parcel may have been issued when surface ownership was clear, but there was no corresponding title to the minerals. In such cases the paper certificate of title would either reference the ownership of some but not all of the minerals or it would make no reference to mineral ownership at all. These titles were considered as "silent as to minerals".

Section 6.6 of The Land Titles Conversion Facilitation Regulations was enacted to deal with this situation. It provides that when a certificate of title is "silent as to minerals" a transfer or other dealing with the new surface title is deemed to include a transfer or dealing with any mineral commodity title that may have been held by the owner of the surface title.

This does not mean that all "silent as to minerals" certificates of titles are deemed to be "minerals included". Research is still necessary to find where mineral commodity ownership lies. However, it does mean that if mineral commodity ownership does indeed "run with the surface", any subsequent dealing or transfer of the surface title is deemed to include dealing with or transfer of mineral commodity ownership

This lock is registered at the title level and will appear on a title print.

Functionality of the Lock

This is a Notice Lock Type and will not prohibit any transactions.

Removal of a Registrar's Lock

This lock will be removed when the mineral ownership has been certified. When the lock is removed the uncertified mineral title becomes a title within the definition under The Land Titles Act, 2000.

If you need information on requesting mineral certification you may contact:

 Customer Support
Call: 1-866-275-4721
Email: [email protected]
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