Richmond Land Ownership: Navigating the Cowichan Decision
Richmond land owners have not had their private title automatically taken away, but the Cowichan decision has created real uncertainty around title, financing, appraisals, marketability, and future legal remedies.
The original B.C. Supreme Court decision recognized Aboriginal title over part of the Cowichan claim area in southeast Richmond. The City of Richmond says the decision involved approximately 732 acres and that Aboriginal title was found to take precedence over fee simple ownership in the identified area. Richmond filed a Notice of Appeal on September 3, 2025, and the Province, federal government, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Musqueam, and Tsawwassen were also involved in the appeal landscape.
The City’s own briefing note says the Cowichan claim covered 1,846 acres, with the court recognizing Aboriginal title to roughly 40 percent of that claimed area. It also states that Crown grants of fee simple did not extinguish Cowichan Aboriginal title, and that some fee simple titles held by federal entities and the City were declared defective and invalid.
The appeal is still the central issue. UBCM reported in March 2026 that all seven parties involved in the original proceedings had appealed, that the appeal was still in its early stages, and that no factums or hearing date had yet been scheduled at that time.
For private owners, the situation is more nuanced than the headlines. First Peoples Law argues that the Cowichan decision did not invalidate individual Richmond landowners’ ownership and that the lands sought to be returned were government or public authority lands, not individual private homes. At the same time, other legal commentary notes that the decision still raises serious unresolved questions about how Aboriginal title and fee simple title coexist, especially where private owners were not parties to the litigation.
The practical issue for land owners today is not mass displacement. It is uncertainty. Some appraisers are adding land-claims clauses to reports, and the B.C. branch of the Appraisal Institute of Canada has discouraged unsupported valuation adjustments that are not based on market data. Global News also reported in March that the uncertainty appeared to be affecting buyer confidence and that no property had apparently sold in the affected area so far that year.
The Province has tried to calm financing concerns. Premier David Eby said in December that major lenders had told the Province their lending policies had not changed, while the Province also announced up to $150 million in loan guarantees as a backstop for affected homeowners and businesses.
Do not panic, but do not ignore it.
For most Richmond homeowners outside the affected area, this is not an immediate title issue. For owners inside or near the affected area, it may affect financing, sale timing, buyer confidence, appraisal assumptions, and legal due diligence. The right approach is calm, factual, and strategic.
