Commissioner of Crown Lands (Province of Canada)


The Commissioner of Crown Lands was a member of the Executive Council for the Province of Canada responsible for administering the surveying and sale of Crown land, the forests, mines, and fisheries of the Province. From 1841 to 1867 the Department of Crown Lands was the biggest of the Province of Canada's departments. It assumed responsibility for mining in 1846, for fisheries in 1857, and for Indian Affairs in 1860. It functioned on a dual basis, with each branch divided into two separate sections, one for Upper Canada and one for Lower Canada. After Canadian Confederation in 1867, responsibility for provincial crown land and for natural resources was assigned to the provinces while responsibility for fisheries and Indian Affairs were transferred to the new federal government.
PeriodCommissionerCommissioner
18271841Upper Canada
18271841Lower Canada
  • William Bowman Felton, 18271836
  • Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier, 18371841
    • 18411867Province of Canada
  • Robert Baldwin Sullivan, 10 February 1841 30 June 1841
  • John Davidson, 23 July 1841 12 October 1842
  • Augustin Norbert Morin, 13 October 1842 11 December 1843
  • Denis-Benjamin Papineau, 3 September 1844 7 December 1847
  • John A. Macdonald, 8 December 1847 10 March 1848
  • James Hervey Price, 11 March 1848 - 27 October 1851
  • John Rolph, 28 October 1851 17 August 1853
  • Louis Victor Sicotte, 17 August 1853 26 August 1853
  • Augustin Norbert Morin, 31 August 1853 26 January 1855
  • Joseph Cauchon, 27 January 1855 30 April 1857
  • Étienne-Paschal Taché, 16 June 1857 24 November 1857
  • Louis Victor Sicotte, 25 November 1857 1 August 1858
  • Antoine-Aimé Dorion, 2 August 1858 6 August 1858
  • Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet, 7 August 1858 18 March 1862
  • George Sherwood, 27 March 1862 23 May 1862
  • William McDougall, 24 May 1862 29 March 1864
  • Alexander Campbell, 30 March 1864 30 June 1867

    • ;Assistant Commissioners of Crown Lands for the Province of Canada