Management of public land

The gouvernement manages the development of public land by allocating land rights to private citizens and enterprises for various projects (e.g. lease, sale and permit). Rights are allocated with due regard for different uses, in accordance with the applicable legislation, regulations, by-laws and land use plans.

The public land planning process is structured by public land use plans (known by their French acronym PATP) and regional plans for public land development (known by their French acronym PRDTP). The characteristics of public land are analyzed and described in territorial profiles.

Public land use plans are prepared by administrative regions. They set out the government’s orientations for the use and protection of public land. They are established in the area of application and are composed of an intention, a vocation and, where appropriate, specific objectives.

They guide the management and development of land and resources in Québec’s regions, with due regard for their individual characteristics.

Public land use plans usually comprise:

• A territorial analysis
• A summary document
• A review of follow-up actions
• Numerous maps

Public land use plans for most administrative areas are available in our publications directory (in French only). You can alsoview them on this interactive map (in French only).

The Montreal, Laval, Montérégie and Centre-du-Québec regions do not have a public land use plan because they have very little public land.

For more information on the general features of a PATP, such as government orientations and their components (intention, vocation and specific objectives), see “Le plan d’affection du territoire public – Une vision globale des terres et des ressources (in French only)”.

The regional public land development plans (PRDTP) are tools for the development of public lands under the authority of the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts. Their objectives are the harmonious and sustainable development of public lands for the benefit of the population. They are used to determine, in consultation with regional partners, where, when and how certain land rights can be granted for the collaborative use of public lands.

You may consult the regional plans for public land development of the following sectors:

• Recreation and tourism development (in French only);
• Implementation of wind turbines (in French only).

Vacationing development planning must comply with the “Lignes directrices sur le développement de la villégiature sur les terres du domaine de l’État (in French only) (PDF 1.97 Mb)”.

This document presents, in the form of thematic sheets, the principles, orientations, objectives and methods guiding in particular:

• planning for vacationing development, including territorial division;
• selecting development sites and issuing vacation lot leases;
• implementing and developing vacation lots;
• planning for public access.

These are minimum terms and conditions, common to all of Québec, which can be specified in the development of the PRDTPs.

This document, which is applied by the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, and the delegated regional county municipalities, will be of interest, in particular, to organizations concerned with land use planning and developers of projects on publics lands.

The territorial profiles describe the economic, environmental and social aspects of the region’s public land.

You may consult the territorial profiles (in PDF format) of some administrative regions in the French version of this page. 

The government has delegated the management of specific areas and categories of land rights to regional county municipalities (RCMs).

The delegate RCMs are responsible for:

• Analyzing applications to use public land
• Allocating and renewing rights
• Controlling the occupation of delegated public land

Generally speaking, vacation leases and rough shelter leases are managed by the delegate RCMs, while commercial and industrial leases and other land rights (e.g. servitudes, permits) are managed by the gouvernement du Québec.

Below is a list of delegate RCMs, grouped by administrative region, along with the responsibilities entrusted to them.