Management of water property in the domain of the State
Occupation licences
The Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks is responsible for issuing not-for-profit occupationlicences.
Applicable structures
Occupation licences to install or maintain the following must be appliedfor:
Floating anchorage platforms that are moveable or built on piles and boathouses built on piles, whose size exceeds 20m2 or that occupy more than 1/10 of the width of the watercourse bed where they arepositioned
Structures that collect and/or dischargewater
Structures that serve to protect the banks of river parcels from erosion, subsidence, landslides and/orfloods
Bridges whose foundations on the water property bed do not exceed 1/10 of the width of the river where they arepositioned
Cables, pipes and/or other structures, except for jetties used to provide inter-bank links or communications facilities
Mooringanchorages
If you do not own the waterfront property that is adjacent to the water property in the domain of the State, the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs is required to notify the owner of the adjacent waterfront property about comments they may wish to submit on any potential impact to their waterfront rights.
The installation of new structures, requires an attestation of compliance with municipal bylaws (PDF 209 Kb) (French), signed by the clerk or secretary-treasurer of the municipality. The attestation must certify that the structures meet current municipalbylaws.
Applications are reviewed on a preliminary basis, free ofcharge.
If the review concludes that the structures are not located on water property in the domain of the State, written notification will be sent and the file will beclosed.
If the review concludes that the structures are located on water property in the domain of the State and the type of right applied for is confirmed, processing of the file will continue. Additional information may berequested.
If the file qualifies, the applicant will receive a request to pay for the cost of the occupation licence and any applicable GST and PST. The cost is based on the type of structure. Payment must be made by cheque or money order payable to the Minister ofFinance.
The original of the occupation licence will then be mailed to theapplicant.
Validity period
Occupation licences are valid for one year and are automatically renewed on a year-by-year basis. No feesapply.
However, a new licence must be applied for when ownershipchanges.
Licences are cancelled when the related occupation ends and can also be revoked by the Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks if their conditions are notmet.