U.S. builders hoard mineral rights under new homes

[wulfie68]

In Canada the allodial rights as it is called all belong to the crown and have been, through the constitution, been handed to the provinces. In the US most allodial rights are held under 'eminent domain' which is once again the govt. Basically since about the 60's no person has had any mineral rights and really only has the surface rights. Further to all that in Canada even the surface rights aren't truly held by the homeowner, they are granted 'right of use' while actual ownership remains with the crown.

About Freehold Mineral Rights

Again, I can't speak for most of the country but this sums up most of the mineral rights issues for Alberta (I am assuming Saskatchewan will be fairly similar and possibly most of Manitoba). Some of it was influenced by early federal Acts, brought in by Sir John A MacDonald, in his quest to see the CPR completed. One thing they omitted was the land owned, mineral rights and all, by the Hudson's Bay company. I can't remember how much land they received from the Crown, but it was fairly extensive, and led to the formation of Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas (later bought out by Dome Petroleum who was bought out by Amoco, who was bought out by BP).