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A sample letter of intent regarding land donation.

A sample letter of intent regarding land donation.

Obtaining a Surveyors Real Property Report (SRPR) may be the most important thing you do before you close the deal on any purchase. Without a survey, you may not know the extent of your property. Only a Ontario Land Surveyor licensed to perform cadastral (legal boundary) surveys can provide you with this information. Without a survey, there is much you do not know and you are risking both your relationship with your neighbours, and your investment.

A Generic Sample Template for Property Securement Process – Checklist for Projects.

This document sets out OFT’s general principles, guidelines and approaches to acquiring interests in farmland through its Land Securement Program: strategies, types of interest in land to be sought, methods of acquisition, and criteria to evaluate farmland securement opportunities.

All land and easement projects are individually planned so that the property’s important conservation values are identified and protected, the project furthers the land trust’s mission and goals, and the project reflects the capacity of the organization to meet future stewardship obligations. This practice calls for each project to be tailored to the specifics of the property through some form of project planning. The process may take the form of an actual project plan, a completed project planning data sheet, or may be reflected in the correspondence, maps or other documents related to the project. The formal or informal project plan becomes the guide for the next steps in the protection process.

We have prepared this document to help land trusts manage conservation easement agreements to minimize the potential for conflicts and to respond effectively if a compliance problem arises. It is one part of a broader strategy to create a collective defense approach that will put land trusts in a strong position to deal with challenges to conservation easement agreements that may occur. It reflects the wisdom culled from a range of existing research documents and the real-life experiences of individuals on the ground.

Several Ontario statutes provide specific legislative authority for conservation agreements. The Ontario Conservation Land Act allows government organizations, conservation authorities, charitable corporations and certain other specified bodies to hold and enforce conservation agreements for land conservation and related purposes. Since this statute allows a wide variety of government and nongovernment organizations to hold conservation agreements, this sample agreement was prepared within the context of the Conservation Land Act, and all references in the sample agreement to the “Act” are references to this statute.

A Sample of a CONSERVATION EASEMENT AGREEMENT

A Sample of a CONSERVATION EASEMENT AGREEMENT

The Ontario Farmland Trust works directly with farmers and other farm owners to help them protect their land from non-agricultural development, such as urban sprawl and the mining of aggregates. By partnering with the Farmland Trust, farm families have the assurance that their land will continue to support agriculture for generations to come.

Farmland Easement Agreements offer farmers and other farm owners a tangible way to protect their land for farming, for future generations. Farm families can partner with land trusts, like the Ontario Farmland Trust, to establish easement agreements that ensure their farmland will never be converted to urban development or some other non-agricultural use in the future.

Farm owners can receive tax benefits by entering into farmland easement agreements with charitable land trusts to protect their farms from urban sprawl and other types of non-agricultural development. Such benefits are intended to make farmland preservation achievable and affordable for farmers and private landowners who choose to make this part of their legacy, and their contribution to a sustainable future for food and farming.

Government website to Search a range of government documents, from technical bulletins to minister’s orders, regarding land registration.

Search land records or securely register documents and survey plans for a property – all in one place.

Sample Policy Template. This policy, as adopted by the X Board of Directors embodies the functional principles of X’s Records Policy. Additionally, the X Executive Director is empowered to develop and amend procedural documents as needed to implement the Records Policy. This policy shall be applied in a manner consistent with the X Privacy and Security Policies.

This record-keeping policy establishes a framework for record keeping at The Couchiching Conservancy. It incorporates the requirements of the Canadian Land Trust Alliance (CLTA) Standards and Practices (Sections 2D, 6B, 9G, and Land Transactions sections 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12).

This policy seeks to address the process and requirements of ensuring sound transactions. Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) is a registered charity and receives gifts of lands and interests in lands of a broad range of value. Providing beneficial tax receipts to donors of these lands or interest in land should reflect “Fair Market Value” as defined by an appropriate and qualified professional.

A donor wishing to make an ecological gift must provide an appraisal as evidence of the value of the gift as part of the donor’s application to the Ecological Gifts Program. An appraisal is an estimate of the value of a property made by a qualified appraiser, sometimes referred to as a valuer. The Ecological Gifts Program has specific appraisal requirements set out in a document titled Guidelines for Appraisals which can be found on the Program’s web site at www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/egp-pde/.

After Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) receives a completed Application for Appraisal Review and Determination of the Fair Market Value of an Ecological Gift (application) and an appraisal report that meets our guidelines, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the Minister) will make a determination of the fair market value of your donation. This determination and the issuance of the Statement of Fair Market Value are required for you to claim the appropriate income tax deduction or credit for ecological gifts. For additional information about the process, please contact the EGP Regional Coordinator nearest to you.

Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) Professional Appraisers (P. App.) are Canada’s real estate valuation experts. AIC Members are qualified professionals providing independent appraisal services, taking the guesswork out of your residential, commercial, and industrial real estate transactions.

First introduced in January 2001 and now revised every two (2) years, the Canadian Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (“The Standards,” or CUSPAP) respects the expanding role of the valuation professional within the Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC).

A Guide to Stewardship, Monitoring and Costs in Holding Natural Heritage Lands and Conservation Agreements.

A Land Stewardship Fund policy document from the Ontario Farmland Trust Land.

A Final Report on Stewardship Funding to detail the annual stewardship obligations of the ORMLT and assess the funding requirements for the Land Forever Fund.

A fact sheet covering how to determine stewardship costs for conservation easement agreements.

A fact sheet that outlines the cost of enforcement for conservation easement agreements.

A Power Point Presentation on S & P 11A & 12 A.

For every conservation easement agreement (CEA) the land trust has a baseline documentation report (that includes a baseline map and photographs) prepared prior to closing and signed by the landowner at closing. Both the landowner and the land trust should hold at least one original copy.

A Fact Sheet on Conservation Easement Monitoring.

This document outlines a framework of protocols and practices used by a land trust to meet monitoring needs and obligations as guided by the Canadian Land Trust (CLT) Standards & Practices.

Property Record Summary of File Form

A sample template for a property record sheet.

A sample template for landowner contacts and summary reports.

A Fact Sheet that outlines Landowner Relations.

An example document of a Land Trust’s Landowner Relations manual. This manual will explain your duties and suggest some of the best and most effective ways to carry them out.

A chapter on enforcement practices from West Coast Environmental Law.

A sample policy document on Managing Violations on Easement Properties.

This document to helps land trusts manage conservation easement agreements to minimize the potential for conflicts and to respond effectively if a compliance problem arises. It is one part of a broader strategy to create a collective defense approach that will put land trusts in a strong position to deal with challenges to conservation easement agreements that may occur.

An example document of a Land Trust’s Easement Enforcement Guidelines.

Conservation Land Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.28

Policy Statement – The Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) is accountable for monitoring and maintaining the provisions as registered in each easement agreement. To do so, OFT staff and Board members complete annual site visits to each easement property. In the event that an amendment to the current easement is requested by a landowner, the following procedure will be undertaken.

This document lays out Bylaw Number Two of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance Inc.

A Fact Sheet for Determining Stewardship Costs for Land Trust Properties.

Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust (“ORMLT” or “the Trust”) Final Report of Task Group on Stewardship Funding.

Template for calculating Endowment Fund requirements.

A Guide to Land Stewardship is intended to provide information to the Bruce Trail Conservancy’s (BTC’s) volunteer Land Stewards and Club Land Stewardship Directors in the care and management of BTC owned and managed lands. This guide is the basis for the training of new volunteer Land Stewards. It should be read by all Land Stewards and Club Land Stewardship Directors.

A template for assessing on-site cultural values.

A template for assessing on-site natural values.

An example document of a Land Trust Stewardship Direction and Principles Policy.

An example document of a Land Trust’s Land Stewardship Policy.

The operations of charities are subject to an increasingly complex regulatory framework and the possibility of litigation against charities occurring as a result of their operation is an ever-present reality. The exposure of charities to liability goes further than the loss of charitable assets possibly leading to the insolvency or winding up of a charity. Directors of charities may also face legal actions against themselves personally by donors, members, third parties and governmental authorities for breach of their fiduciary duties or even breach of trust in failing to adequately protect or apply the assets of a charity.

A Power Point Presentation that outlines responsible stewardship for lands

Trespass to Property Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21

An template document of a Land Trust’s Signage Policy

Working List of Laws Applicable to Land Trusts in Ontario

For a not-for-profit group like yours, fraud — both external and internal — can be particularly devastating. Not only can it affect your organization’s ability to fulfil its financial mandate, but it can also generate a negative image of the organization in the public sphere. This could lead to a damaged reputation, loss of credibility, longer-term funding shortfalls and other associated challenges. This document provides guide on preventing fraud for not-for-profit organizations.

The following “ingredients” outline key factors for organizational leaders to consider as they grapple with their quest in seeking to create sustainable organizations.

Attached is a chart describing a cycle of strategic planning which introduces the concepts and steps an organization might take. It is a model and, like most models, it must be adapted to your situation. No organization does every step, and frequently not every step is done in the order described. Often certain steps like clarifying vision and values are revisited several times. Each group will need to choose which ones are necessary for them. A brief description of each of these steps follows, as a brief explanation of the chart

The purpose of this Whistleblower Policy is to provide direction to and protection for all current or former Ontario Land Trust Alliance (OLTA) employees, contracted service providers, volunteers and Board members regarding the communication and disclosure of events, decisions, concerns or actions, with respect to issues of professional conduct, integrity of actions or practices and legal compliance, in particular, any questionable financial or operational matters that could be or may seem to be in contravention of OLTA policies, CLT standards & practices or Canadian laws and regulations.

This document was drafted by a special taskforce of the INDEPENDENT SECTOR Ethics and Accountability Committee, distributed to IS members for review over a four-month period from October 2003 through January 2004, and approved by the IS Board of Directors on January 29, 2004. It constitutes the Statement of Values and Code of Ethics that IS will use for its own work. In addition, the Board of Directors of IS encourages IS members, and the field as a whole, to use this document in either drafting and adopting your own statement of values and code of ethics or, for those who have already done so, reviewing and revising, as necessary, your statement of values and code of ethics.

A Guide to Stewardship, Monitoring and Costs in Holding Natural Heritage Lands and Conservation Agreements

A template for Land Trust Stewardship Principles on Expropriations Act

This document contains a sample template for an Ethics Policy and Statements of Ethics