Rupert's Land - Sale To Canada

Sale To Canada

In 1869 - 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company sold most of Rupert's Land, as well as the North-Western Territory, to the newly formed Canadian Government, pursuant to the Rupert's Land Act 1868. This is the largest purchase of land in Canada's history. Control was originally planned to be transferred on December 1, 1869, but due to setbacks caused by the Red River Rebellion, the government assumed control on July 15, 1870. Canada then created the Province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories from Rupert's Land and the former North-Western Territory, which comprised the regions northwest of Rupert's Land and to the north of the Colony of British Columbia.

The transaction was actually three-cornered. On November 19, 1869, the Company surrendered its claim to the lands under its letters patent back to the British Crown, which was authorised to accept the lands by the Rupert's Land Act. By Order-in-Council dated June 23, 1870, the British government admitted the territory to Canada, under s. 146 of the Constitution Act, 1867, effective July 15, 1870. The Government of Canada then paid the Hudson's Bay Company for the lands, on the terms set out in the Order-in-Council.

The Company retained its most successful trading posts, one twentieth of the best farmland in the region, and was compensated £300,000 ($1.5 million) for the remainder of the land.