About RESB

Established April 1, 2006, Real Estate Services Branch (RESB) is the single point of service for all transactions involving Government of Manitoba provincially-owned Crown lands, including:

• processing renewals and assignments of existing Crown land leases and permits
• acquiring land for infrastructure projects and other public purposes by agreement or expropriation
• selling or leasing surplus Crown land and buildings by offer or tender
• providing real estate appraisal and consulting services for government departments and other public entities
• maintaining the Crown Lands Registry as a corporate inventory of the government's land holdings, and a registry of leasehold, mortgage and other private interests in Crown Land.

RESB’s continuing mission is to ensure that all Manitoba government dealings in Crown lands are conducted in a manner that is fair, open and transparent, and consistent with the principles of fiscal responsibility and ecological sustainability.

Policy Framework

As an implementation agency, RESB operates within a legal and policy framework consisting of:

• statutes enacted by the Manitoba Legislature, including The Crown Lands Act, The Land Acquisition Act, The Expropriation Act, The Provincial Parks Act and The Wild Rice Act
• regulations adopted by Cabinet under the applicable statutes
• resource management and pricing policies established by the department having regulatory authority over the resource in question, such as:
  
  • Agriculture and Resource Development
  • Manitoba Infrastructure
  • other provincial government departments and agencies

RESB negotiates transactions and processes applications in accordance with the policies and prices established by the authorities having jurisdiction, and serves as the communication channel between the applicant and the regulatory authority.

Services

RESB provides the following services:

• Property Sales Services handles the sale of land from the Manitoba government departments to private parties.
• Leases and Permits Services administers all leases and permits for the use of public land by private parties for agricultural, vacation homes, commercial and other purposes.
• Appraisal and Consulting Services prepares real estate appraisals to support the work of Land Acquisition Services and Property Sales Services. It also undertakes appraisal and consulting assignments directly for client departments and agencies.
• Land Acquisition Services acts on behalf of all government departments that need to acquire private land for public infrastructure purposes, such as highways, drainage works and public buildings.
• Paralegal and Support Services provides support services for the Branch's operations, including information technology, documentation processing, records management and administrative support.
• Finance Services provides all financial management functions for the Branch, including the revenue the Branch collects for client departments in the form of land rents, and permit and application fees.