Eby plans $150 million in loan guarantees for Cowichan land owners

B.C. Premier David Eby waits for a meeting to begin in Surrey, B.C., Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (Ethan Cairns / The Canadian Press)

VICTORIA — British Columbia Premier David Eby said his government plans to offer private owners of land in the Cowichan Aboriginal title area more than $150 million in loan guarantees, amid fears about the impact of the landmark ruling on their financing.

He said the fund could include $100 million in guaranteed financing for Montrose Properties, the biggest private owner in the Aboriginal title area, and a further $54 million for smaller owners.

Eby also said the final cost could be higher. 

“There’s a significant amount of additional commercial activity (in the area), and we don’t have a total number about that,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It could be significantly larger than that.”

But Eby, who mentioned the possible financing guarantees in a speech on Wednesday, without providing figures, said the actual amount the province guarantees could also be “zero” because banks have told the government they have not changed lending policies.

“But it is vital that these homeowners and these business owners are able to access financing as normal,” Eby said. 

“So we’ll provide that guarantee that’s required to be able to ensure that financiers are still able to work with private homeowners for refinancing or mortgages, and commercial operators, businesses, so that they’re able to continue their business.”

Montrose, which owns about 120 hectares of the 300-hectare title area in Richmond, B.C., says in legal documents that a previous lender denied it $35 million in financing because of concerns about the ruling, while discussions about a separate project had ceased.

Eby said Montrose had “identified about $100 million in financing challenges,” while “rough math” on private residential mortgages in the area add up to $54 million.

In August, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title over the land, that Crown and city titles on it are defective and invalid, and the granting of private titles by the government unjustifiably infringed on the Cowichan title, setting off concerns about the effect on private ownership.

B.C. and other defendants say they will appeal the ruling, while Montrose — which was not one of the defendants — is taking the rare step of trying to get the original case reopened.

Eby told business leaders in Vancouver on Wednesday that the government was gathering evidence to stay the ruling, adding that uncertainty is “toxic” to the work with First Nations, businesses and the economy. 

“People’s homes and businesses are not bargaining chips,” he said, referring to the Cowichan Tribes decision. 

During Friday’s interview, Eby’s repeated his promise made in the speech that the government would “go to the wall” to protect private property rights. 

“But within that, there’s a huge amount of work for us to do, and that we are doing, and that’s providing the stability to grow jobs for British Columbians.” 

The Cowichan Tribes did not seek to have private titles invalidated in their case. 

But critics fear the ruling could undermine private land ownership across B.C. — known as “fee simple” title — because the judge said sections of the Land Title Act that establish fee-simple title as “indefeasible” do not apply to Aboriginal title.

This report by Wolfgang Depner of The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2025.