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Real Property Glossary


Glossary

Acquisition (Acquisition) - can mean the following: a transaction that adds new real property to the federal inventory by purchase, lease, exchange, gift, easement, expropriation, or any other means, such as the acceptance of the surrender of a lease or the acceptance of the relinquishment of a licence or easement; a transfer of administration of real property from a department or an agent Crown corporation to a department; or a transfer of administration and control of real property to the federal government.

Administration (Gestion) - refers to the stewardship between a department and the real property that it uses for its program purposes and for which it is accountable.

Annual consideration (Versement annuel) - in relation to a lease or licence, means the total consideration divided by the length of the term in years.

Appraisal (Évaluation) - means an adequately supported written opinion of the market value of the real property on a specified date that evaluates the real property rights involved according to accepted appraisal practices, and is obtained from, and signed by, a person who is a real property appraiser accredited by a provincial, national, or international real property appraisal organization, or who is experienced as an appraiser of real property and is either established in a real property-related business or employed in the federal Public Service. Appraisals may be provided in writing either in a letter or form report. The meaning of 'appraisal' includes 'estimate', except where there is a differentiation between them. Where an applicable statute, regulation or authority defines appraisal differently, that different definition shall apply.

Brownfields (Sites de friches industrielles)  - "Idle or underused properties where past activities have caused environmental contamination but which nevertheless exhibit good potential for other uses (or upgrading) and which provide economically viable business opportunities. They are mainly located in established urban areas, where existing municipal services are readily available, or along transportation corridors" (adapted from the 1998 report entitled State of the Debate on the Environment and the Economy: Greening Canada's Brownfield Sites, by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy).

Classified heritage building (Édifice du patrimoine classé) - means a federal building to which the Minister of Canadian Heritage has assigned the highest heritage designation.

Contaminated Site (Site contaminé) - a site at which substances occur at concentrations (1) above background levels and pose (or are likely to pose) an immediate or long-term risk to human health or the environment, or (2) exceeding levels specified in relevant policies or regulations.

Custodian department (Ministère ayant la garde de biens immobiliers) - means a department whose Minister has administration of real property for the purposes of that department's programs.

Custody transfer (Transfert de la garde des biens immobiliers) - means a transfer of administration of real property that supports an adjustment to or transfer of program accountability, such as transfers to support the government's reassignment of program responsibility; transfers to support government restructuring; or transfers to recognize a more appropriate custodian (usually the existing federal tenant).

Department (Ministère) - means a department or agency to which the policy in question applies. See the Application section of each policy for details.

Disposition (Aliénation) - means a transaction that alienates real property by sale, lease, exchange, gift, easement, or any other means, such as the surrender of a lease or the relinquishment of a licence or easement; a transfer of administration of real property from one department to another department or an agent Crown corporation; or a transfer of administration and control of real property from the federal government.

Estimate (Estimation) - means a written opinion of the value of an interest in real property as of a specified date that evaluates the property rights involved and is obtained from, and signed by, a person experienced in real estate who is established in a real estate-related business such as real estate appraisal, banking, real estate brokerage, real estate sales, real property management or timber rights surveying, or is employed in the federal Public Service. The meaning of 'estimate' includes opinions consequent to market rental surveys or analyses such as are sometimes carried out in support of leasing and licensing transactions. Estimates may be provided in the form of short notes or letters of opinion.

Incremental costs (Coûts différentiels) - means costs incurred as a result of an action, that is, costs that would not have been incurred had the action not been carried out. For example, in a letting, it means any costs that result from the letting activity, including any additional operation and maintenance costs and any costs of servicing the real property to make it more suitable for letting.

Investment (Investissement) - means the use of financial resources to acquire real property assets, through traditional capital expenditures, lease or lease-purchase, and expenditures for the maintenance, preservation and disposal of such real property assets.

Licence (Permis) - means any right of use or occupation of real property that is not an interest in land.

Management (Gestion) -  the spectrum of possible approaches available for dealing with a known contaminated site. "Management" includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: monitored natural attenuation, warnings, restrictions to site access, change in land usage, isolation of contaminants from human and ecological receptors (contaminant stabilization, barrier walls, capping), interim remediation, partial remediation, phased remediation, full remediation, remediation in any of the previous approaches to varying standards (industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential/parkland), postpone action until activity stops, etc. "Management" also includes the concept of "risk management".

Market value (Valeur marchande) - means the estimated amount that would be paid for the real property rights or licence being acquired or disposed of if the real property or licence were offered on the open market by a willing seller and allowing for a reasonable period of exposure in a manner that would attract interest.

Minister (Ministre) - in relation to a department, means the Minister who, under the Financial Administration Act, is the appropriate Minister with respect to that department.

Portfolio(Portefeuille) - the bundling of properties administered by a single department, or the bundling of properties under the administration of different departments.

Real property (Biens immobiliers) - means any right, interest or benefit in land, which includes mines, minerals and improvements on, above or below the surface of the land.

Recognized heritage building (Édifice du patrimoine reconnu) - means a federal building to which the Minister of Canadian Heritage has assigned the second highest heritage designation.

Remediation (Assainissement) the improvement of a contaminated site to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to human health or the environment; remediation involves the development and application of a planned approach that monitors, removes, destroys, contains, or otherwise reduces the exposure of contaminants to receptors of concern.

Risk Management (Gestion des risques) -  the selection and implementation of a strategy of control of risk, followed by monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of that strategy; it may include direct remedial actions or other strategies that reduce the probability, intensity, frequency, or duration of the exposure to contamination.

Sustainable development (Développement durable) - means development that ensures that:

- the use of resources and the environment today does not damage prospects for their use by future generations; and

- the management of our economic system maintains or improves our resource and environmental base.

Term (Durée) - means the term of a lease or licence and includes the term of any renewal of that lease or licence.

Total consideration (Versement total) - in relation to a lease or licence, means the total consideration payable under a lease by the tenant to the landlord or under a licence by the licensee to the licensor, during the term of the lease or licence. For leases or licences where all or part of the consideration is based on revenue or otherwise unquantifiable, a reasonable estimate of the total consideration should be used.