Ottawa owns and controls Alberta's natural resources.
Claimed by: Commonly stated by Alberta independence advocates
False: False as written according to the settled evidence. How we rate.
Summary
This was true at the start, but it has not been the case since 1930. When Alberta joined Confederation in 1905 the federal government kept its Crown lands and resources, a real historical grievance. The Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, entrenched in the Constitution Act, 1930, handed ownership and control to the province, putting Alberta on the same footing as the original provinces under section 109. Section 92A later strengthened provincial control over resource development, and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on Bill C-69 reaffirmed provincial primacy. So the claim describes a situation that ended almost a century ago.
Evidence
The 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, enacted to put Alberta in the same position as the original provinces under section 109, vested Crown lands, mines, minerals, and royalties in the province.
The Natural Resources Acts of 1930, ratified by the Constitution Act, 1930, transferred control of Crown lands and resources from Ottawa to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and B.C.