Montrose Seeks to Overturn Court’s Refusal to Reopen Cowichan Case

News| July 23, 2026| Monte Stewart

Montrose Properties is appealing a British Columbia court judge’s refusal to add the firm as a party to the controversial Cowichan Tribes property-title case and reopen it.

Montrose has submitted an appeal application to the B.C. Court of Appeal following B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Young’s June decision that kept the company on the sidelines of the case. The Richmond, B.C.-based industrial real estate developer said the appeal seeks to ensure its interests are considered after Justice Barbara Young’s August 2025 ruling found Aboriginal title over approximately 300 acres of Montrose-owned land, along with other privately owned properties. Although the decision did not invalidate Montrose’s title, the court held that its fee simple interests “may not be exercised in their fullest form” because Aboriginal title is a “senior and prior interest.”

“We are going to do everything we can to ensure our interests are heard and our rights are respected,” said Ken Low, president and CEO of Montrose Properties. “And we do not feel they have been to date.”

Montrose said the 513-day Cowichan Tribes trial proceeded without the participation of private landowners. The company noted that in 2017 the B.C. Supreme Court rejected a federal government application seeking to direct the Cowichan to provide formal legal notice to private landowners, finding that the First Nation was not seeking to invalidate private land titles.

Following the August 2025 ruling, Montrose applied to be added as a party and to have the trial reopened, but Young dismissed the application on June 29. The company said it expects its appeal on party status and reopening the trial to be heard before the broader appeal of the August 2025 decision, which has already been appealed by all parties.

“It is disturbing that private landowners were excluded from this case given the finding and declarations the court ultimately made,” said Low. “We are left with no choice but to do everything we can to protect our rights and investments,” said Low. “Especially when the New Brunswick Court of Appeal has firmly stated that courts should not be making declarations of Aboriginal title over private land, saying that would be the ‘death knell of reconciliation.’ “

The Cowichan decision covers much of Richmond, other parts of the southwestern B.C. mainland and Vancouver Island.

Montrose ranks as the largest single landowner in the affected area. The company’s Richmond Industrial Centre comprises more than 1.3 million square feet of leasable space on a 179-acre master-planned industrial site that serves such tenants as Coca-Cola Bottling, Canadian Tire, Wayfair, Ademco and Worldpac.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, other city councillors and administrators have come under intense criticism for not keeping local property owners informed before the Cowichan decision came down. But many Aborginal groups have lauded the original ruling and Young’s decision not to reopen the case.

Pictured: Richmond, B.C.

Photo: Tourism Richmond