Pays Plat First Nation adds 4,203 acres to reserve

Pays Plat First Nation has added 4,203 acres to its reserve through the federal Additions to Reserve process, completing a land agreement signed with Canada and Ontario in 2018.

The First Nation and the federal and Ontario governments announced the transfer on September 23. The additional land is intended to support housing expansion, economic development and long-term community growth.

Pays Plat is an Ojibway community on the Pays Plat River, near Rossport and about 175 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. The new addition follows more than three decades of discussions, according to Chief David Mushquash.

The transfer completes implementation of the Land and Larger Land Base Final Agreement reached in 2018. Reserve additions change the legal status of land and expand the area over which the First Nation can pursue its own community priorities.

Source: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, September 23, 2026.

Illustrative file photo of a northern Ontario lakeshore and forest: Derek Sutton via Unsplash, under the Unsplash License. Resized; not Pays Plat reserve land.