Suffield Block
The Suffield Block is an area located within Cypress County, southern Alberta, Canada approximately bounded by Highway 884 on the west, Highway 555 on the north, the South Saskatchewan River on the east and the Trans-Canada Highway on the south. The Suffield Block is managed by CFB Suffield.
On 9 April 1941, following discussions between the Province of Alberta and the federal government, the federal government issued an order-in-council that authorized the Department of National Defence (DND) to enter into a lease arrangement for land within the Tilley East area. A matching order-in-council by the Province provided the Minister of Lands and Mines the necessary approvals to execute the leased agreement to the federal government for 99 years at a cost of one dollar per year to support the operation of the Experimental Station Suffield by DND. However, the land to be leased by DND was not vacant. A number of farmers and ranchers held rights to portions of the land by title and lease. Under the agreement, the Alberta Government was to arrange with the owners and lease holders to vacate the land for financial compensation and land in other areas of the province. DND agreed to provide the Province the funds to obtain the privately held lands at fair market value. The Province sent agents to Medicine Hat to begin negations with the land owners. However, it soon became clear that most land holders were not interested in selling their lands for the compensation offered. The Province relayed this information to DND and the Federal Government made the decision to expropriate the land.
All non-Crown held land on the 2,960 km2 (1,140 sq mi) area of the Suffield Block was expropriated by the Canadian federal government and included the cancellation of all lease arrangement. The expropriation orders were filed on 31 May 1941 and 8 August 1941 at the South Alberta Land Title Office in the City of Calgary.
Upon the termination of the Second World War, provincial held lands within the "British Block" (or Suffield Block) was transferred from the province to the federal government in exchange for a large number of army and air camps and buildings from the Dominion government (War Assets Corporation).
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