Within months, two recent court decisions have reached conclusions which differ in respect of how Aboriginal title may or may not interact with lands held privately in fee simple. Aboriginal title in Metro Vancouver: “A lot of unfinished business in this province”, in Cowichan Tribes v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 BCSC 1490, followed a very lengthy trial, the BC Supreme Court determined that Aboriginal title and fee simple interests can co-exist, and proceeded to issue a declaration of Aboriginal title over an area that included private lands of the defendants and other non-parties. …In J.D. Irving, Limited et al. v. Wolastoqey Nation, 2025 NBCA 129, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal… emphasized that ownership rights conferred by a declaration of Aboriginal title cannot “co-exist with the very same rights vested in fee simple owners. …These two decisions highlight differing approaches and the unsettled nature of the law governing the relationship between Aboriginal title and privately held lands.