Councillor says $100M project denied loan over Cowichan case, bank says not a factor

A Richmond, B.C., councillor says a company based in the city has been refused financing for what she says is a $100 million project because of uncertainty over their site due to the Cowichan Tribes Aboriginal title ruling.

But the bank identified by Coun. Alexa Loo said the issue was “not a factor” in its financing decisions.

Loo said the company, which she wouldn’t name, is now working with the provincial government to get the certainty it needs to go ahead with what she described as a manufacturing facility in the title area.

“This company, they had a deal already in place with one of the major banks to finance their project,” Loo said in an interview on Wednesday, identifying the potential lender as National Bank.

She said the company already owns land for the planned facility in the Cowichan area but was told by the bank that it “doesn’t want to deal with new projects at this time” because of the uncertainty stemming from the court ruling.

“So it’s not an existing mortgage that is being pulled … but they are cancelling this project for now, because of the uncertainty over the land title and because the appeal process could take anywhere from three to five years to 10 years,” Loo said.

Asked if it had denied funding to such a project in the Cowichan title area because of the case, National Bank initially said in a one-sentence response that “no specific directive has been given to our teams regarding this court ruling.”

In a second statement hours later, the bank said: “We cannot comment on specific cases for confidentiality purposes, but what we can confirm is that this is not a factor that is currently taken into account in our financing decisions, and no guidelines have been issued by the bank in this regard.”

Loo had previously spoken of the situation with residents before a meeting with landowners on Tuesday about the impact of the landmark case that confirmed the tribes’ Aboriginal title over about 750 acres of private and government-owned land in Richmond.

When asked about the case, The City of Richmond provided a statement from Loo saying the firm “is loathe to discuss” its financial situation publicly.

In August, a B.C Supreme Court judge ruled the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title over the land on the Fraser River, that Crown and city titles on the land are defective and invalid, and the granting of private titles on it by the government unjustifiably infringed on the Cowichan title.

The province, Richmond and other defendants have said they plan to appeal the ruling that has triggered concern about the implications for private land ownership both in the Cowichan area and beyond.

The provincial government said it’s collecting information from property owners, including whether they have been able to get mortgages or financing since the decision, and Premier David Eby has encouraged affected parties to come forward.

Attorney General Niki Sharma said she had heard of the case described by Loo, and asked her staff to find out more.

“That’s part of the work that we are doing,” Sharma said. “We are looking into all the potential impacts here.”

Sharma said later that government hasn’t “ruled out anything” when asked whether the government would give financial support to property owners affected by the ruling.

“We are very seized with this issue, and we are working through all the ways that we can support people,” she said.

On Wednesday, Eby said the province would seek a stay on the August ruling, which was already suspended for 18 months by the judge in the case, in order to give the Cowichan, Canada, and Richmond time to make “necessary arrangements.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.

Nono Shen and Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press