The province has developed a new policy to guide the sale of surplus government-owned land and buildings.

Under the new policy, surplus properties will generally be sold via a public solicitation process.

They will be offered through a competitive process, and will be expected to achieve fair market value.

Government says all reasonable efforts will be made to notify previous owners of the land, but they will not receive preferential treatment, a first right or refusal, or advance notice of a public solicitation process.

When land is purchased or expropriated, government says the former owners are compensated at that time.

As part of the process, government may also establish minimum bid requirements, and may recover costs associated with evaluations related to the sale.