Quebec territory is divided between a public domain consisting of land owned by the government, federal or provincial, and a private domain which includes immovable/real estate properties belonging to individuals, legal persons or public or semi-public agencies. It is through the issuance of letters patent that the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources authorizes the release of a property from the public domain. After such release, the immovable property enters into the private domain and can therefore be sold, leased, mortgaged by its owner.