Clergy Reserves were tracts of land in Upper Canada reserved for the support of "Protestant clergy" by the Constitutional Act of 1791 which also established Upper and Lower Canada as distinct regions each with an elected assembly. One-seventh of all Crown lands were set aside. Although the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe interpreted Protestant clergy to mean the clergy of Church of England only, by 1824, the Church of Scotland was also granted a share of the projected revenues. The reserves in Upper Canada were managed by the Clergy Corporation which was chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Quebec and run day-to-day by a Secretary Receiver.
The reserves were allotted in two hundred acre (800,000 m²) lots. Except in the Talbot Settlement, they were scattered haphazardly and were a serious obstacle to economic development. The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada passed a law to sell the reserves in 1840, but it was disallowed by the imperial (British) government.
In the 1840s, a bill was passed distributing the profits of the clergy reserves amongst all leading Protestant groups (except for the Baptists, who refused to involve themselves in government funding). The lands were finally removed from church ownership and secularized in 1854 and the revenues from the reserves were transferred to the government.
Reform of the Clergy Reserves was a major issue in Canadian politics from its creation until its abolition. The controversy stemmed from the fact that many supporters of the religious endowment were part of the tory ruling class. Even Robert Baldwin, who was the leader of the struggle for Responsible Government did not advocate for complete abolition and chose to resign his seat rather than tackle the question.
Ryerson, Egerton. Canadian Methodism: Its Epochs and Characteristics Toronto: Methodist Book and Publishing House (Wm. Briggs), 1882.