Canada Adverse Possession Laws: What You Must Know and How To Protect Your Property

Adverse possession, otherwise informally known as squatter rights, is a Canadian law that allows individuals who have occupied a piece of land for a specified period, without consent from the landowner to make a legal ownership claim of that land.

Examples of cases involving adverse possession include:

• A person occupying a piece of land to which he/she is not the owner.
• A person erecting a fence on a neighbour's property.
• Continuous use of a private road.

In cases such as this, if the owner of the land fails to object to the occupation or try to reclaim possession of his/her land before the end of the period specified in law the occupier may have a case for legal possession.

Conditions For Making a Claim for Adverse Possession

In Canada, before a person can make a claim for adverse possession of a piece of land, certain requirements have to be met. In most cases the person's occupation of the land over the specified period should be:

• Actual: The occupier should be actively living or making improvements to the piece of land.

• Open: The occupation of the property must be visible to the public.

• Notorious: The occupation must be known by the public.

• Continuous: The occupation must be consistent. The person cannot move in and move out for extended periods of time.

In summary, the occupier must use the land without trying to hide the occupation from the owner of the land.

If these requirements are met, the rights of the rightful owner of the land are extinguished. However, the title will not be registered under the "squatter's" name until a court issues a judgement certifying that all requirements have been met.

In some cases, instead of seeking certification from the court, the squatter may get into an agreement with the owner to transfer the legal title after payment of an amount relating to the value of the land, excluding the value of any buildings or improvements on the land.

Adverse possession laws by Province

Summary Table

Ontario

In Ontario, a person can make a claim for possessory title after occupying a piece of land for a minimum of 10 years. However, in an attempt to protect landowners from adverse possession, many properties in Ontario were changed to land titles under the Land Titles Act.

So someone trying to make a claim for adverse possession would have to prove that his/her continuous occupation of the said land took place 10 years before the switch to land titles.

In addition, a possessory title is not the same as an absolute title. An absolute title signifies that the land is owned by the registered owner without any doubt. In Ontario, a possessory title can be upgraded to an absolute title after 10 years. Therefore, a “squatter” has to occupy a piece of land for a minimum of 20 years before getting an absolute title.

Nova Scotia

In Nova Scotia, a person can make a claim for “squatter’s rights” or adverse possession after occupying the land continuously for a minimum period of 10 years if:

• The land is under the land title system and the claim is less than 20% of the parcel.
• The land is under the land title system and the claim is more than 20% of the parcel and the required occupation was completed before registration and the claim is made within 10 years of the registration.

Adverse possession claims can be made against land still under the deed system if the occupation was for a minimum period of 20 years.

If a parcel of land belongs to the province, a person can make a claim after continuously occupying the land for a minimum period of 40 years.

Prince Edward Island

A person can make a claim for adverse possession in Prince Edward Island after occupying privately owned land for a minimum period of 20 years. Minimum occupation period for crown land is 60 years.

Alberta

In Alberta, a person can make a claim for adverse possession after continuously occupying privately owned land for a minimum period of 10 years.

Note: Adverse possession claims cannot be made against public land, municipal land, and irrigation districts.

However, there have been efforts in the past to abolish adverse possession in Alberta. Not long ago in 2019, the Alberta Law Reform Institute was tasked with making a report concerning adverse possession in the province.

In the final report, the institute recommended the abolishment of adverse possession stating that "the law of adverse possession no longer has compelling policy reasons to continue in Alberta."

If the government of Alberta accepts the Alberta Law Reform Institute recommendations, then that would be the end of “squatter rights” or adverse possession in Alberta.

Quebec

In Quebec, a person can make a claim for adverse possession after continuously occupying the land for a minimum period of 10 years.

Provinces With Abolished or Mixed Adverse Possession Laws

British Columbia

British Columbia is one of the provinces that can be considered to have abolished the law of adverse possession.

According to Section 28 of the British Columbia Limitations Act, a person cannot acquire land through adverse possession. However, the act does not interfere with adverse possession of:

• Any right or title to land acquired by adverse possession before July 1, 1975.
• Parcel of land with unregistered interests.

The time limitation is 20 years from when the right first accrued or when the required occupation period was completed, prior to amendment about claims made before July 1, 1975.

Manitoba

Adverse possession in Manitoba was abolished by The Real Property Act. However, a person can claim adverse possession for land after occupying it for a minimum period of 10 years if:

• Presumably the land is still in the deeds system.
• The land is in the land title system and the claim was made before registration of the land.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick does not recognize any adverse possession law as it was abolished by the Land Titles Act.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Adverse possession in this province was abolished by the Crown Lands Act. However, a person can file a claim for adverse possession if he or she occupied crown land for a continuous period of 20 years prior to January 1, 1977.

Northwest Territories

In the Northwest Territories, all the land is registered either under the land titles system or is Crown Land. Adverse possession can only be made against land under the land titles system if the occupation was for a continuous period of 10 years. This is according to the Northwest Territories Limitation of Actions Act.

Nunavut

In Nunavut, most land falls under leasehold or land claim agreements, while a small portion is under the land titles system. A person can make a claim for adverse possession only against land in the land titles system if the occupation was for a minimum period of 10 years.

Saskatchewan

Adverse possession in Saskatchewan was abolished by the Land Titles Act.

Yukon

Adverse possession in Yukon was abolished by the Land Titles Act.

How To Protect Your Property Against Adverse Possession

Owning property in a province that has adverse possession laws may expose you to adverse possession claims if you abandon your property. If you're not sure about your property lines, it's best to consult the relevant records before your neighbour makes a claim for adverse possession against your land because he or she has built a fence on it or has been using it as a driveway.

In other cases, people with large swaths of land have lost lots of acres to adverse possession claims because of not keeping track of their real estate. If someone trespasses into your property, you can always call law enforcement before the trespasser stays on the property long enough to file an adverse possession claim.

It may help to note that if you give someone permission to use your land, he or she cannot file an adverse possession claim. However, you may lose your land due to easement claims in instances where you allow people to use part of your land as a pathway or road.