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On December 15, 2022, the Property Rights Statutes AmendmentAct (the Act) came into effect and abolished adversepossession claims, otherwise known as "squatter'srights," against private landowners. Prior to this Act, onlypublic land, municipal land, and irrigation districts wereprotected from adverse possession claims.
ADVERSE POSSESSION
Adverse possession allowed a person or a "squatter"who had occupied the registered owner's land for at least 10years to potentially claim ownership of that land. The person wasable to apply to a court to claim legal ownership over the lands,and if successful, it led to the transfer of the legal title tothat person.
REASONS FOR THE ACT
For over a decade, advocates and past governments have beenencouraging the abolition of adverse possession in order to protectAlbertan's property rights. The Property Rights Advocate Officerecommended abolishing adverse possession in its 2016 annualreport. The Alberta Law Reform Institute reviewed adversepossession law and in April 2020, provided the government withseven recommendations to end squatter's rights. The Alberta LawReform, in their April 2020 report, listed nine cases of adversepossession court cases in the eight years leading up to 2020.However, the number of adverse possession cases may be more ifthere were additional disputes or cases that were not made public.The MLA Select Special Committee on Real Property Rights heldextensive public consultations and received multiple requests toabolish adverse possession such that the committee included arecommendation to abolish adverse possession in its June 2022report.
Adverse possession was problematic since it created stress forlandowners about the possibility of losing their land and needingto monitor and protect it to prevent another from taking possessionof it. Adverse possession arose in several situations, whether itwas a mistakenly placed fence or a squatter occupying vacant land.However, with the introduction of the Act, the registered owner cannow commence an action to regain possession of their land at anytime and the squatter is barred from a claiming adversepossession.
AMENDMENTS TO OTHER LEGISLATION
The Act brings forth changes to the following legislation inAlberta:
- Land Titles Act – Allows individuals who havebeen previously granted ownership for adverse possession to retainownership of the land.
- Law of Property Act – Abolishes adversepossession by removing any rights in the land that could have beenpreviously acquired by adverse possession. Additionally, theamendments grant the courts powers to make decisions regardinglasting improvements on lands under the belief that the land wastheirs or for buildings that encroach on adjacent properties.
- Limitations Act – Removes the 10-year limitationperiod for a registered owner to reclaim possession over theproperty. As a result, if someone is possessing land for which theyare not the registered owner, the property owner can get a courtorder to regain possession at any time.
CONCLUSION
The Alberta government has finally given private landowners thesame protections once reserved only for the government. With theintroduction of the Act, landowners can seek to protectthemselves and rely on additional remedies provided by the Courtswhere improvements or buildings are at issue. The introduction ofthis Act also brings the province of Alberta in line withother jurisdictions including British Columbia, Saskatchewan,Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and the Yukon.
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