What Happens If My Cottage Road Is Not Publicly Maintained in Ontario?
Who looks after the road and who pays for it depends on who owns the road and on what agreements exist, so it is worth confirming the details for your property with a lawyer. Before buying, ask a lawyer to confirm who owns the road, whether you have a legal right to use it, and whether any maintenance or cost-sharing agreement binds the owners.
Your access rights also matter. Under the Road Access Act, an access road is a privately owned road that is not a public highway and serves as a motor-vehicle route to one or more parcels, and an owner generally cannot close it without a court order, apart from limited listed exceptions. A judge may grant a closing order only if closing the road is reasonably necessary to prevent substantial damage or injury to the applicant's interests, or for another public-interest purpose.
A cottage lot may front a shore road allowance rather than the water. Inside a municipality, road allowances, including shore road allowances, are under the municipality's jurisdiction unless they have been legally stopped up and sold. Insurance, emergency service access and cost sharing vary by insurer, municipality and agreement, so ask each before you commit.
Key takeaways
- A privately owned road that is not a public highway and serves one or more parcels is an access road, and it generally cannot be closed without a court order.
- A judge may grant a closing order only if it is reasonably necessary to prevent substantial damage or injury, or for a public-interest purpose.
- Inside a municipality, shore road allowances are under the municipality's jurisdiction unless they have been legally stopped up and sold.
- Maintenance, cost sharing, insurance and emergency access depend on agreements and local arrangements, so confirm them before you buy.