Easements on BC Property: How They Affect Your Land and Sale

An easement on title means someone else has a registered right connected to your land, or you have a right over a neighbour's land. If you own or are buying, you will want to know what that right is and how far it reaches.

This article explains the basic terms and how easements work in British Columbia, and it points out where the answer depends on the wording of the document.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

What an easement is and how it is created

An easement is created by a registered instrument, such as an easement agreement, or shown on a registered plan. The dominant tenement is the land that benefits. The land that carries the burden is often called the servient land.

Titles show the charges, liens and interests registered against the property. So an easement should be visible when you order a copy of the title.

Types and special cases

• Ordinary easements, where one parcel benefits from a right over another.
• Statutory rights of way, which are easements without a dominant tenement, held by bodies such as utilities and municipalities.
• Easements over your own land: an owner may grant an easement over one of their own parcels for the benefit of another parcel they own.
• Strata easements: where an easement benefits common property, both the common property and each strata lot must be named as dominant tenements.
• Court-granted easements: in encroachment cases the court may grant an easement under Property Law Act s. 36.

What it means for the owners involved

When an easement is registered to benefit other land, the registrar endorses it against the title of the dominant tenement. On transfer of that land, the benefit passes without express mention. The endorsement on the dominant title does not record the burden on the servient land.

Registration of a charge is not a determination by the registrar that the charge is enforceable. What the holder may do, and what you may still do on your own land, depends on the wording of the document. Read it closely before you plan a fence, building or driveway in the area.

Effect on value and resale

Whether an easement lowers value or complicates a sale depends on its location, purpose and terms. It is not something a general rule can answer. A buyer or lender will usually look at the title, so expect questions about it.

If you want to change an easement, a person interested in land may apply to the Supreme Court to modify or cancel an easement. The court may act if the application is not premature and a ground applies. Grounds include that the charge is obsolete because of changes to the land or neighbourhood, that the benefited parties agreed, or that the change will not injure the person entitled to the benefit. The court may require compensation to anyone damaged by the order.

What to do next

• Search by PID, which you can find on a property tax notice or in ParcelMap BC.
• Order a copy of the title, for which a fee applies.
• Get the registered easement document and read the rights it gives and the area it covers.
• If you are buying, raise the easement with your lawyer before removing conditions.
• If you are selling, be ready to explain it to buyers.
• Seek legal advice before building near it or trying to remove it.

Frequently asked questions