Right-of-Way and Deeded Access to a Rural Ontario Property

Land that is reached by a private road or a right-of-way can be a bargain, or a long-running dispute. The key question is simple: do you have a legal right to get to your property, and for how long?

This article explains the main ideas in Ontario: private access roads, easements, long use by neighbours, and the checks to make. It is general information, and a lawyer should review your own documents.

What legal access means

Legal access means you can reach your land by a route you have a right to use, whether a public road, a registered easement or another recognized right. Using a road because a neighbour has been friendly is not the same thing.

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. Other routes may be public road allowances, which inside a municipality are under municipal jurisdiction unless legally stopped up and sold.

Can an owner close a private access road?

A landowner generally cannot close an access road 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 some other purpose in the public interest. A closing order does not decide whether the road is a public highway.

The Act lists some exceptions, and one of them is a short yearly closure. An owner may close an access road for one period of no more than 24 hours a year to prevent prescriptive rights from being acquired. If a neighbour tells you the road will be blocked for a day, find out why and get advice rather than assuming it is a threat.

How an easement can arise by long use

An easement such as a right-of-way can be acquired by prescription through 20 years of continuous, uninterrupted, open and peaceful use as of right. That means the owner knowingly put up with the use, rather than merely giving permission.

Land Titles land is different. Section 51(1) of the Land Titles Act bars acquiring any right adverse to the registered owner by prescription, so a prescriptive easement over Land Titles land must be based on 20 years of use completed before the land entered the Land Titles system.

Checks to make before you buy

• Ask your lawyer to review title for a registered easement or right-of-way, and to confirm what it covers
• Read any road maintenance or shared-cost agreement in writing
• Confirm whether the road is public, private or an unopened road allowance
• Walk the route and compare it with the survey
• Ask whether neighbours rely on the road, since their rights could affect you
• If the entrance is on a provincial highway, check the permit situation

For entrances, a permit from the Ministry of Transportation is needed to build a new entrance onto a provincial highway, or to change an existing one, within MTO Controlled Areas. Entrance permits do not pass with title, so a buyer must apply to validate an existing entrance. Entrances onto municipal or county roads come from the municipality under its own by-laws, and requirements vary.

What to do next if access is unclear or disputed

Do not block a road, remove a gate or stop paying shared costs without advice. Gather the deed, survey, any written agreements, photos and a timeline of how the route has been used.

• If you are buying, make confirmed legal access a condition of the deal
• If you own the land, ask a lawyer whether a written, registered easement is worth putting in place
• If a neighbour blocks you, a court order may be involved because an owner generally needs one to close an access road
• If you are the owner of the road, ask about steps to prevent new rights from arising

Frequently asked questions