Utility Rights-of-Way and Easements on Your Alberta Title: Can You Build?

You have opened a title and found an easement or utility right-of-way listed. It is natural to worry about sheds, fences, garages or additions.

This article explains how these interests work in Alberta, who they benefit and how they can end. The exact limits on building depend on the registered document, so it needs to be read.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

What shows up on a title

Alberta's land registration system is based on the Torrens system and is administered under the Land Titles Act, which is the framework for registering documents that create and terminate legal rights in property. A certificate of title is the record of the title to land kept by the Registrar, who must record on it the particulars of instruments, caveats and other dealings affecting the land.

A land title shows the current owner, mortgages, caveats, easements, contractor claims and other registered interests. An owner holds land subject to the encumbrances, liens, estates and interests endorsed on the certificate of title.

The title does not show everything. Some matters, such as unpaid taxes, public highways and rights of way granted under Alberta law, affect land without being mentioned on it. A certificate of title is conclusive proof of who is entitled to the land, but that effect is subject to those exceptions and does not protect against fraud.

Utility rights-of-way

Where a registered owner grants the Crown or a corporation rights for specified purposes, such as utilities, pipelines or drainage, the instrument may be registered. The right runs with the land even if the grantee owns no benefited land.

If the right of way has been mortgaged or encumbered, it cannot be surrendered without the mortgagee's or encumbrancee's consent. Otherwise the grantee may surrender it by registered instrument.

In plain words, a right of way registered before you bought stays with the land, so it generally carries over to you as a later owner. Once a certificate of title has been granted, an instrument does not pass an estate or interest in the land unless it is executed and registered under the Act, with a short exception for leaseholds of three years or less.

Easements, encroachments and party walls

• No right of access, use of light or other easement may be acquired by prescription, so an easement comes from a registered instrument or statute rather than long use.
• A registered encroachment agreement binds later owners as if it were an easement.
• Registered party wall agreements can have rights and covenants that run with the land.

If a neighbour's building crosses your boundary, a registered encroachment agreement is one way this can be dealt with. A lawyer can tell you whether one makes sense.

Restrictive covenants are a related interest. A restrictive covenant may be registered as annexed to registered land for the benefit of other registered land, with a memorandum entered on the titles of both parcels. Later owners are deemed to have notice of a registered covenant that runs with the land and to be bound by it. Calling a covenant one that runs with the land does not make it run if its nature or wording would not otherwise allow it. A registered restrictive covenant may be modified or discharged by court order where that is in the public interest.

Can you build on it?

There is no single answer. What a right of way or easement permits, and what it forbids, depends on the wording of the registered document. Municipal bylaws and development permits also govern building near easements, and those sit outside the Land Titles Act.

Because the title may not show every matter affecting the land, it is sensible to get the actual registered document, not just the title entry. Documents with 9-digit registration numbers and registered plans can be copied through SPIN2. Titles can be searched through SPIN2 or a registry agent, and since May 29, 2025 you can also search and pay for titles in the Alberta Registry for Land Online (ARLO).

An easement, restrictive covenant, party wall or encroachment registration is cancelled by the Registrar on a prescribed discharge signed by the registered owner of the dominant tenement. An affected owner can also apply for the Registrar to cancel such an instrument. In other words, removal goes through the Registrar, either on the dominant owner's signed discharge or on an affected owner's application.

A caveat protecting an easement, party wall agreement, encroachment agreement or certain restrictive covenants with an identified dominant tenement may be withdrawn only by the registered owner of the dominant tenement. Whether any of these steps is realistic for your lot depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

What to do next

• Get a current title search using the legal description, LINC or title number.
• Order copies of the registered easement or right-of-way documents.
• Mark the right-of-way on your survey or plan before you design anything.
• Ask the utility company or your municipality about your project.
• Speak to a lawyer before you build or buy if the document is unclear.

If you do need to register a discharge or another document, documents received by Land Titles are placed in a queue and processed according to the date received, and Alberta directs users to SPIN II for current processing times. Plan your timeline around that before you set a construction start date.

Keep copies of everything you gather, including the title, the registered documents, your survey and any replies from the utility or municipality. Having them together makes any later conversation with a lawyer faster and clearer.

Frequently asked questions