Ontario Real Estate Glossary
Easement
A non-possessory right granted to one party to use a portion of another party's land for a specific purpose, registered on title and binding on future owners.
What is an easement in Ontario?
An easement is a registered, non-possessory interest in land that gives one party (the dominant tenement) a defined right to use a specific portion of another party's land (the servient tenement). The owner of the servient land still owns it, but is restricted from interfering with the easement holder's right. Easements run with the land — they bind every future owner until released or extinguished.
How easements arise in Ontario
An easement can be created in four practical ways:
- Express grant — the most common. A landowner conveys an easement in a registered deed (e.g., a driveway easement to a neighbour).
- Implied grant — created automatically when a parcel is severed and the use of one part is necessary for the enjoyment of another (rare in modern practice).
- Prescription — long, uninterrupted use can ripen into an easement under common law, but the Land Titles Act regime that covers most Ontario property does not allow new prescriptive easements to be acquired. This is exam-tested.
- Statutory easement — granted to a public authority by legislation, typically for utilities, roads, drainage, or rail.
A registrant should always check title for registered easements before drafting an offer. Discovering an easement after acceptance is a known failure point in transactions.
Common easement types
| Type | Typical purpose |
|---|---|
| Right of way | Pedestrian or vehicle access across the servient land |
| Utility easement | Hydro, gas, telecom, or water lines |
| Drainage easement | Surface or sub-surface stormwater flow |
| Easement in gross | Granted to a person or company rather than a parcel — rare for residential, common for utilities |
| Profit à prendre | Right to take something (timber, minerals) from the servient land |
Where this appears in your Humber program
Easements are foundational content in Course 1: Real Estate Essentials under the property-law module, and they reappear in Course 4: Commercial Real Estate for commercial easement structures and in continuing-education courses on environmental and waterfront properties.
A scenario the exam likes to test
A buyer signs an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for a residential property. During title search, the buyer's lawyer identifies a registered hydro easement running across the back third of the lot. The buyer wanted to build a detached garage in that location. Because the easement is registered and runs with the land, the seller cannot remove it, the buyer cannot build over it without the utility's consent, and the buyer's recourse is to either renegotiate the price, walk away, or accept the constraint.
The registrant should have surfaced this before offer acceptance by checking the parcel's most recent title abstract through Teraview or asking the seller's lawyer for a registered easement summary.
Easement vs. encroachment
The two terms are often confused. An easement is a registered legal right. An encroachment is an unauthorized intrusion onto someone's land — for example, a fence built three feet over the property line. An encroachment may eventually be regularized as an easement, but until it is, it is a defect in title that needs to be addressed before closing.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of easements in Ontario?
The main types of easements in Ontario are express grant (the most common — created by registered deed), easement by necessity (when a parcel is severed and one piece is landlocked), statutory easement (granted by legislation, typically to utilities or municipalities), and easement in gross (granted to a person or company rather than to a parcel — common for utilities). Note that prescriptive easements based on long use generally cannot be acquired against properties under Ontario's Land Titles regime.
Who owns the land subject to an easement?
The owner of the servient tenement owns the land subject to the easement. The easement is a right of use, not ownership. Easements are registered against the land — they bind every future owner. The servient owner can use the land in any way that does not interfere with the easement holder's right.
Can I build a fence on an easement in Ontario?
You can sometimes build a fence on an easement, but it depends on whose easement it is and what the easement's terms are. Utility easements typically prohibit any structure that would interfere with maintenance access, including fences. Right-of-way easements for shared driveways usually prohibit fences that would block passage. The safer answer is to check the registered easement language and contact the easement holder before building.
How long does an easement last in Ontario?
Most Ontario easements are permanent — they run with the land until released by registered agreement, extinguished by court order, or abandoned through formal non-use. Time-limited easements exist (a temporary construction easement, for example) but they are rare and explicitly stated in the registered grant. The default assumption when reading title is that an easement is permanent.
Practice this topic
ExamAce covers easements in the Course 1 question bank, with scenario questions on how to identify, disclose, and price-adjust around registered easements at the offer stage.
See it in practice
Walk through a realistic Ontario scenario where Easement matters — with the decision point, the correct move, and the pitfall.
Authoritative sources
Related terms
Encroachment
An unauthorized intrusion by one property onto a neighbouring property — a fence, deck, eaves, driveway, or structure that crosses a registered boundary line.
Caveat Emptor
Latin for 'let the buyer beware' — the common-law principle that a buyer of real estate is responsible for inspecting and confirming the property's condition, subject to the seller's narrow duty to disclose latent defects.
Status Certificate
A package of documents prepared by an Ontario condominium corporation that discloses the condo's financial, legal, and physical condition to a prospective buyer or lender.