What is an easement and how do they affect my property?

An easement is a right that another person or company has over your land. For example, your neighbour could have an easement over a portion of your property to gain access to their property, like a shared driveway, or a utility company could have an easement over your property to build and maintain utilities that cross your backyard.

An easement often restricts your ability to build any structure on the land over the easement area since that will likely impede on the rights of whoever owns the easement.  For example, you would not be able to build a pool if the cable company has an easement to install buried wires along half of your backyard, nor could you build a fence across a shared driveway if it impedes on your neighbours' ability to access their house.

The rights and obligations described in any easements registered on a property are usually transferred to the new owners when the property is sold so when buying a new property it's a good idea to obtain an up to date survey that will show the location of any existing easements on the property.

A licensed Ontario Land Surveyor can describe what you own by preparing a survey of your property and can even stake out the limits of any easements on the ground if necessary. As licensed Ontario Land Surveyors we will be happy to discuss your particular situation with you and help you determine if a survey of your property is recommended for your needs.