A law designed to close the loophole of squatter’s rights will be going to the Alberta legislature with the introduction today of the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said there had been multiple recommendations by stakeholder groups, including the all-party Alberta Legislature Committee on Real Property Rights, the Property Rights Advocate and the Law Reform Institute over the years to see the issue addressed.
“Alberta’s government is responding to these recommendations from these three different sources with the legislation that was introduced earlier today,” the minister said during a Dec. 5 media availability.
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“If passed, this act will bring peace of mind to Alberta landowners, it will allow them to use and enjoy the land that they rightfully own without having to worry about someone taking it away.”
However, at least four previous attempts to codify property rights in the last decade through private member’s bills have failed to address the long-standing issues rooted within the unwritten common law provisions adopted during British colonial rule.
Those provisions allow for squatters who establish themselves on property not their own for 10 years to apply to become legal title holders.
The proposed legislation will bring Alberta more in line with other provinces, which have stricter regulations governing adverse possession.
Attempts to deal with the issue in the past decade failed for various reasons, including an effort in 2012 by the Progressive Conservative government, in 2017 by the opposition Wildrose Party and twice by the United Conservative Party while in opposition and most recently while in government through the introduction of Bill 206.
Former St. Albert MLA Ken Allred outlined the lengthy history of adverse possession in Alberta in an 85-page written submission to the all-party legislative committee holding consultations on property rights.
During verbal public submissions to the Special Committee on Real Property Rights, the former MLA, who saw his 2012 bill on the issue die on the order paper due to the general election, stressed the need to deal with the adverse possession issue from the committee’s wider mandate.
“I recommend that the legislature treat the issue of adverse possession as a separate bill, a shovel-ready bill. You do not want it to get clouded with some of the other issues that are before you tonight,” he told the commission Feb. 16.
Some of those issues are recommendations that would see the Alberta government work toward entrenching property rights in the constitution and ensuring fair compensation to landowners negatively affected by changes to provincial legislation and regulations.
The adverse possession legislation won’t be retroactive to before it becomes official law, although it includes provisions that are anticipated to provide recourse for those currently involved in legal proceedings.
Contact alex.mccuaig@producer.com
