The Road That Only Exists on Paper
When Ontario was originally surveyed, the Crown reserved strips of land for future public roads. Most commonly 66 feet wide, which is one chain. A great many of those roads were never actually built.
They are called unopened road allowances, and they exist on the survey plan but not on the ground. The local municipality usually holds the land. In some Northern and unorganized territories it remains provincial Crown land administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The first thing to understand is that the adjacent owner generally does not own the strip, even after decades of mowing it, driving on it, or treating it as part of the yard.
The second thing is what it can block. A severance can be refused over it. The committee of adjustment or the municipality may decline when the road allowance has not been formally opened as a road and access is therefore unclear. So a parcel that looks like it fronts a road may not have access the municipality recognizes.
The third thing is encroachment. Building on an unopened road allowance without permission is an encroachment on public land. A nearby allowance can also affect setbacks and site plan design. Municipalities can require removal of an encroaching structure, though some will issue a licence for a minor one.
Can you buy it? Sometimes. The municipality has to pass a by law to formally close the road allowance under the Municipal Act, 2001. The process involves a survey, public notice with an opportunity to object, a price set by the municipality, and a transfer. It can take months to over a year, and approval is not guaranteed. If your plan depends on acquiring the strip, that process will very likely not finish by your closing date.
And a note on title insurance. It may cover losses from an undisclosed encroachment. It does not grant you ownership of the strip.
What to check before you buy:
- Order a current survey rather than relying on an old one or a listing sketch.
- Review the original township plan through the title search to see where the allowances were laid out.
- Ask the municipality for the status of any road allowance adjacent to the property, specifically whether it has been opened, closed, or neither.
- Ask the seller directly about any structure near the line.
- If the lot's only access is an unopened allowance, settle the access question with the municipality in writing before you remove conditions, not after.
Source: Treadstone Law, Unopened Road Allowances in Ontario. This is a law firm's general guidance rather than the statute itself, so confirm anything specific to your parcel with your own lawyer.
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