In Ontario, the law recognizes that a squatter can gain legal ownership of the land of the true owner in certain limited circumstances. The squatter must have (i) continuously occupied the true owner's land for a minimum of 10 years, (ii) intended to exclude the legal owner from the land and (iii) effectively excluded the true owner from the land. In addition, the squatter's use of the true owner's land must have been open, notorious, adverse, peaceful and actual.
Since most lands in Ontario are now registered under the Land Titles Act (the "LTA"), they are generally protected from claims for adverse possession. In addition, provincial and municipally owned lands have long been thought to be exempt from adverse possession claims due to their special nature as public lands. In this regard, although it might be expected that municipal parkland would be exempt from a claim for adverse possession, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada determined otherwise in Kosicki v. Toronto (City), 2025 SCC 28 (CanLII).
In this case, the appellants acquired a residential property in 2017. The property backed onto a City of Toronto park. Behind the property was also a laneway and "backyard" with a fence running around it. The fence was erected between 1958 and 1971.
In 1958, a regional conservation authority had acquired the land that comprised the laneway and part of the backyard (or the land in dispute). In 1971, the conservation authority transferred this land to the City, who dedicated it for public parkland use. However, the fence effectively...
