Easements in Canada: What They Mean for Property Owners (2026)

An easement gives another party the legal right to use part of your property for a specific purpose. Easements are common in Canadian real estate and do not prevent you from owning the land — but they can restrict what you build, where you dig, or who has access. Understanding easements before you buy protects you from surprises after closing.

How Easements Work in Canada

An easement creates a relationship between two parties and two parcels of land:

Dominant tenement: The property that benefits from the easement (e.g., the neighbour who gains access across your lot)
Servient tenement: The property burdened by the easement (your lot)

Most easements are registered on title at the provincial land registry. In BC, for example, the Land Title and Survey Authority lists easements, covenants and statutory rights of way among the charges that can appear on a title (LTSA). An easement runs with the land rather than the owner, so when the property is sold it stays in place. You can’t simply ignore it or ask the holder to leave.

Common Types of Easements in Canada

Utility easements

Power companies, gas utilities, municipal water and sewer systems, and telecommunications providers often have easements along the side or rear of residential lots. These typically prevent you from building permanent structures within the easement area.

Right-of-way easements

Allow a third party to cross your land. Examples include a shared driveway easement (two neighbours sharing one driveway), a lane at the rear of urban lots, or access to a landlocked parcel.

Drainage easements

Allow water to flow across your property — often covering a natural watercourse, drainage ditch, or swale. You typically cannot fill, divert, or obstruct the drainage path.

Conservation easements

Restrict development to protect natural features like wetlands, forests, or wildlife habitat. They are often registered by landowners with a land trust or conservation organization, and can limit what can be built on the property for a long time.

Statutory rights of way

Some provinces let public bodies and utilities hold an easement without a neighbouring property that benefits from it. In BC this is a “statutory right of way” under section 218 of the Land Title Act, for purposes such as operating and maintaining utility infrastructure.

How to Find Easements on a Property

Title search: The most reliable method. Your real estate lawyer conducts a title search that reveals all registered easements. It’s a standard part of buying a home.

Survey or Real Property Report (RPR): A property survey may show easement locations physically on the drawing — particularly utility easements and rights-of-way. In Alberta, a Real Property Report can show them on the plan.

Ask the utility: if you plan to build near a service line, your hydro, gas or water utility can tell you where its infrastructure runs and what clearances it needs.

Easements and Restrictive Covenants: What’s the Difference?

Easements grant a right to use part of your land. Restrictive covenants are restrictions on what you can do with your land — for example, a prohibition on keeping livestock, or a requirement to maintain a specific architectural style.

Both run with the land and both appear on title. A title search reveals both.

How Easements Affect Home Buyers

Building restrictions: If a 3-metre utility easement runs along the rear of your lot, you cannot build a permanent structure (shed, garage, fence foundation, deck) within that corridor without the utility’s written consent.

Shared driveways: If you share a driveway through a right-of-way, the easement’s terms set out who maintains it, and you can’t block the holder’s access.

Future use: A conservation easement may prevent you from subdividing the land or building a secondary suite — even decades after purchase.

Don’t rely on the seller: review the title search with your lawyer rather than relying on what the seller tells you about easements.

What to Do If You Discover a Problem Easement

If a title search reveals an easement that affects your intended use of the property:

Ask your lawyer to explain the practical impact on what you plan to do
Check whether the easement is actively used
Negotiate the purchase price if the easement materially reduces the property’s usefulness
Request a release — the easement holder may agree to remove it if it is no longer needed, though this requires legal registration
Walk away if the easement is fundamentally incompatible with your plans — an easement running through your planned garage location cannot be easily moved

Key Takeaways

An easement is a legal right for someone else to use part of your property for a specific purpose
Easements transfer automatically when a property is sold — they run with the land
They appear on title and are revealed during a standard real estate lawyer’s title search
Common types include utility, right-of-way, drainage, and conservation easements
Always review easements with your real estate lawyer before completing a purchase