When you buy and own a home, you buy and own real property. Real property ownership gives you important rights over the land and buildings you own. But it also comes with rules and document registration processes to follow. This page also highlights key real property rights you have—such as knowing your boundaries and issues that may lead to disputes.
Need to know
- Owning real property means having certain legal rights over the land and buildings you own.
- Title and land registration systems affect how real property ownership is proven. In Alberta, the land titles system we use is called the Torrens system, which operates under the authority of the Land Titles Act, a provincial law.
- The Government of Alberta, through the Land Titles Office is responsible for registered land titles information and when you buy a home, there are certain steps to follow when registering documents at the Land Titles Office.
- There are three types of land ownership rights: fee simple, leasehold interest and life estate.
- Your certificate of title shows legal boundaries and interests on your land.
- When you own a home, property rights issues can arise with shared ownership, condominiums, property boundaries and fences, encroachments and intrusions, and neighbours.
What are property rights
When you own land or a home, you have certain legal rights. These rights are sometimes called a “bundle of rights”—they let you use, enjoy, sell, or control your property within the law. But laws also place limits so your rights don’t interfere with others’ rights or public rules.
In Canada, property law is mostly a provincial responsibility. That means the rules in Alberta might be different from other provinces. For example:
- What happens when property is transferred
- How ownership is registered
- How disputes are handled
When you buy and own a home, you buy and own real property. Real property is different from personal property. Real property includes land, homes, and mine and mineral rights. Personal property is all other property and includes vehicles, mobile homes, bank accounts or furniture.
Alberta’s land titles system
When you buy real property in Alberta, your lawyer registers the transfer of your land in a provincial government registry under the Torrens system. This gives you a certificate of title showing you as the legal owner and lists things like a mortgage or other interests on the property.
The Torrens system operates under the authority of the Land Titles Act, a provincial law. The Government of Alberta, through the Land Titles Office, has custody of all original titles, documents, and plans and is responsible for the validity and security of all registered land titles information. The Government of Alberta also guarantees the accuracy of all titles, and in order to do this, operates an Assurance Fund to compensate anyone who suffers a loss due to an error on title or a fraudulent transaction.
This system consists of a government-maintained database which holds the following information:
- The description of every parcel of land covered by the system
- The name of the person or persons who own the parcel of land and
- A description of any rights over the parcel owned by a person or persons other than the registered owner.
Some provinces use a different registration system (a deed system), where ownership records are open to challenge unless errors are fixed.
The Land Titles system in Alberta is used by a wide range of individuals and organizations with an interest in land. These include individuals, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments, real estate companies, banks, lenders, utility companies, appraisers and assessors, land surveyors, oil and gas companies, and lawyers.
Land registration process
When you buy a home with the help of a real estate lawyer, they will handle the land transfer and registration process for you.
To register a document at the Land Titles Office, you must complete a Document Registration Request (DRR) form. You must submit this form, along with the document you wish to register to ensure that all documents are together. Authorized users of Alberta Land Titles Online (ALTO) can digitally sign and submit certain documents to Land Titles and Surveys, saving time and expenses for signing, printing, and storing paper originals. Additionally, you must pay the registration fee at the time of submission (by cash, cheque, credit card, or through an established account). The Land Titles Office will examine the documents in the order they receive them to maintain the priority of registration, which is important if there are competing interests.
Once you submit your documents to the Land Titles Office, Land Titles Analysts will review and compare them to the appropriate titles, along with a legal review. This ensures the documents comply with relevant legislation, case law, and business rules. Some validation occurs automatically in the Alberta Land Titles Automation (ALTA) system, while other checks are done manually. If they find any errors, they will identify the issues so that they can return the documents for correction, if necessary.
Once the documents meet all legal requirements and are in registerable form, the Land Titles Office will register them in the ALTA database and assign a registration number. You will then receive a registration notice. The documents are scanned into the SPIN2 system, and the Alberta government retains and archives the originals.
Did you know?
Documents kept at the Land Titles Office include legal plans, documents registered with those plans, documents related to creating new parcels, and those dealing with partial interests in full parcels. There are two Land Titles offices in Alberta – one in Edmonton and one in Calgary.
To order copies of title and other documents, you can visit Alberta Land Titles’ SPIN2 Website. You will need to complete a Land Titles search request and pay a fee, which varies based on the document requested.
Land ownership rights
There are three types of land ownership rights:
- Fee simple – this type of ownership gives you basic land rights, except for any public or government restrictions for the greater good. For example, a restriction could the expropriation of privacy property for building a highway.
- Leasehold interest – this type of ownership gives you the exclusive right to use the land for a limited time. For lease interests in land for longer than 3 years, you can register the interest with the Land Titles Office.
- Life estate – this type of ownership grants rights for a particular person’s lifetime. If the particular person dies, the right ends (is “extinguished”) and the ownership right goes back to the original owner.
A fee simple is the most common type of land ownership right, while leasehold interests and life estates are less common.
When you own land, you generally own the surface of the property and the air space above it, though certain rights (such as those of airlines) may limit this. You also own the materials that surface operations can excavate, such as sand, gravel, peat, and clay. In Alberta, mineral ownership is typically separate from surface rights, and most land titles are either surface-only or minerals-only titles.
Did you know?
To determine if you own the mineral rights to your land under the Torrens System, you can obtain the current certificate of title. This document provides details about ownership and any registered interests. If you have a surface-only title, which is common in most cases, the title will include a “mineral reservation” with a phrase such as “excepting thereout all mines and minerals,” meaning that your ownership does not include mineral rights. However, if this is not the case, a Certificate of Title from Alberta Land Titles will specify which minerals the owner holds.
Understanding certificates of title
When you look at the certificate of title for your home, you may notice it seems to have random looking letters and numbers that don’t resemble your home address at all. Usually, the address we are used to seeing is the municipal description of land. However, the letters and numbers referred to on your certificate are the legal description of land, which is based on the Alberta Township Survey (ATS) system. For subdivided land, as in a city, town, village or acreage subdivision, the land is legally described in relation to its plan number, Block number and Lot number.
Your certificate of title will also contain the following information:
- type of land ownership right – whether you have a fee simple, leasehold estate or life estate
- the municipality the land is in
- a unique reference number or ATS number
- owner details – this includes full names and addresses for each registered owner
- encumbrances, liens and interests – this could include caveats, restrictive covenants, utility right of ways and other liens and mortgages
If you have any questions or issues understanding anything on your certificate of title, get legal help.
Did you know?
Depending on the type of property you own, there are differences in the property description on your certificate on title. For non-subdivided land or rural land, the description has the geographical location, meridian, range, township, section and quarter- section. Sometimes, there is also a reference to a legal Subdivision (or L.S.D.), a term meaning a particular quarter of a quarter-section. For condominium units, the description has the plan number and unit number only.
Potential issues
Shared ownership
When you own property, there can be more than one property owner (known as “shared ownership”). There are two shared ownership types:
- Joint ownership or joint tenancy – this type of ownership means that the owners own the property together and do not have distinct and separate rights. If one decides to sell or use the property, then all owners must agree. When one dies, the right to the property passes to the surviving owners when they file a proof of death document. This type of ownership is common for couples buying a house together.
- Tenants in common – this type of ownership means that the owners own the property but the specific ownership right of each owner is separate and distinct. Each owner can do what they want with their separate share of the property (for example, they can sell, gift or mortgage it), but the owners need to work together to maintain and protect the property. Tenants in common are responsible for their share of property costs depending on how much they own.
It is important to document shared ownership and make sure that your certificate of title reflects the shared ownership type. This will help you avoid future disputes. If you have a dispute over a shared ownership matter, you should get legal advice.
Condominiums
When you own a standard condominium, you own the legal title to your own unit plus a share of the common property of the building that are shared by all the condominium owners (for example, the parking lot, garden spaces, hallways, etc.). When a condominium development is registered with the Land Titles Office, it becomes a condominium corporation and owners then elect a board of directors to manage the condominium corporation. When you own a condominium, there are condominium laws that you must follow. With the shared nature of condominiums, it is inevitable that problems can arise in relation to the governance and everyday operations of the condominium.
To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as a condominium buyer, owner or board member, refer to CPLEA’s Condo Law for Albertans website.
Property boundaries and fences
Disputes can happen where there is uncertainty over boundaries. For example, when physical boundaries established by fences don’t match the legal boundaries described in the Certificate of Title. A fence might show where a yard looks like it ends, but legal property boundaries are shown on your certificate of title. Fences and boundaries can be complex, especially when neighbours disagree. Whenever you are dealing with uncertainty or disputes about property boundaries, you should get legal advice.
There are also laws about fences, including whether you and your neighbour share responsibility for building or repairing them. Local bylaws can limit fence height, location, or require permits. You should also check architectural guidelines for your neighborhood or community association when it comes to fences as there may be additional guidelines to follow with construction and colour.
Encroachments and intrusions
Sometimes outside forces can encroach on your property—for example, tree branches or structures crossing a boundary. What counts as an encroachment and what you can do about it can be complicated and depend on the exact facts. For example, with trees, hedges and shrubs, you may be able to remove the branches from a tree planted on your neighbour’s property if they encroach into your property. But this may not be the case when the encroaching tree is a straddle tree with roots growing into neighbouring or adjacment property – it depends on how the root is growing and whether your actions will harm the tree. Airspace intrusions above your property can also be complicated. Under the case law, the courts have viewed permanent structural intrusions (e.g., low hanging powerlines) as trespass while transient intrusions (e.g., aircraft) are not likely to interfere with enjoyment of your property. Whenever you are dealing with disputes about encroachments and intrusions to your property, you should get legal advice.
Property access and restrictions
Sometimes, your right to control access to your property can be limited by public rights-of-way, easements, or long-standing access rights. Utility companies or municipalities with legal access rights may be able to enter your property for specific purposes – for example, to fix underground pipes running along or under your property. Furthermore, new municipal bylaws, zoning changes, or government rules can affect all how you can use your property, even after purchase.
Neighbours
You have a legal right to peaceful enjoyment of your property and sometimes neighbours can be disruptive to that right. That means the law tries to protect you from unreasonable interference, like extreme noise or disruptions. Municipal bylaws, such as noise bylaws, regulate conduct and activities on private and neighboring property to make sure you have enjoyable use of your property.
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