Easements
Easements
Easements
2005-02
(E) Ontario DATE: March 3, 2005
Registry Act
Ministry of Consumer
and Business Services
Registration Division TO: All Land Registrars Release of Easements
Title and Survey Services Office
The purpose of this bulletin is to clarify how easements and the removal of easements are to be
dealt with under the Land Titles and Registry systems. There are several procedures set out in
this Bulletin that differ from previously issued processes and guidelines; in all cases the
provisions of this Bulletin take precedence.
An easement is defined as a right or interest annexed to land, which permits the owner of the
dominant land to impose restrictions on the owner of the servient land as to its use. Certain
prerequisites are required. They include the following:
1. There must be a dominant and servient parcel of land. With the exception of Easements in
Gross, an easement cannot exist independently of the ownership of land.
2. An easement exists solely for the use and benefit of the dominant land. The purpose of the
easement must be set out in the document creating the easement. An easement "runs with
the land"; in other words, when the dominant land (or any part of it) is transferred, all
appurtenant easements are also conveyed. It is not necessary that the lands physically
adjoin one another.
3. The dominant and servient lands must be owned by different parties, or owned in a different
capacity by the same party. (Note the exception of Subdivision by Reference Plan
procedures outlined in Bulletin 2005-01.) If the same party attains both parcels, in the same
capacity, the easement is said to merge and therefore it is extinguished. Although the
easement merges in law, an application to amend the register is required to remove the
easement from the property in the Land Titles system.
4. The purpose of the easement must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant. The
right must be clear and specific.
The creation and removal of many easements is subject to approval under the Planning Act
(exceptions include but are not limited to: those created through court order, expropriation,
temporary easements for less than 21 years and those created over an entire existing parcel)
however this is not monitored by the land registration system and compliance is the
responsibility of the registrant.
Documents may refer to either a right of way or an easement. In either case the interest is dealt
with as an easement and all the procedures and requirements set out for easements apply.
Upon the severance of a parcel of land, all existing easements appurtenant to the whole, benefit
each severed portion. Failure to include an appurtenant easement in the transfer of the
dominant parcel is not grounds for abandoning or extinguishing the easement. The transfer of
part of a parcel should include all appurtenant easements.
Bulletin 76019 states that encumbrances shown on the servient parcel and registered prior to
the easement are included in the easement entry on the dominant lands. However, abstracting
of these encumbrances has not always occurred. Effective with the issuance of this Bulletin,
Bulletin 76019 is revoked and those procedures discontinued. Registrants must search the
servient lands to determine any prior interests related to the easement.
As easements must be created as set out above, the land registration system will not
acknowledge any attempt to create an easement in another document type, such as a charge,
agreement or lease. The document may be registered, however no reference to the easement
will be made on the parcel.
Prior to the enactment of the Land Registration Reform Act in 1984, easements could be
created in a charge as charges were considered transfers however upon the registration of a
discharge the easement was extinguished.
1. Transfer of Parcel 1 and granting an easement over part of the retained portion
(Parcel 2) in favour of Parcel 1.
LOT I : LOT 1, PLAN M1234, SIT EASEMENT OVER PT 1 PLAN 66R12345 IN FAVOUR
OF LOT 2 PLAN MI234 AS IN LT5678.
LOT 2: LOT 2, PLAN M1234, TIW EASEMENT OVER PT LOT I , PLAN M1234, PT 1 PLAN
66R 12345 AS l N LT5678.
3. Transfer of Lot 1 reserving an easement over part of Lot 1, in favour of Lot 2 and
granting an easement over part of Lot 2 i n favour of Lot 1.
LOT 1: LOT 1, PLAN M1234, SIT EASEMENT OVER PT 1, PLAN 66R12345 IN FAVOUR
OF LOT 2 PLAN MI234 AS IN LT4236. T/W EASEMENT OVER PT LOT 2 PLAN M1234,
PT 2 PLAN 66R12345 AS IN LT4236.
LOT 2: LOT 2, PLAN M1234, SIT EASEMENT OVER PT 2 PLAN 66R12345 IN FAVOUR
OF LOT 1 PLAN MI234 AS IN LT4236. T/W EASEMENT OVER PT LOT 1 PLAN M1234,
PT 1 PLAN 66R12345 AS IN LT4236.
4. When an easement is not for the benefit of the whole parcel, the benefiting lands
must be set out in the parcel entry.
LOT 1 PLAN M1234, PTS 1 & 2 PLAN 66R45678, CITY OF TORONTO. TIW EASEMENT
OVER PT LOT 2 PLAN M1234, PT 3 PLAN 66R45678 IN FAVOUR OF PT LOT 1 PLAN
M1234. PT 2 PLAN 66R45678 AS IN LT678345.
5. Time limited or temporary easements should be abstracted with the date of expiry
inserted to facilitate future system deletion. Note that if additional conditions
regarding the expiry of the easement are present, the reference to the date will be
excluded from the abstracted entry. (Note: this is a new procedure that comes into effect
with the issuance with this Bulletin.)
The general rule is that an easement cannot be assigned as it runs with the land. The only
exception is that of an easement in gross where the purpose(s) or some of the purposes may be
assigned using the existing description. If anything less than the entire extent of the easement in
gross is being assigned, a registerable description is required for the assigned portion.
Examples: Pipeline Company # I assigns some (or all) of the purposes for an entire existing
easement to Pipeline Company #2, using the previous description OR Pipeline Company # I
assigns some (or all) of the purposes for a portion of an existing easement to Pipeline Company
#2 and using an R-plan description.
A document remark will be added to the assignment or transfer referencing the original
easement registration number and identifying it as a full or partial assignment.
If an easement is assigned where the benefiting party has been previously included in the
thumbnail, the party should be removed and "SIT EASEMENT IN GROSS..." inserted, upon
certification of the assignment.
Rights of Entry are often reserved by developers in the first transaction on lots in new Plans of
Subdivision to permit the completion of obligations, such as grading and the installation of
services, pursuant to the Subdivision Agreement with the municipality. Rights of Entry are
easements, and as with any easement, must clearly identify the benefiting land. The land
registration system has traditionally permitted the dominant lands for Right of Entry easements
to be described in a general manner, which readily identifies these lands (e.g. "all those lots
Right of Entry easements will be abstracted as set out below on the servient lands. There is no
entry on the dominant lands. Any subsequent plans of the servient lands submitted for deposit
or registration must reflect that the lands are subject to the easement for Right of Entry. (Note:
The abstracting and plan requirements are new that come into effect with the issuance of this
Bulletin.)
Abstracting examples:
SIT EASEMENT FOR ENTRY UNTIL YYYY/MM/DD AS IN LT 12345 or
SIT EASEMENT FOR ENTRY AS IN LT 12345.
Unless a prior chargee postpones their charge or gives a dischargelcessation with respect to
the lands covered by the easement, the easement may cease to exist on a transfer under a
Power of Sale. The easement will remain on title if the new purchaser in the transfer under the
Power of Sale consents to take title subject to the continuance of the easement; otherwise it will
be deleted from title.
A writ search is required against the party transferring or releasing their interest (e.g. granting or
releasing an easement). If a writ is found, it is recorded as a document remark unless cleared in
the normal manner.
Easement parcels are created when the crown has granted an easement across unpatented
land. The ownership of the lands remains with the Crown and is not recorded in the land
registration system. The grantee of the easement will be shown as the owner of the parcel.
The owner of the dominant land (or owner of an easement in gross) releases the
easement to the owner of the servient land (see Transfer, Release and Abandonment
and Deletion of Easement below);
The expiry date of the easement is reached or other conditions have been met (see
2.1.4 Time Limited or Temporary Easements below);
The servient land including the easement is expropriated, or
The same party owns the dominant and servient lands. An application to amend the
register noting the merging of title is required to remove the easement from the parcel
register.
A Deletion of Easement document is registered by the owner of the servient lands on the
registers for both the dominant and servient lands. In the document the servient owner must
apply to the Land Registrar to amend the parcel by deleting the easement and must include the
consent or evidence of release and abandonment from the owner of the dominant lands. The
consents of all parties who have acquired an interest (e.g. chargee, debenture holder) in the
dominant lands subsequent to the registration of the easement must be included in a paper
document or, evidenced or addressed with appropriate statements in electronic documents.
A release of an easement in gross does not require the consent of chargees, as there are no
dominant lands.
Example: An easement was registered against Parts 1 & 2, PLAN 66R 12345. Following
this, a release is registered for only Part 2.
Easements can be created for a limited period of time, for example, five years from the date of
registration of the transfer creating the easement. Upon the expiration of the time period the
easement will be removed from title when an application is received from the registered owner
indicating that the time frame identified in the initial easement has expired or it may be deleted
without application by the Land Registrar in accordance with Bulletin No. 89004.
If other conditions are present regarding the expiry of the easement the entry will be removed
from title upon receipt of an application that provides appropriate evidence to allow for the
deletion.
No provisions exist to amend an easement other than a partial release as noted in section 2.1.3.
If there is an error or a change or a proposed addition to the extent or any of the provisions, the
easement must be released and a new easement registered.
Currently the registrant has the option to change the EstatelQualifier field to 'Fee Simple
(easement)' however the document should not be rejected if this has not been selected. In a
future release of TeraviewTM,the ability to select an EstatelQualifier on a document will be
removed and an 'InteresffEstate' selection added. On a grant of easement or release of
easement, "Easement" should be selected in this field; on a transfer of land that includes a
reservation or grant of easement, "Fee Simple with New Easement" should be selected when
available in TeraviewTM.
In addition to the servient lands, the description of the dominant land and the related PIN(s)
must be included in the description field of the document. The registrant must select 'Add
Easement' in the Reason for Change window, add the description of the dominant lands and
label the servient and dominant lands as noted in the example below. The transfer of easement
is registered on the servient PIN only. Upon certification, the easement will be entered in the
thumbnail of both the servient and dominant lands.
Example:
PIN 01234-0457
Description: SERVIENT LANDS: PT OF LT 1 PLAN M1234, DESIGNATED AS PT 1 PLAN
43R5678, TOWN OF ......
DOMINANT LANDS: PIN 01234-0458, LOT 2 PLAN M1234, TOWN OF
Generally, the purpose for which the easement was granted is provided in Statement 61
For an easement in gross, only the description of the servient lands is required.
The dominant party will complete a Transfer, Release and Abandonment when they are
releasing their interest over servient lands. The registrant must select 'Remove Easement' in the
Reason for Change window and amend the description of the dominant and servient lands as
follows:
a) Dominant PIN: "DOMINANT LANDS is entered at the beginning of the description. The
description is not amended if the easement was for the benefit of all the lands in the PIN.
Only the benefiting lands are included if less than the entire PIN. If the description contains
more than one easement, only the easement(s) being released are included.
b) Servient PIN: "SERVIENT LANDS" is entered at the beginning of the description followed
by the description of the easement lands and registration number of the easement being
released.
Example:
PIN 01234-0458
Description: DOMINANT LANDS: LOT 2 PLAN M1234, CITY OF......... TIW EASEMENT
............ AS IN LT12345
PIN 01234-0457
Description: SERVIENT LANDS: PT OF LOT 1 PLAN M1234, PT 1 PLAN 43R5678, AS IN
LT12345. CITY OF ..............
For release of easements in gross, only the PIN(s) for the servient lands are entered.
(a) Consents:
When a registrant selects Statement 19, which, states "All the parties having an interest have
consented to this release of easement", the consents must also be indexed, with the use of
Statement 92.
The preferred alternative is the inclusion in Statement 61 of the wording from Statement 19. The
document must be signed by the solicitor and include a solicitor identification statement (e.g. "I,
J. R. Black, Solicitor, state that all the parties having an interest have consented to this release
of easement"), which will negate the need to index the consents.
When a registrant selects Statement 29, which states "There are no parties with an interest
required to consent to this release of easement", Land Registrars are required to verify this
statement before deleting an easement from the lands.
The preferred alternative is the inclusion in Statement 61 of the wording from Statement 29. The
document must be signed by the solicitor and contain a solicitor identification statement (as set
out above), which will negate the need for staff to verify that no consents are required.
Statement 3730, which states, "This document relates to registration number (Instrument
Number(s))" should be selected for a partial release of an easement. The registrant must
identify in Statement 61 that it is a partial release and what is being released.
For a complete release of an easement, the registrant should select "Document(s) to be
Deleted" field. This will identify an easement that should be completely deleted versus a partial
release of an easement. Staff will verify the release to ensure that the easement can be deleted
from the property. If the easement document selected to be deleted cannot be sourced from the
document pool of a PIN, the system will not permit the selection. In this scenario, the registrant
should use Statement 3730 andlor Statement 61 and identify that it is a complete release.
An Application General is to be used when the owner of the servient parcel wishes to apply to
delete an easement. It must be supported by evidence of the release and abandonment from
the dominant party. The registrant must select the Reason for Change window and amend the
description of the servient and dominant lands as follows:
a) Servient PIN: "SERVIENT LANDS" is entered at the beginning of the description followed by
the description of the easement lands and registration number of the easement being
released.
b) Dominant PIN: "DOMINANT LANDS" is entered at the beginning of the description. The
description is not amended if the easement was for the benefit of all the lands in the PIN.
Only the benefiting lands are included if less than the entire PIN. If the description contains
more than one easement, only the easement(s) being released are included.
Example:
PIN 01234-0457
Description: SERVIENT LANDS: PT OF LT 1 PLAN M1234, PT 1 PLAN 43R5678, AS IN
LT12345, CITY OF ..............
PIN 01234-0458
Description: DOMINANT LANDS: LT 2 PLAN M1234, TIW EASEMENT ..... AS IN LT12345,
CITY OF .................
(a) Statement 61
To: The Land Registrar for the Land Titles Division of .............
I (we), . . . . . ( name) ...........registered owner of PIN ...(servient land)...., which is
subject to an easement registered as ......(number and date) .....in favour of
PIN.....(dominant land) ....., hereby apply under the Land Titles Act to have the
registers for the said PINS amended by deleting the said easement (or portion of
said easement). (omit reference to dominant land if an easement in Gross)
The preferred alternative to indexing is the inclusion of the following in Statement 61: "All the
parties having an interest have consented to the deletion of this easement". The document must
be signed by the solicitor and contain a solicitor identification statement (see section 2.2.3). If no
consents are required the solicitor should state - "There are no parties with an interest required
to consent to this release of easement" - in Statement 61, sign the document and include the
solicitor identification statement.
Statement 3730, which states, "This document relates to registration number (Instrument
Number(s))" should be selected for a partial release of an easement. The registrant must
identify in Statement 61 that it is a partial release and what is being released.
An Application General for Deletion of Easement requires a writ search against the party
releasing their interest (the dominant tenement), as the document has the effect of transferring
an interest in land. The registrant must search for writs against the dominant owner using the
WritSearchTMfunction in TeraviewTM.The results should be stated in Statement 61.
Occasionally, an easement can be shown on the servient land parcellPlN with no corresponding
identification of the easement on the dominant parcellPIN. In this scenario the client should
work with the Land Registrar to determine if the dominant lands can be ascertained and the
parcellPlN amended accordingly, following the normal procedures. If an Application to Delete is
submitted from a servient owner where the status of the dominant lands is uncertain, an
unequivocal statement indicating that there are no dominant lands and a solicitor identification
statement (see section 2.2.3) must be included in Statement 61. A solicitor must also sign the
document.
This section will be deleted from the easement module of Version 4 of the Electronic
Registration Procedures Guide.
Historically, Land Registry Offices have not monitored Registry documents to ensure that there
is a description of the dominant and servient lands, as this is the responsibility of the registrant
in the Registry System. However, as easements are brought forward during the automation and
conversion of properties to Land Titles, registrants should ensure that this information is
provided and that the easements are properly created so that they can be accurately reflected
on the Land Titles parcel.
During the registration process Land Registry Office staff will check that a document contains a
description of the dominant and servient properties.
In this situation, the lands benefited and burdened by the easement appear on the same
abstract page and accordingly, only one entry can be made, with a document remark
"Part 1, Plan 24R100 reserving easement".
In the automated system the registration of the easement will normally be part of a split
and the abstracting will be as set out above in (a). If the easement is registered on a
non-convert PIN where splits are not occurring due to uncertainty of ownership, the
document will be entered in the document pool only.
In paper the Land Registry Office is required to enter the TransferIDeed on the abstract
for both Lot 1 and Lot 2 and document remarks will be included on both abstracts -
"Together with easement over Lot 2 on Lot 1 and "Easement over Lot 2" on Lot 2. In the
automated system the TransferIDeed is abstracted on Lot 1 and added to the thumbnail
of both PINs.
In this situation, the lands benefited and burdened by the easement appear on the same
abstract page and accordingly, only one entry can be made, with a document remark
"Part 1, Plan 24R101 with easement over Part 2, Plan 24R101".
In the automated system the registration of the easement will normally be part of a split
and the abstracting will be as set out above in (a). If the easement is registered on a
non-convert PIN where splits are not occurring due to uncertainty of ownership, the
document will be entered in the document pool only.
The document will be entered in the abstractlPlN for Lot 2, with a document remark
"Easement over Lot 2" in the paper abstract, and with no document entry on Lot 1. In the
automated system the easement will be entered in the thumbnails of both PINs.
If the easement is registered on a non-convert PIN where splits are not occurring due to
uncertainty of ownership, the document will be entered in the document pool only.
A release of easement is registered on the servient lands. Any reference to the released
easement in the thumbnail of an automated Registry PIN will remain. If a subsequent
transfer re-describes the land without the easement it can then be removed from the
thumbnail.
The Ministry of Finance requires a Land Transfer Tax AffidavitlStatements completed for all
transfers and releases of easements.
This Bulletin replaces Bulletin numbers 76019 and 92007, which are hereby revoked
Katherine M. Murray
Director of Titles