Canadian property law
Squatters' rights in Alberta: what changed when adverse possession was abolished
Adverse possession in Alberta ended on December 15, 2022, when the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act came into force. Before that, ten years of possession could extinguish a registered owner's title.
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- Statutory period
- Abolished in 2022
- What's different here
- abolished in December 2022, with a court remedy for encroachments
- Statute
- Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022
Until late 2022, Alberta was one of the few Torrens jurisdictions in Canada where adverse possession still ran against registered land. The Limitations Act gave an owner ten years to recover land, and a possessor who outlasted that period could apply to be registered as owner.
The Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022 changed three statutes at once. The Law of Property Act now abolishes adverse possession, the Limitations Act no longer bars an owner who waits more than ten years to recover land, and the Land Titles Act lets people who were already registered as owners through adverse possession keep that title.
The same reform gives courts a discretionary power over the situations adverse possession used to settle by default: lasting improvements someone made to land they believed was theirs, and buildings that encroach on a neighbour. A court can now shape a remedy for those cases rather than transfer the land automatically.
Where Alberta sits against the rest of Canada, in years
Here possession cannot become ownership on any clock, so there is no bar to draw.
How it unfolds
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After the full periodA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
Before it is ever a court case
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
Are squatters rights abolished in Alberta?
Yes. Adverse possession was abolished effective December 15, 2022, by the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, which amended the Law of Property Act, the Land Titles Act and the Limitations Act.
What was the adverse possession period in Alberta before 2022?
Ten years. The Limitations Act barred an owner's claim to recover land after ten years, which is what allowed a long-term possessor to seek title. That bar was removed by the 2022 amendments.
What if a neighbour built on my land in Alberta?
The 2022 reform lets a court deal with lasting improvements made in the belief the land was the builder's own, and with encroaching buildings. The remedy is decided by the court rather than acquired by time.
How does an Alberta owner remove a trespasser?
The Trespass to Premises Act and the Petty Trespass Act make unauthorized presence an offence, enforced by police. Where the occupant may be a tenant, the Residential Tenancies Act governs how a tenancy ends, and a landlord cannot lock a tenant out without following it.
Elsewhere in Canada
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
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