Canadian property law
Squatters' rights in the Yukon: why possession never becomes ownership
Section 44 of the Land Titles Act, 2015 abolishes the doctrine of adverse possession, and it does so with effect from January 1, 1887. There is no period to wait out.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so
- Statutory period
- Abolished
- What's different here
- abolished retroactively to January 1, 1887
- Statute
- Land Titles Act, 2015, SY 2015, c 10, ss 43 and 44
Most jurisdictions that closed off adverse possession did it from a date forward. The Yukon went further back: section 44 of the Land Titles Act, 2015 states that the doctrine of adverse possession is abolished effective January 1, 1887, so no claim can rest on possession at any time since then.
Section 43 abolishes every existing method of acquiring a right or interest in land by prescription, including the common law doctrine of prescription and the doctrine of lost modern grant. Together the two sections mean neither ownership nor a right of way can be gained in the Yukon by long use alone.
For an owner, a squatter in the Yukon raises a removal question, not a title question. Someone with no tenancy is a trespasser; someone who may be a tenant falls under the territory's residential tenancy legislation, which sets how a tenancy ends.
Where Yukon 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 there squatters' rights in the Yukon?
No. Section 44 of the Land Titles Act, 2015 abolishes the doctrine of adverse possession effective January 1, 1887, so possession cannot become ownership however long it lasts.
Can someone get a right of way in the Yukon by long use?
No. Section 43 of the same Act abolishes acquiring rights over land by prescription, including the doctrine of lost modern grant.
How does a Yukon owner remove an occupant?
An occupant with no tenancy is a trespasser, handled through the police or the courts. Where the occupant may be a tenant, the territory's residential tenancy legislation governs how the tenancy ends, which rules out a landlord locking them out on their own.
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.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so