I’d just like to expand a bit on AWB’s expansion.
There are two types of land ownership in the common law provinces in Canada: title, and registry.
The eastern provinces historically have registry systems, while the four western provinces and the three territories have a titles system. (And yes, Ontario has both, just to be confusing.)
In a registry system, you prove ownership of land from the title documents that you got from the person you bought the land from: the transfer, the deed, the Crown patent, etc. You can register those documents in the land registry to declare your claim to the piece of land to all the world, but ultimately your claim to ownership depends on the “chain of title.” A working rule of thumb for conveyancers is that a chain of title going back 40 years is acceptable.
In a land titles system, also called a Torrens system, once a title is registered in the Land Titles office, that is proof of title, good against all the world, except in cases of fraud, etc. You don’t worry about “chain of title” - you go down to Land Titles and see who owns it.
“Squatters’ rights,” both by adverse possession and encroachment, are ancient common law principles that apply in a registry jurisdiction, but not in a titles system.
In a registry jurisdiction, registering the chain of title does not guarantee ownership, so if someone comes in with a claim of adverse possession or encroachment and can prove it, that supercedes the claim listed in the registry.
That’s not the case with a titles system. If it ain’t on the title at Land Titles, it ain’t there. If you’re listd as owner, it doesn’t matter how long Joe Squatter’s been living on your land - it’s still yours. If someone’s encroaching, you get a survey, compare it to the survey at Land Titles, and that decides the issue.
In both cases, you may still have to go to court to enforce your title, but you don’t have to prove title against the squatter or encroacher.
Patricinus Scriblerus, I see from yopur profile that you’re from Alberta, so you don’t have to worry about squatters or encroachers - Alberta is a title jurisdiction.
(It’s been a while since I worked in Quebec, which is a civil law jurisdiction, but I think their system is more akin to a titles system, and you can’t get adverse possesion against land. I may be wrong on this point.)
and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe