Source: http://isthatlegal.ca/index.php?name=Adverse-possession
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 18:07:03+00:00

Document:
Before turning to the trial judge’s decision and the issues raised by the appellant, I will briefly review the law of adverse possession. This law is not in dispute. To establish adverse possession of certain lands, a claimant must demonstrate that throughout the ten-year adverse possession period, he or she: a) had actual possession of the lands in question; b) had the intention of excluding the true owner from possession; and c) effectively excluded the true owner from possession: Masidon Investments Ltd. v. Ham (1984), 1984 CanLII 1877 (ON CA), 45 O.R. (2d) 563 (C.A.), at p. 567.
 An adverse possession claim will fail unless the claimant meets each of the three criteria, and time will begin to run against the true owner of the lands only from the last date when all three are satisfied: Masidon, at p. 567.
 To establish actual possession, the acts of possession must be “open, notorious, peaceful, adverse, exclusive, actual and continuous”: Teis v. Ancaster (Town) (1997), 1997 CanLII 1688 (ON CA), 35 O.R. (3d) 216 (C.A.), at p. 221. If any one of these elements is missing at any time during the statutory ten-year period, the claim for possessory title will fail: Teis, at p. 221.
 If the claimant acknowledges the right of the true owner, then possession will not be adverse. Acknowledgment of title will thus stop the clock from running: Teis, at p. 221; Goode v. Hudon (2005), 30 R.P.R. (4th) 202 (Ont. S.C.), at para. 184; 1043 Bloor Inc. v. 1714104 Ontario Inc., 2013 ONCA 91 (CanLII), 114 O.R. (3d) 241, at para. 73. Legislation likewise makes this clear. Section 13 of the Real Property Limitations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.15, provides that a written and signed acknowledgment of title to land resets the clock for an adverse possession claim over that land.
 An agreement regarding one part of a property that the parties do not contemplate as applying to another part will not constitute an acknowledgement sufficient to interrupt adverse possession on that latter part: Tasker v. Badgerow, 2007 CanLII 23362 (ON SC), 2007 CanLII 23362 4086 (Ont. S.C.), at paras. 47-49, aff’d on other grounds 2008 ONCA 202 (CanLII).
 Easements of necessity are easements presumed to have been granted when the land that is sold is inaccessible except by passing over adjoining land retained by the grantor. The concept arises from the premise that the easement is an implied grant allowing the purchaser to access the purchased lot. See Nelson v. 1153696 Alberta Ltd., 2011 ABCA 203 (CanLII), 46 Alta. L.R. (5th) 113, at paras. 40-43, leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused,  S.C.C.A. No. 423; and Dobson v. Tulloch (1994), 1994 CanLII 7239 (ON SC), 17 O.R. (3d) 533 (C.J. (Gen. Div.)), aff’d (1997), 1997 CanLII 14542 (ON CA), 33 O.R. (3d) 800 (C.A.).
 Necessity is assessed at the time of the original grant: Nelson, at para. 42; Dobson, at p. 541.
…To establish adverse possession of certain lands, a claimant must demonstrate that throughout the ten-year adverse possession period, he or she: a) had actual possession of the lands in question; b) had the intention of excluding the true owner from possession; and c) effectively excluded the true owner from possession: Masidon Investments Ltd. v. Ham (1984), 1984 CanLII 1877 (ON CA), 45 O.R. (2d) 563 (Ont. C.A.), at p. 567.
. Sipsas v. 1299781 Ontario Inc.
(3) effectively excluded the true owner from possession.
 Although title to lands registered in Land Titles cannot be obtained by adverse possession following the registration of title, title may be obtained by adverse possession that can be established for a continuous period of 10 years prior to registration: s. 51(2) of the Land Titles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.5 and s. 4 of the Real Property Limitations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.15. Thus, as the trial judge found, the appellants were required to establish that the Hendricks adversely possessed the disputed lands for any 10-year period ending October 21, 2001.
 It is clearly arguable that the Hendricks’ use of the disputed lands was sufficient to establish actual possession. The Supreme Court recently reiterated that the requirement that a claimant have actual “possession” does not require continuous occupation: Nelson v. Mowatt, 2017 SCC 8 (CanLII),  S.C.J. No. 8, at para. 31. The Hendricks could be said to have used the disputed lands as a backyard, and backyards are necessarily used on a seasonal basis. But even assuming that the actual possession requirement were satisfied, the appellants’ claim would fail on the second step of the Masidon test.
 The appellants were required to establish that the Hendricks intended to use the disputed lands in a manner inconsistent with the rights of Thompson and the use she intended to make of it. There is no question that the “inconsistent use” test makes it more difficult for claimants of adverse possession to establish an intention to exclude, especially where, as in this case, the intentions of the true owner of the disputed lands are unknown.
 The appellants sought to avoid this problem by arguing that this was a case of mutual mistake, rendering the inconsistent use test irrelevant: see Teis v. Ancaster (Town) (1997), 1997 CanLII 1688 (ON CA), 35 O.R. (3d) 216 (C.A). However, a mutual mistake cannot be established on this record. It was not established that Thompson was mistaken about anything at all. The appellants could do no more than suggest it was possible that Thompson also believed that the disputed lands were owned by the Hendricks.
 At the hearing of the appeal, the appellants sought to characterize this as a case of unilateral mistake, submitting that the Hendricks mistakenly believed that they owned the disputed land.
 As noted in Barbour v. Bailey, 2016 ONCA 98, 345 O.A.C. 311, at para. 43, this court has not determined whether inconsistent use is necessary in cases of unilateral mistake, although there is Superior Court authority that supports the proposition that it is not: see Marotta v. Creative Investments Ltd.,  O.J. No. 1399, 69 R.P.R. (4th) 44 (S.C.).

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.