Notice of forfeiture
33.(1)Where any part of the tax imposed under section 3 of this Act remains unpaid for a period of two years or more, the collector may cause to be filed on or before the 30th day of November in any year in the proper land registry office a caution, and thereupon the collector shall cause to be sent by registered mail a notice to the person appearing from search or inquiry at the proper land registry office to be the owner of the land in respect of which the default has been made and to every person appearing from such search or inquiry to have an interest therein, stating that, unless the total amount of tax, interest, penalties and costs due and payable under section 3 of this Act is paid on or before the 30th day of November in the year next following, the land and every interest therein will be liable to be forfeited to and to be vested in the Crown on the 1st day of December in the last-mentioned year by a certificate signed by the Minister or Deputy Minister, and to the amount so due and payable there shall in every case be added and paid as costs the prescribed sum. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.32, s. 33 (1); 1997, c. 19, s. 19 (3); 1999, c. 9, s. 179. Idem (2)Where no letters patent from the Crown have issued granting land in respect of which tax remains unpaid for a period of two years or more, the collector may, despite the requirement in subsection (1) of registering a caution, commence the forfeiture proceedings described therein by sending by registered mail to the persons described in that subsection, the notice of liability to forfeiture described therein. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.32, s. 33 (2). Publication of notice (3)The collector shall cause to be prepared a list of the lands in respect of which notices under subsections (1) and (2) have been mailed and shall cause the list to be published in one issue of The Ontario Gazette not later than the 31st day of December next following the mailing of the notices and giving notice that, unless the total amount of tax, interest, penalties and costs shown therein is paid on or before the 30th day of November in the year next following, the land and every interest therein will be liable to be forfeited to and to be vested in the Crown on the 1st day of December in the last-mentioned year by a certificate signed by the Minister or Deputy Minister. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.32, s. 33 (3); 1999, c. 9, s. 179. Declaration of forfeiture (4)Where any part of the tax, interest, penalties and costs remains unpaid after the 30th day of November in the year next following the publication of the list in The Ontario Gazette under subsection (3), the Minister or Deputy Minister by a certificate may, on and after the 1st day of December next following, declare the lands and every interest therein forfeited to and vested in the Crown, and thereupon, subject to subsections (5) and (6), the land and every interest therein vests in the Crown absolutely freed and discharged from every estate, right, title, interest, claim or demand therein or thereto, whether existing, arising or accruing before or after such forfeiture is declared, and the land may be granted, sold, leased or otherwise disposed of in the same manner as public lands may be dealt with under the laws of Ontario. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.32, s. 33 (4); 1999, c. 9, s. 179. Mining lands (5)Where land, other than land held under a lease or licence of occupation, that is subject to forfeiture under this Act is also subject to the acreage tax under the Mining Act, such forfeiture shall be of the surface rights only. Easements (6)Where a dominant tenement is forfeited, any easement appurtenant thereto passes to the Crown and, where a servient tenement is forfeited, the forfeiture does not affect any easement to which the servient tenement is subject. Registration of certificate (7)The proper land registrar shall upon receipt of the certificate duly register the same, and it is absolute and conclusive evidence of the forfeiture to the Crown of the land and every interest therein so certified to be forfeited, and is not open to attack in any court by reason of the omission of any act or thing leading up to the forfeiture. Effect of registration (8)Upon registration of a certificate of forfeiture in the land registry office, the Registry Act or the Land Titles Act, as the case may be, ceases to apply to the land forfeited, and the proper land registrar shall note that fact in his or her register. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.32, s. 33 (5-8).