When municipalities and other statutory authorities undertake
major infrastructure projects, the projects often require the
acquisition of land within increasingly built up central areas.
When a landowner is not willing to sell their land, the land can be
expropriated under Ontario's Expropriations Act.
Expropriation (or Eminent Domain as it is called in the United
States) is essentially a compulsory land taking by a statutory
authority. For example, in Ottawa, many homeowners and land owners
have been, and will be, dealing with expropriations as a result of
the Ottawa Light Rail Project, or the "LRT".
The Expropriations Act seems deceptively simple, but
expropriations are extremely complicated to navigate as the Act is
simply a jumping-off point, with case law establishing many of the
core principles of the expropriation process.Entitlement to
compensation as a result of expropriation is quite complex and
owners, tenants, businesses and other interests,should seek
