Ontario Tax Sale Property

Providing free tax sale property listings for Ontario, Canada

Tax Sale Guide Home

Road Allowances




Chapter: AFTER TAX SALES




What's the deal with un-opened allowances?  Is the property within the allowance owned by the township?  Can it be used to access the property?



Gap

A closed road allowance is usually some sort of access area that is not owned, meaning anyone can trespass...it's effectively crown land.   However, some people have sole options to purchase road allowances.  For example, in cottage country there is a shore road allowance in front of every waterfront lot in Ontario.   This is an old government law declaring all shore waterfront not able to be owned.  I guess the idea was that everyone should be free to have access to the water.   Many people who own waterfront property are not actually aware of the fact that they do not own 66' from the shore into their property.   In recent years, townships (probably for extra cash) have been declaring the shore road allowance in front of certain properties as excess.   Once that's done (there's a process of town council of course), the owner of the land behind it is free to petition that the land (i.e. shore road allowance) be closed (bought by them).   In this way, it is completely and wholly owned by the landowner behind so no one can cross their shoreline.    In most cases, it doesn't really matter because you can't really walk on the shore in front of someone's property anyway as you would have to cross their property to get to it or other people's property.   This is the case in the Kawarthas, Muskoka, Haliburton, etc.   

Where this original law has really shown it's worth is in places like Wasaga Beach.   Nobody owns the shore road allowance there and this has kept the entire beach open to everyone.  Houses are set back from the water, even the ones directly on the water, but they actually don't own the property.  Anyone can put their beach chairs directly in front of your property.   Those types of beaches have never allowed people to close (purchase) their shore road allowances, so they all remained unopened. 

In cases where there is no beach, there is sometimes a thin strip of land between two sets of lots of say, ten or twelve.   The county or province years ago may have set aside these occasional strips in case they wanted access and/or wanted to provide public access to another road, a water area, or other piece of crown land.   These road allowances are never closed (purchased) so they maintain ownership and everyone's allowed to pass.   Normally in these situations, the road allowances remain (and have remained) unopened for years and are destined to remain that way so access is there. 

BASICALLY, if there's road allowance to a property, you should ask who owns it and who is allowed to close (or purchase) if anyone.   The best answer is you cannot close this road allowance as the county/township, etc. owns it and will not declare it surplus.  This means you can use it forever to crossover.

Even if you buy a property and someone tries to close (purchase) this in the future, all neighbours are allowed to veto it, so that's good too.










Tax Sale Property Listings

Books

Ontario:
Current Ontario Tax Sale Properties
Ontario Tax Sales - 2022
Ontario Tax Sales - 2021
Ontario Tax Sales - 2020
Ontario Tax Sales - 2019
Ontario Tax Sales - 2018
Ontario Tax Sales - 2017
Ontario Tax Sales - 2016
Ontario Tax Sales - 2015
Ontario Tax Sales - 2014
Ontario Tax Sales - 2013
Ontario Tax Sales - 2012
Ontario Tax Sales - 2011
Ontario Tax Sales - 2010
Ontario Tax Sales - 2009
Ontario Tax Sales - 2008
Ontario Tax Sales - 2007
Ontario Tax Sales - 2006
Ontario Tax Sales - 2005
Ontario Tax Sales - 2004

Alberta:
Current Alberta Tax Sale Properties
Alberta Tax Sales 2014
Alberta Tax Sales 2013
Alberta Tax Sales 2012
Alberta Tax Sales 2011
Alberta Tax Sales 2010
Alberta Tax Sales 2009
Alberta Tax Sales 2008
Alberta Tax Sales 2007
Alberta Tax Sales 2006
Alberta Tax Sales 2005

Nova Scotia:
Nova Scotia Tax Sale Properties

New Brunswick:
New Brunswick Tax Sale Properties

USA:
New York Tax Sale Properties
Texas Tax Sale Properties

Sheriff's Sales
Ontario Sheriff Sales Properties

Ontario Tax Sale Research

Tax Sale Property AI Chat

Listing by Date
Listing by Counties, Listing by Districts, Listing by Regions, Listing by Single Tier

* My Properties *




Latest Discussion Posts

Re: Who said tax Sales are cheap Georgina by 26.2
Re: Who said tax Sales are cheap Georgina by worldjohn
Re: Who said tax Sales are cheap Georgina by 26.2
Re: Who said tax Sales are cheap Georgina by worldjohn
Re: Tiny Results 2024 by Slick_Willy
Tiny Results 2024 by Slick_Willy
I wish this would happen to my winnings by Dave2
Who said tax Sales are cheap Georgina by Dave2
Sheriff Sale - Feb 23, 2024 by rob
Chat with a Ontario Tax Sale Property AI Expert by rob
Updated EBook Ontario Tax Sale Buyer's Guide by rob
December 29, 2023 by rob
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays by rob
Homebuilder, or thinking of building your own new home? by Ernestbidder
Toronto Tax Sale Results from June 29? by mike7
Re: redeemed after I won the tax sale by mountainman
Re: minimum bid set much higher than assessed value by mountainman
minimum bid set much higher than assessed value by Ernestbidder
redeemed after I won the tax sale by worldjohn
Re: County Lambton 205 ACRES by Pfm1011
Re: County Lambton 205 ACRES by bee
County Lambton 205 ACRES by Jayz
Sheriff Sale - March 25 - 2022 by rob
Sheriff Sale - March 11- 2023 by rob
Sheriff Sale - March 18 - 2023 by rob

Visit the tax sale properties discussion boards

Articles

Foreclosure Property Deals by Amber Lowery
Processing properties for Tax Sales by City of Stratford
The Pros And Cons To Buying Foreclosed Properties by Tim Lee
ForeclosuresNH Discovers A Disturbing Trend in the NH Foreclosure Market by James Kenney
Government Tax Liens by Peter Emerson
Tax Lien Investing in New Jersey - Calculating How Much Premium You Can Pay by Joanne Musa
Foreclosure Homes for Sale by Ivar Rudi
The Basics Of Foreclosure by Dr. William Noel
How To Find Investment Properties by Steve Gillman
Buy Real Estate Without Breaking Your Budget by Alex Peterson

View more tax sale property articles