The ''Trespass to Property Act'' is a statute enacted by the Legislative Assembly of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It addresses illegal entry onto private property. The current Act was amended most recently in 2016. Under the Canadian constitution, criminal law is within the realm of federal authority and anyone violating this provincial statute is therefore subject to quasi-criminal (not full criminal) enforcement under the ''

Provincial Offences Act Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

''. The Act is an attempt to codify what was formerly a matter of

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

. It is most often used by private-property owners to keep unwanted individuals off their property. There are many methods of notifying unwanted individuals that they have been banned (for future access), but the most common is a personal notice to the offender. In general under the Act, owners must give notice either orally or in writing except where fencing is applied around gardens or areas under cultivation, or the keeping of animals. Access to the door of a building on premises for lawful purposes is protected except where specifically prohibited. A sign showing a graphic representation or wording of prohibited access is sufficient. Red markings indicate no trespassing, while yellow markings indicate limited access for certain activities. Trespassers can be fined not more than and may be levied costs or damages. Similar laws exist in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. The first Act was enacted in 1834, and was known as the ''Act to provide for the Summary Punishment of Petty Trespasses and other offences''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trespass To Property Act Ontario provincial legislation Property law of Canada Housing legislation in Canada 1990 in Canadian law 1990 in Ontario