I am new here although I have been following the forum for some time. I
am also a member on Digihitch.
I have been doing some research on Ontario, Canada's trespassing laws. I found a condemned cottage in a small cottage/port town on Lake Erie. I know the neighbors and they said it was condemned and that the owner was in a mental institution. I instantly thought about squatting it.
I wanted to know the details of my trespassing law, so that I could go about this intelligently and hopefully avoid some problems.
I have learned over the years that the law as a whole is limited. Law enforcement can only enforce what is written in the law. Anything outside the written code cannot be enforced. Definitions are important too. The way things are written and legal definitions leave loop holes that can and are taken advantage of. But, you can never act preemptively, or confidently when confronted by an officer if you do not know what the law says. I found a PDF of the Criminal Code of Canada online. A lot of police use the law out of context. It can be done to scare an individual and it even nails people to the wall if they don't object.
I recently called my local police and asked them how they would treat a squatter. They told me that I would be arrested and charged. They cant do that in reality. Trespassing in Ontario is a provincial law and not a criminal charge. Its punishment is a fine and and with that no criminal proceedings.
The officer further told me he could lay criminal charges and named a few. One being Break and Entry. That law as defined in the code is entering with the MOTIVE of doing a criminal act ie theft. It would never have held in court. Another law he mentioned sounded like a rock hard criminal trespassing law but by definition it related to charging peeping toms. The officer was pulling laws out of the air and being a fear monger to deter such a great thing, SQUATTING.
Since squatting was now clearly in the provincial realm under trespassing I dismissed the local police and contacted the OPP to dissect the law further. The law is clear on the consequences which included up to a few thousand dollar fine and restitution. Trespassing carries a nice price tag but I found out squatting does not. The fact is that an arrest and said fines cannot be layed, unless one of two criteria was met. Number one, that the said property had signs posted (there are clear definitions as to what is an acceptable sign) and number two you were asked once to leave the premises.
My conclusion is that this cottage is fair game as it is not posted and I have never been asked to leave the property. I have some peace now that squatting will not lead to a criminal record as I understand it has for some of my American friends. Ontario seems to be a squat friendly province.
The other night I decided to go scope out the property under the cover of night. The property is over run by bushes. The windows are boarded and the door has been screwed shut. I walked around the cottage to find an open window. As I looked inside I noticed a sweater hanging on the wall. I quickly retreated because the last thing I wanted to do was disturb someone in the middle of the night.
I hope to go back Tuesday. If it is not presently being squatted, I want to repair the window, change the locks, and make it a summer squat on the lake. Maybe it can become my home if I can make the appropriate repairs. I have to find out why it was condemned.
The moral of the story is to arm yourself by studying the law and come to Ontario because the law is friendly to squatters.
am also a member on Digihitch.
I have been doing some research on Ontario, Canada's trespassing laws. I found a condemned cottage in a small cottage/port town on Lake Erie. I know the neighbors and they said it was condemned and that the owner was in a mental institution. I instantly thought about squatting it.
I wanted to know the details of my trespassing law, so that I could go about this intelligently and hopefully avoid some problems.
I have learned over the years that the law as a whole is limited. Law enforcement can only enforce what is written in the law. Anything outside the written code cannot be enforced. Definitions are important too. The way things are written and legal definitions leave loop holes that can and are taken advantage of. But, you can never act preemptively, or confidently when confronted by an officer if you do not know what the law says. I found a PDF of the Criminal Code of Canada online. A lot of police use the law out of context. It can be done to scare an individual and it even nails people to the wall if they don't object.
I recently called my local police and asked them how they would treat a squatter. They told me that I would be arrested and charged. They cant do that in reality. Trespassing in Ontario is a provincial law and not a criminal charge. Its punishment is a fine and and with that no criminal proceedings.
The officer further told me he could lay criminal charges and named a few. One being Break and Entry. That law as defined in the code is entering with the MOTIVE of doing a criminal act ie theft. It would never have held in court. Another law he mentioned sounded like a rock hard criminal trespassing law but by definition it related to charging peeping toms. The officer was pulling laws out of the air and being a fear monger to deter such a great thing, SQUATTING.
Since squatting was now clearly in the provincial realm under trespassing I dismissed the local police and contacted the OPP to dissect the law further. The law is clear on the consequences which included up to a few thousand dollar fine and restitution. Trespassing carries a nice price tag but I found out squatting does not. The fact is that an arrest and said fines cannot be layed, unless one of two criteria was met. Number one, that the said property had signs posted (there are clear definitions as to what is an acceptable sign) and number two you were asked once to leave the premises.
My conclusion is that this cottage is fair game as it is not posted and I have never been asked to leave the property. I have some peace now that squatting will not lead to a criminal record as I understand it has for some of my American friends. Ontario seems to be a squat friendly province.
The other night I decided to go scope out the property under the cover of night. The property is over run by bushes. The windows are boarded and the door has been screwed shut. I walked around the cottage to find an open window. As I looked inside I noticed a sweater hanging on the wall. I quickly retreated because the last thing I wanted to do was disturb someone in the middle of the night.
I hope to go back Tuesday. If it is not presently being squatted, I want to repair the window, change the locks, and make it a summer squat on the lake. Maybe it can become my home if I can make the appropriate repairs. I have to find out why it was condemned.
The moral of the story is to arm yourself by studying the law and come to Ontario because the law is friendly to squatters.
