What should I know about easements and right-of-way before building a fence in BC?

Before building a fence anywhere in Metro Vancouver, you must check your property's title for registered easements and rights-of-way — building a fence across an active easement can result in a legal order to remove it at your expense. Easements are surprisingly common on Metro Vancouver residential properties, and many homeowners don't know they exist until a fence project forces the issue.

An easement is a legal right for someone other than the property owner to use a specific portion of the property for a defined purpose. A right-of-way (or statutory right-of-way) is a type of easement commonly registered in favour of a municipality or utility provider. Both are registered on your property's land title at the BC Land Title Office and "run with the land" — meaning they survive property sales and remain in effect regardless of ownership changes.

The most common easements affecting fence projects in Metro Vancouver include utility easements (BC Hydro, FortisBC, Telus, Metro Vancouver Water), which grant utility companies the right to access buried or overhead infrastructure. These typically run along rear lot lines, side lot lines, or through the middle of properties. Municipal drainage easements are common in areas with shared storm drainage systems. Reciprocal access easements allow neighbours to cross your property to access their own — common in older Vancouver neighbourhoods with rear lanes and narrow side yards. Statutory rights-of-way in favour of the municipality often reserve strips along street frontages for future road widening or sidewalk installation.

How to find easements on your property: The definitive source is your property's land title certificate from the BC Land Title Office (LTSA). You can search titles online through LTSA's myLTSA portal at ltsa.ca — a title search costs approximately $15 to $20 per title. The title will list all registered easements and charges, including plan numbers that show the exact location and dimensions of each easement. Your original purchase documents (Statement of Adjustments, title insurance policy) may also reference easements, but a current title search is the most reliable source since new easements can be registered after purchase.

What happens if you build a fence across an easement? If a utility company or municipality has a registered easement across part of your property, they have the legal right to access that area — and the right to require removal of any structures (including fences) that obstruct their access. In practice, some easement holders tolerate fences as long as they can be quickly removed for access, while others require the area to remain completely clear. Always contact the easement holder directly before building a fence within or across an easement. BC Hydro, FortisBC, and Telus each have property access or right-of-way departments that can tell you what is and isn't permitted within their easements.

Practical approaches for fencing near easements include installing a fence along the edge of the easement rather than through it, using removable fence panels within the easement area (panels that lift out of brackets without tools), or installing a gate within the fence line to provide access through the easement. Removable panel systems add $10 to $20 per linear foot compared to standard fixed panels, but they let you maintain a continuous fence line while preserving legal access.

Municipal rights-of-way for road widening are common along major routes throughout Metro Vancouver. These typically reserve 1 to 3 metres along the street frontage and prohibit permanent structures within that strip. If your property has a road-widening right-of-way, your front fence must be set back behind it — which may mean your fence is several feet back from where you'd naturally expect the property line to be.

Strata properties add another layer. Common property and limited common property boundaries within strata developments often have their own easement structures that affect where individual lot owners can place fences. Your strata plan (available through the LTSA) shows these boundaries.

The $15 to $20 cost of a title search is trivial compared to the cost of removing a fence that violates an easement. Make it one of your first steps in any fence project. If you're unsure how to interpret the easement language or plans on your title, a BC property lawyer can review them for $200 to $500 and give you clear guidance on what you can build and where.

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