The PYB Blog

You have rights. First of all, your neighbour cannot dig up your land without your permission.

This is a zoning question. Your neighbour is not allowed to build over the boundary, however, the proximity to it and the nature of the structure that can be built is determined by the City’s zoning bylaws.

I suggest you contact the City of Toronto’s building department for your answer (https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/building-construction/).

Thank you for your question. Your mutual driveway is technically called an easement.  This easement gives your property access rights over a portion of your neighbour’s property, and your neighbour’s property over a portion of yours.  When put together the two strips of land create a “driveway” that you each can use all of.  

The key to easements is that you cannot block or obstruct them.  This includes parking your vehicle on them for any prolonged period of time, building fences or, as in your example, potentially building onto them.

The first thing I would ask is how do you know the carport is encroaching?  Did you have a survey or boundary stakeout done?  Or are you assuming, as most people do, that you know precicely where the boundary is?  The only way to be completely sure is too have a surveyor take a look at it for you.

Assuming you are correct, then you have to be prepared for the eventuality that you will have to comply with your neighbour’s request.  Having said that, there are some measures you can take to avoid a tear-down...

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The ownership of a tree that is located on or near the property boundary can be complex: trees with a portion of the trunk straddling the boundary line are considered co-owned, belonging to both property owners.

A: Unfortunately, the original survey can only be updated by the land surveying firm that created it and owns the copyright to the plan.

A: A survey plan is a snapshot of a property that is current as of the date the fieldwork was done and the title information researched by the surveyor. To be considered up-to-date, a survey plan must comply with current professional standards and legislation.

Requirements for siting structures or pools vary from municipality to municipality, each having zoning by-laws that deal with structures (pools, sheds, additions, etc.) Check with your municipality’s building department to know what is permitted.

Building projects generally require a site plan that includes information from a Topographic Plan that typically shows the locations and measured diameters of deciduous and coniferous trees growing on the property.