Pond on property border

Hi Kim;

If it's just a pond that gathers water and is not part of an existing or historical water system, then the part that's on your side of the boundary is yours, and the part that is on your neighbour's side is theirs.

The exception to this is if, when originally deeded, your property excluded the body of water. Water systems (lakes, rivers, streams, channels etc.) are owned by the Crown and managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources. These bodies of water are excluded from the ownership rights of properties through or on which they run. This also goes for water systems that are now dry. If they were (at time of original deeding) navigable, then Crown rights continue to prevail. You may have a dry river bed running through your property and it is still Crown land.

In your case you should first establish whether the pond was created privately and separate from other water systems, or whether that land was originally excluded by the Crown. If it turns out that it is Crown land then neither you or your neighbour have ownership rights to it.