Casual Legal: Good Fences Make Good Neighbours

By Jessica Fleming
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider 

Alberta’s Line Fence Act sets out rules and obligations that apply when a fence is erected for the purposes of keeping livestock belonging to one party from entering the adjoining land of another.

In essence, the Act sets out that when a fence is put in place to prevent the movement of livestock onto the property of one’s neighbour, the adjoining landowners bear the cost of building and maintaining the fence equally. Where one property owner builds the fence, as soon as its neighbour receives the benefit of the fence, that neighbour’s monetary obligations with respect to building and maintaining the fence become due.

In the event that adjoining land owners disagree with respect to the quality of the fence, the proportion of its value to be born by a landowner, the expenses incurred for maintaining the fence, the proper location of the fence, the obligations incurred regarding its repair or the amount of compensation due from one party to the other with respect to costs of repair, the parties must each appoint an arbitrator, who will proceed to deal with the dispute in accordance with Alberta’s Arbitration Act. If one party fails to appoint an arbitrator, the other may apply to a justice of the peace, who will appoint an arbitrator for the person who has failed to do so. If the arbitrators are unable to agree, they will appoint an umpire to make a final determination.

It is important to note that the Line Fences Act only applies to fencing situations where livestock is involved. And while the Act sets out rules governing the erection and maintenance of fences, it does not impose a positive obligation to do so. Moreover, the Line Fences Act operates separate and apart from any common law rules regarding liability in trespass, etc. that can be incurred where livestock wanders outside its owner’s property.

To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or send an casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (email) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please send an riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (email) or call 310-MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.

DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated.