Casual Legal: Injunctions & municipal enforcement
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information to Alberta Municipalities members 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made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. This content is not intended for the general public.
By Andrew Skeith
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
When it comes to the enforcement of municipal bylaws, the Municipal Government Act (MGA) contains a wide range of powers and tools that local governments can use to inspect and remedy non-compliance.
One of the most effective tools is issuing an order requiring a landowner or other person to remedy a contravention, either pursuant to section 545, 546, or 645 of the MGA.
Section 545 allows municipalities to issue an order when “a person is contravening this or any other enactment that the municipality is authorized to enforce.”
Section 546 allows an order to be issued where “a structure, excavation or hole is dangerous to public safety or property, because of its unsightly condition, is detrimental to the surrounding area.”
Section 645 allows for the issuance of a stop order when a “a development, land use or use of a building is not in accordance with this Part or a land use bylaw or regulations under this Part or a development permit or subdivision approval.”
All orders must contain deadlines for compliance. If the landowner or person does not comply with the owner within the given timeframe, the municipality is empowered to remedy the compliance, often at the landowner’s cost (by adding those taxes to the tax roll).
However, in many cases, landowners will not comply with an MGA order, and the violation will be such that the municipality, either to avoid liability, or because of the nature of the non-compliance, cannot remedy the issue through its own action. In those cases, the easiest solution is to bring a court application for an injunction under section 554 of the MGA, which allows such an application to be brought where there is an ongoing contravention of a bylaw.
Injunction applications under section 554 are routine and do not involve the usual considerations that apply for getting a common law injunction order. Rather, in most cases the only question that will be before the court is whether the landowner or other person complied with the original order issued under the MGA.
In difficult enforcement situations, municipalities should consider an application under section 554 of the MGA, especially when an MGA order has been issued and not complied with.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (email) to reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please call 310-MUNI (6864) or riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (email) to connect with Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
