Rodney G. Reynolds

The applicants applied under the Boundaries Act to confirm the boundary between their property and the objectors' property based on a mathematical calculation of a forty-acre parcel.

The objectors argued the boundary should follow an old wire fence that had been in place since before the original severance in 1950.

The Deputy Director of Titles dismissed the application and allowed the objection, finding that the old wire fence was an original monument accepted by the parties at the time of the severance.

Applying the hierarchy of evidence, the tribunal held that the fence and its projection to the road allowance represented the best available evidence of the boundary, rather than a theoretical mathematical calculation.

The appellants, owners of waterfront properties on Nottawasaga Bay, appealed a decision of the Coordinator in the Office of the Surveyor General confirming a municipal resurvey under the Surveys Act.

The resurvey extended two road allowances straight across accreted lands to the water's edge, effectively cutting off the appellants' water access.

The Divisional Court allowed the appeals, finding that the Coordinator's decision was unreasonable.

The Court held that the Surveys Act does not displace the common law principles of accretion, which dictate that accreted lands attach to riparian properties and should be equitably allocated.

The matter was remitted for a trial of an issue regarding whether the survey should be confirmed with or without amendments.