John S. Doherty

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference and issued a Procedural Order governing the procedures leading up to a hearing for the determination of compensation under the Expropriations Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act.

On consent of the parties, the Tribunal issued an Amended Procedural Order to revise the procedural timelines.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued a procedural order on consent to govern the upcoming hearing for a determination of compensation under the Expropriations Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act.

The hearing is scheduled for five days commencing May 4, 2026.

The order sets out the schedule for pleadings, discovery, mediation, and the exchange of expert reports.

The claimants brought a motion to compel the respondent City to answer questions refused during examinations for discovery.

The questions related to offers made by the City in 2018 to purchase the expropriated property and a neighbouring property.

The Tribunal found that questions regarding the expropriated property were relevant to determining market value and were not protected by settlement or litigation privilege.

Questions regarding the neighbouring property were deemed irrelevant.

The City was ordered to produce appraisal reports and related correspondence concerning the 2018 offer for the expropriated property.

The City of Waterloo brought a motion to vacate the scheduled hearing dates for an expropriation compensation claim and adjourn the proceeding pending the determination of a related Superior Court civil action.

The civil action concerned a prior planning settlement and whether the claimants were obliged to convey a portion of the expropriated lands to the City.

The Tribunal dismissed the motion, finding that it has exclusive jurisdiction to determine compensation under the Expropriations Act and that the title issues raised in the civil action are irrelevant to the expropriation proceeding, as the City acquired full fee simple interest in the entire property through the expropriation.

The Tribunal concluded that the expropriation proceeding can proceed concurrently with the civil action.

At a Case Management Conference regarding a claim for compensation under the Expropriation Act, the respondent municipality requested that the scheduled hearing dates be vacated pending the resolution of a related civil action concerning title to the expropriated property.

The claimants opposed the request, arguing it would cause prejudice and that the civil action lacked merit.

The Tribunal found that the request raised a jurisdictional question regarding title that could not be adequately addressed without a formal motion.

The Tribunal directed the parties to bring a motion in writing to determine whether it had jurisdiction to proceed with the hearing as scheduled.

The Tribunal held a third Case Management Conference regarding a claim for land compensation arising from the expropriation of parts of a property by Metrolinx for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

The parties advised they intended to file further amended pleadings and provided a draft Procedural Order.

The Tribunal approved the Procedural Order and scheduled a five-day video hearing for November 2025.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued an amending decision to correct a typographical error in its previous decision dated April 16, 2024.

The amendment corrected the municipality name in the Title of Proceedings and paragraph 1 from Brampton to Caledon.

In all other respects, the original decision remained the same.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued an amending decision to correct technical and typographical errors in a previous decision regarding an expropriation by the Regional Municipality of Peel.

The amendments corrected the Title of Proceedings to include all claimants and accurately reflect the municipality as Caledon, and revised paragraph 1 to clarify that the proceeding was the first Case Management Conference for the property.

The claimants sought compensation under the Expropriation Act following the expropriation of their property by the municipality for parkland.

At the first Case Management Conference, the Tribunal ratified a consent Procedural Order, directed the parties to explore Tribunal-assisted mediation, and scheduled a second Case Management Conference and an eight-day Merit Hearing.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding an expropriation by the respondent municipality of a property owned by the claimants.

The parties expected to have settlement discussions and potentially request mediation.

The Tribunal scheduled a five-day video hearing commencing April 8, 2025, and issued a Procedural Order to govern the conduct of the case.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding an expropriation by the Regional Municipality of Peel.

The parties requested to schedule a hearing date and finalize a Procedural Order.

The Tribunal scheduled a five-day video hearing commencing March 31, 2025, and issued the requested Procedural Order to govern the conduct of the case.

The claimant brought a claim for compensation under the Expropriations Act.

During a status hearing, the parties advised the Tribunal that a comprehensive settlement had been reached.

The parties subsequently filed a consent to an order dismissing the claim.

The Tribunal granted the request and dismissed the claim.

In these cross-motions for costs following an expropriation compensation decision, the Tribunal considered the interaction between the Indemnity Principle under the Expropriations Act and the efficiency objective reflected in Rule 49 settlement-offer consequences.

The Tribunal held that an owner recovering less than 85 per cent of the authority’s offer is not automatically disentitled to costs, but discretionary consequences may follow where the owner unreasonably rejects a proper offer and pursues the claim inefficiently.

The Tribunal found the June 15, 2018 offer was a proper plus-costs offer, that the claimant’s non-acceptance was unreasonable, and that the claimant’s stale and incomplete expert preparation, procedural inaction, and wasteful conduct justified reducing its scale of recovery after that date and awarding the authority partial indemnity costs throughout.

The claimant received reduced costs, and the authority also recovered partial indemnity costs.

The appellants appealed the Town's refusal of minor variances and non-decision on site plan approval, as well as a town-initiated official plan amendment and zoning by-law, to permit a two-storey addition to a residential dwelling in the Grimsby Beach area.

The parties reached a settlement involving a revised site plan and a site-specific zoning by-law amendment.

Based on uncontested expert planning evidence, the Tribunal found the proposed development met all legislative tests, respected the area's cultural heritage, and constituted good planning.

The appeals were allowed in part to implement the settlement.

A Case Management Conference was held regarding an appeal of the Niagara Escarpment Commission's conditional approval of a development permit to establish independent access to a residential property.

The appellant, a neighbour, sought to be kept informed of the development process rather than prohibit it.

The Hearing Officer scheduled a two-day hearing and directed the parties to attempt settlement, failing which a Procedural Order must be filed.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding an appeal by HJ Donegan Holdings Inc. for a proposed residential subdivision in North Perth.

The appeal was filed due to the municipality's failure to render a decision on zoning by-law amendment and plan of subdivision applications within the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal granted party status to an abutting landowner, Erie Meats, on consent.

The Tribunal also approved the draft Procedural Order and scheduled a 14-day video hearing.

At a Case Management Conference, the Ontario Land Tribunal determined the procedural schedule and format for two upcoming motions for costs following an expropriation compensation decision.

The Tribunal declined to order mandatory mediation, rejected the claimant's request to bifurcate the hearing into separate entitlement and quantum phases, and directed that both motions be heard concurrently over a five-day period, with the claimant presenting its motion first.

A Case Management Conference was held regarding a claim for disturbance damages under the Expropriations Act following the expropriation of the claimant's lands.

The parties had already resolved the market value compensation.

The Tribunal issued a Procedural Order, scheduled a status hearing, and set dates for a seven-day video hearing on the merits.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued a procedural order governing the arbitration of a land compensation claim under the Expropriations Act between the claimants and the Region of Waterloo.

The order sets out the schedule for the exchange of documents, examinations for discovery, mediation, expert meetings, and the filing of witness statements leading up to a 14-day video hearing scheduled to begin on November 20, 2023.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Ontario Land Tribunal regarding compensation for the expropriation of contaminated land.

The Tribunal had determined the property's market value to be $290,000 based on a speculative value, rejecting the appellant's higher valuation due to prohibitive environmental remediation costs.

The Tribunal also awarded $51,683 for wasted costs.

On appeal, the Divisional Court found no palpable and overriding error in the Tribunal's factual findings regarding market value and wasted costs.

The Court also rejected the appellant's argument that it was denied procedural fairness when the Tribunal refused an interlocutory motion for third-party document production.

The appeal was dismissed.