Expropriation Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-21)

Marginal note:Error, etc., in notice or plan

• 6 (1) If a notice or plan registered under section 5 contains any omission, misstatement or erroneous description, a corrected notice or plan may be registered and will be deemed to relate back to the day the original notice or plan was registered.

• Marginal note:Validity of notice — nature of the interest or right

  (2) A notice registered under section 5 is not invalid by reason only that it does not set out the nature of the interest or right intended to be expropriated and, in that case, the interest or right intended to be expropriated includes all the interests in the land or immovable real rights to which the notice relates.

• Marginal note:Validity of notice — existing interest in land or immovable real right

  (3) A notice registered under section 5 is not invalid by reason only that it does not set out whether the interest or right intended to be expropriated is intended to be subject to an existing interest in land or immovable real right to which the notice relates, and, if it does not do so, the interest or right intended to be expropriated is not subject to that existing interest or right.

• Marginal note:Provincial lands

  (4) If it appears to the Attorney General of Canada that any land, interest in land or immovable real right to which a notice registered under section 5 relates belongs to Her Majesty in right of any province, he or she shall immediately cause the attorney general of the province to be notified of the registration and its particulars.

Marginal note:Nature of interests that may be set out in notice — provinces other than Quebec

7 In Canada elsewhere than in Quebec, a notice of intention may set out, as the nature of the interest intended to be expropriated, any estate or interest in land, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing,

• (a) an interest limited as to time or by condition or otherwise;

• (b) an easement, profit or other servitude;

• (c) any right to, over or in respect of land that might be conferred by the owner of the land, whether or not that right, if conferred by the owner, could be asserted against a subsequent owner of the land;

• (d) any restriction on the use of land that might be assumed by covenant or other agreement, whether or not that restriction, if assumed by the owner of the land, could be asserted against a subsequent owner thereof; and

• (e) the exclusive possession of land for a limited time or for a definite or indefinite period, subject to any conditions or limitations that may be specified in the notice.

Marginal note:Nature of rights that may be set out in notice — Quebec

7.1 In Quebec, a notice of intention may set out, as the nature of the right intended to be expropriated, any immovable real right.

Marginal note:Sending of copies and publication of notice

• 8 (1) If a notice of intention to expropriate an interest in land or immovable real right has been registered, the Minister shall cause a copy of the notice

  • (a) to be published in at least one issue of a publication, if any, in general circulation within the area in which the land is situated, within thirty days after the registration of the notice, and

  • (b) to be sent to each of the persons whose names are set out in the report of the Attorney General of Canada referred to in subsection 5(2), as soon as practicable after the registration of the notice,

  and forthwith after causing a copy thereof to be sent by registered mail to each of the persons referred to in paragraph (b), shall cause the notice to be published in the Canada Gazette.

• Marginal note:When notice deemed given

  (2) A notice of intention shall be deemed to be given on the day on which it is published in the Canada Gazette under subsection (1), and where any notice so published contains an omission, mis-statement or erroneous description, a corrected notice may be published in the Canada Gazette, which shall be deemed to relate back to the day the original notice was published therein.

• Marginal note:Statement regarding right to object

  (3) There shall be included in any notice or copy published or sent as described in subsection (1) a statement of the provisions of section 9 as that section applies to the intended expropriation of the interest or right to which the notice relates.

Marginal note:Objections

9 Any person who objects to the intended expropriation of an interest in land or immovable real right to which a notice of intention relates may, within 30 days after the day on which the notice is given, serve on the Minister an objection in writing stating the name and address of that person and indicating the nature of the objection, the grounds on which the objection is based and the nature of the interest of that person in the matter of the intended expropriation.

Marginal note:Public hearing

• 10 (1) Forthwith after the expiration of the period of thirty days referred to in section 9, the Minister shall, if the Minister has been served with an objection under that section, order that a public hearing be conducted with respect to the objection and any other objection to the intended expropriation that has been or may be served on the Minister.

• Marginal note:Appointment of hearing officer

  (2) Where the Minister orders that a public hearing be conducted with respect to an objection or objections, the Minister shall immediately request the Attorney General of Canada to appoint a hearing officer to conduct the hearing and the Attorney General of Canada shall thereupon appoint a suitable person, who is not a person employed in the public service as defined in subsection 3(1) of the Public Service Superannuation Act, to be a hearing officer for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Remuneration and expenses

  (3) A hearing officer appointed under this section shall be paid such remuneration and expenses as may be fixed by the Attorney General of Canada with the approval of the Treasury Board.

• Marginal note:Duties of hearing officer

  (4) A hearing officer appointed under this section shall

  • (a) as soon as possible after the appointment of the hearing officer and in any case not later than seven days after the date thereof, fix a suitable time and place for the public hearing and cause notice of the time and place to be given by publishing it in at least one issue of a publication, if any, in general circulation within the area in which the land is situated and by sending it to each of the persons whose names are set out in the report of the Attorney General of Canada referred to in subsection 5(2) and each other person who served an objection on the Minister;

  • (b) at the time and place fixed for the public hearing, provide an opportunity to be heard to each person appearing thereat who served an objection on the Minister or such of those persons as the hearing officer deems necessary in order to report to the Minister on the nature and grounds of the objections;

  • (c) make such inspection of the land as the hearing officer deems necessary and receive and consider any written representations filed with the hearing officer before or at the hearing by any person who served an objection on the Minister; and

  • (d) within thirty days after the appointment of the hearing officer, prepare and submit to the Minister a report in writing on the nature and grounds of the objections made.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (5) A hearing officer is not required to give any notice, hold any hearing or take any other action required by subsection (4) with respect to any objection served on the Minister under section 9 and may at any time disregard any such objection if it appears to the hearing officer that the objection is frivolous or vexatious or is not made in good faith.

• Marginal note:Right to legal counsel

  (6) Any person who may be heard at a public hearing under this section may be represented by legal counsel at the hearing.

• Marginal note:Conduct of hearing

  (7) A public hearing under this section shall, subject to this section, be conducted in such manner as may be determined by the hearing officer.

• Marginal note:Extension of time for report

  (8) At the request of any hearing officer, the Attorney General of Canada may extend, for a period not exceeding thirty days, the time limited by this section for preparing and submitting to the Minister a report.

• Marginal note:Costs of asserting objections

  (9) A hearing officer shall, in any report submitted by him to the Minister under this section, fix such amount, if any, as the hearing officer deems reasonable, not exceeding such maximum amount as may be authorized by any tariff of costs prescribed by the Governor in Council for the purpose of this section, in respect of the costs of any person who served an objection on the Minister that were incurred by that person in asserting the objection, and on the certificate of the Minister the Minister of Finance shall, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, cause to be paid to that person the amount so certified in respect of those costs.

• Marginal note:Failure to conduct or report hearing

  (10) Where, for any reason, a hearing officer appointed to conduct a public hearing under this section fails to do so or to prepare and submit to the Minister a report as and when required by this section, the Minister shall so notify the Attorney General of Canada who shall immediately appoint another hearing officer for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Order if possession by Crown urgently required

  (11) If, before a notice of intention is registered, the Governor in Council is of the opinion that the physical possession or use by the Crown of the land to the extent of the interest or right intended to be expropriated is, by reason of special circumstances, urgently required and that to order that a public hearing be conducted with respect to it would occasion a delay prejudicial to the public interest, the Governor in Council may direct that no order be made by the Minister under subsection (1) with respect to the intended expropriation and, in which case, a statement to that effect shall be included in the notice of intention.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (12) Subsection (11) does not apply in respect of land described in subsection 4(4) or (5), but the Yukon first nation concerned or the Gwich’in Tribal Council, as the case may be, may agree to waive the requirement for a public hearing and, if it does so before a notice of intention is registered, a statement of the waiver shall be included in the notice of intention.

Marginal note:Confirmation or abandonment of intention

• 11 (1) Where a notice of intention has been given, the Minister may

  • (a) confirm the intention, in the manner provided in section 14,

    • (i) if no objection is filed with him under section 9 within the period of thirty days referred to in that section,

    • (ii) if an objection has been filed with him under section 9 within the period of thirty days referred to in that section, after receiving and considering the report of a hearing officer appointed to conduct a public hearing with respect thereto, or

    • (iii) whether or not an objection has been filed with him under section 9, if a statement to the effect described in subsection 10(11) has been included in the notice of intention; or

  • (b) abandon the intention.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where, on the expiration of one hundred and twenty days after the day the notice was given, the Minister has not confirmed the intention in the manner provided in section 14, the Minister shall be deemed to have abandoned the intention.

• Marginal note:If more limited interest or right only required

  (3) Whenever, at the time of confirming an intention to expropriate an interest in land or immovable real right, the Minister is of the opinion that a more limited interest or right is required by the Crown for a public work or other public purpose, the Minister may confirm the intention to expropriate the more limited interest or right, in which case the Minister shall be deemed to have abandoned the intention to expropriate the remainder of the interest in land or immovable real rights.

Marginal note:Notice of abandonment of intention

• 12 (1) If the Minister has abandoned an intention to expropriate an interest in land or immovable real right otherwise than by confirming an intention to expropriate a more limited interest or right in it, the Minister shall immediately cause a notice of abandonment of the intention to be sent

  • (a) to each of the persons then appearing to have any estate, interest or right in the land, so far as the Attorney General of Canada has been able to ascertain them, and each other person who served an objection on the Minister under section 9; and

  • (b) to the Attorney General of Canada, who shall immediately confirm the abandonment by causing the notice to be registered in the office of the registrar where the notice of intention was registered.

• Marginal note:Right of owner or holder if abandonment of intention

  (2) If an intention to expropriate an interest in land or immovable real right, or the remainder of the interest or rights, has been abandoned, compensation in accordance with this Part shall be paid by the Crown to any person who was the owner or holder of the interest or right or of the remainder of the interest or rights at the time when the notice of intention was registered.