Shore road allowances in Ontario

A lot of cottage buyers learn this late: the lot you are buying may not touch the lake. Between your property line and the water there may be a public strip called a shore road allowance. Your dock, your deck, even part of the cottage could be sitting on land you do not own.

What it is and why it exists

When Ontario was surveyed for Crown grants, surveyors reserved a strip along many lakes and rivers for public travel. It is typically 66 feet wide, one surveyor's chain. The allowance can still exist even where no road was built, and today it usually belongs to the municipality.

Plenty of cottages were built close to the water before anyone checked, so it is common to find a cottage, deck or boathouse partly on the allowance.

How to tell if yours is open or closed

1. Ask your lawyer to search title. A closed and purchased allowance usually shows up as a separate parcel joined to the lot.
2. Look at the survey. A reference plan will show the allowance and whether it has been closed.
3. Call the township. Many keep a list of closed allowances, and some have maps online.
4. Ask the seller directly, and get it in writing.

Why an open allowance matters

• You do not own the shore. In theory the public can use the strip.
• Structures on public land. A deck, sauna or boathouse on the allowance may need permission, and the township can ask for it to be removed.
• Building permits. Townships can refuse or complicate permits for work on or next to land you do not own.
• Short-term rentals. In Haliburton County, unpurchased allowances have complicated rental licensing for some owners.
• Resale. Buyers and their lawyers ask about it, and it can affect price.

How it affects your mortgage

It can. Lenders want clear title to the property they are lending on, and title insurers ask about encroachments. If part of the cottage sits on municipal land, the lender's lawyer may want it addressed, or the lender may ask for a title insurance policy that covers it. An open allowance with nothing built on it is usually far less of an issue than a cottage that straddles the line.

Talk to Jeff and Emily

Found an open shore road allowance on a cottage you love? Call us. We will help you work out whether it affects the mortgage and how to budget for buying it.

Or call or text 416-628-9682

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How to buy it

Most cottage townships will sell the allowance in front of your lot. The usual process:

1. Apply to the municipality and pay an application or admin fee.
2. Hire an Ontario Land Surveyor to prepare a reference plan.
3. The township gives public notice, then passes a by-law to stop up and close the road allowance.
4. You buy the land, and the lawyers register the transfer and merge it with your lot.

You usually pay the purchase price, the admin fee, the survey, legal fees for both sides, and advertising costs. Some sections are not for sale, for example where there is public access to the water.

Cost and timeline examples

Ask the municipality for the current procedure and obtain survey and legal estimates. Do not promise a purchase timeline in an offer. Muskoka Lakes revised its shoreline policy in June 2026, illustrating why an older fee sheet or article is not enough.

Offer tips when the allowance is open

1. Ask your lawyer to confirm the allowance status before your conditions expire.
2. Get a survey, or an existing one, that shows where the cottage, deck and boathouse sit.
3. Call the township to ask whether that stretch can be bought, and the current fees.
4. Ask the seller whether an application is already in progress, and who pays to finish it.
5. Factor the cost and timeline into your price.