February 05, 2016 | Article
Expropriation: The Legal Landscape Since Antrim
The landscape in expropriation law following the Supreme Court of Canada’s much discussed decision in Antrim Truck Centre Ltd. v. Ontario (Transportation)2, continues to be dominated by cases addressing questions of municipal and public authority; proper public purposes; procedure; compensation and costs. Given the basic underlying principle of expropriations law, that the expropriating authority must pay fair and adequate compensation for the property taken or damaged for the public benefit3, it is not surprising that questions of compensation are a common theme in the jurisprudence.
This paper begins with an overview of the expropriation process and the types of damages that may be claimed under the Ontario Expropriations Act4 (the “Act”). The overview provides context for the case law discussion that follows. The second part of the paper briefly considers the significance of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Antrim. The paper concludes by discussing five recent expropriation cases that have applied the principles in Antrim and/or have contributed to the larger body of jurisprudence on expropriation matters.