Casual Legal: Expropriation powers

DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information to Alberta Municipalities members only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated. This content is not intended for the general public.

By Greg Weber
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider

There may be many reasons why a municipality may want to exercise expropriation powers. The powers of a municipality to expropriate are set out in section 14 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA). These powers are very broad, including for redevelopment, improving land owned by a municipality, for selling the land as building sites, or “for any other municipal purpose”. 

"Municipal purpose” is a defined term in the MGA under section 1(1)(r), which carries the meanings set out in section 3. The purposes of a municipality are to:

• Provide good government to foster the well-being of the environment and the economic development of the municipality.
• Provide services, facilities or other things that, in the opinion of council, are necessary or desirable for all or a part of the municipality.
• Develop and maintain safe and viable communities.
• Work collaboratively with neighbouring municipalities to plan, deliver and fund intermunicipal services.

Providing “good government” or providing “other things” that are “in the opinion of council… desirable … for the municipality” is extremely broad. It is consequently very difficult – near impossible – for owners to challenge the validity of an expropriation. A good rule of thumb is that if the municipality is acting in good faith, then it likely has the power to expropriate.

In the case of Woodward v Cardston (County), 2018 ABQB 460, the court affirmed the propriety of an expropriation which turned a private road into a public road. The court relied on s 3(b) of the MGA and noted the considerations that council made in deciding to proceed with expropriation. The court specifically indicated that the reasons for expropriating were justifiable, transparent, intelligible and fell within the reasonable range of outcomes.

Although this is not a test per se, having such reasons helped insulate the municipality from any insinuation of bad faith in choosing to expropriate the private road, thus preserving the validity of the municipal purpose.

To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1-800-661-7673 or casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (email) to reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please call 310-MUNI (6864) or riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (email) to connect with Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.