ACQUISITION OF TITLE TO REAL PROPERTY RESULTING FROM POSSESSION AFTER TEN YEARS

Article 2910 of the Quebec Civil Code ("CCQ") defines acquisitive prescription as a means of acquiring the right of ownership through possession. To assert the right of ownership, the possessor must prove that he has possessed the property as owner for at least ten years. The possessor retroactively acquires ownership of the property by prescription, effective from the date of taking possession of the property, notwithstanding that title may be registered at the land registry office in someone else's name. Acquisitive prescription results exclusively from effective possession of real property for at least ten years. In order to register title, a judgment is required to recognize the acquisition. The judgment does not grant title, it merely serves to recognize or declare it so that it can be registered. The existence of effective possession requires a combination of two elements: one material (the corpus) and the other intent (the animus). (1) The corpus of possession refers to physical control of the property taking the form of material acts of use, occupation, enjoyment, or transformation of the property. It is not necessary for an act of possession to leave traces or tangible signs. The corpus may take the form of maintenance work. (2) Animus is the possessor’s intention to act as the true owner of the property. To ease the burden of proving animus, the legislature provides for a presumption of animus when the corpus is proven. Without the existence of animus, physical control of property (corpus) amounts to simple detention rather than effective possession which is required to acquire ownership through acquisitive prescription. To be effective, possession must be "useful", that is, it must be exercised in a peaceful, continuous, public, and non-ambiguous manner pursuant to Article 922 CCQ. These characteristics mean the following: Peaceful To be peaceful, possession must not begin with violence and must exist without offending or violating any notice from the registered owner. Continuous Possession is continuous if the possessor performs regular acts at regular intervals. Article 925 CCQ establishes a presumption that current possession is presumed to have been continuous since the day possession began. Furthermore, possession remains continuous even if its exercise is prevented or interrupted. Public Possession is public to the extent that it is not clandestine or carried out with a view to not being noticed. It must be apparent to others. Non-equivocal Non-equivocal possession is unambiguous and exclusive. Exclusivity constitutes an important criterion for assessing the nature of possession. Possession is ambiguous when the possessor’s acts compete with those performed by others. When acts of possession do not reveal animus, equivocal possession arises. Any equivocal act is interpreted in favor of the registered owner. It is incumbent upon the possessor to prove useful possession for at least ten years. Certain presumptions exist to facilitate the task. The animus is presumed from the material act of possession. Art 921 CCQ Actual possession is presumed to have been continuous since the date that possession commenced by the current possessor or his predecessor(s). Art. 925 CCQ The possessor is presumed to be the owner of the real right that he exercises. "A person contesting the presumption has the burden of proving his own right and, as the case may be, that the possessor has no title, a defective title, or defective possession". Art 928 CCQ Physical control of the property is a question of fact which may take different forms. For example, without limitation: storage of objects; installation of furniture; planting of flowers or plants; maintenance for landscaping. Regarding landscaping, where use of the property is not exclusive but concurrent between neighbours, landscaping for aesthetic purposes has been held to be examples only of good neighbourliness and lacking the corpus and animus required to establish acquisitive prescription. See Monito c. Bédard, 2025 QCCS 830, par. 45-47, 50; Kilian c. Allard, 2022 QCCS 836, par. 35, 55-59. In addition, geography and the configuration of the property may be relevant. For example, the existence of a retaining wall that is not on the official property line or exclusivity of access to the disputed parcel from the possessor's property may support the possessor's claim. It may happen that the claim of ownership based upon acquisitive prescription is contested for the reason that the possession is not exclusive but jointly exercised by two neighbours. Acquisitive prescription may also apply to ownership of dismembered rights to property as opposed to full ownership. For example, undivided co-ownership of a parcel of land. In such a case, the unambiguous character of possession adapts to the context where the useful possession is not exclusive but joint between two or more possessors. The parties must use and maintain the property jointly to satisfy the conditions of acquisitive prescription. If so, they will be declared joint undivided owners of the property. Prud'homme c. Prud'homme et al., 2020 QCCA 1547.