What is a shore road Allowance?

In this area many of the lakes (but not all) have what is called a "shore road allowance". From what I understand these came about when the land was originally surveyed before being granted to our pioneer settlers. When the province was originally surveyed, the road allowances were surveyed out to be located every second concession and every 5th lot so that every concession lot would have ‘road frontage’ if and when the roads got installed on those road allowances. There soon became the question “What happens if that surveyed road allowance comes to a dead end such as a lake (rivers could always have a bridge installed over them), so the answer was ‘Put the 66 feet around the lake, so if and when the road goes in there will be a choice of which direction, and the easiest route, to get to the other side where the road allowance continues”.  Road allowances, for the most part, are always in a straight line. The crown therefore reserved a strip of land around the lake to be 66 feet from the high water mark at the time of survey (however the shore road allowances were not surveyed as this would obviously entail a much higher cost. Remember that way back then, not all the roads were in place like they are today so travel was for a good part along the lakes via portages. By reserving the 66 feet for themselves, the crown also made it possible for any lake travelers to land on any shoreline and camp, without the risk of being "thrown off" for trespassing. An alternate, and just as important, reason for retaining this strip of land was for safety. In the event that someone got caught on the lake during a storm they could land their boat at any closest point. As time went on, the roads came into place in the most logical locations to reach the lakes and in most cases they were installed through private lands to get to the lakes in question and most of which were not along the shorelines. The Ontario Government (I believe it was the NDP) decided that it was sitting on all these useless strips of land on lakeshores and decided that the Municipalities in which they were located may possibly "cash in" by selling them off to those interested in purchasing. The land could only be purchased by the adjoining land owner, and not someone else. Since the land owner (lot owner) fronts on the one side of the shore road allowance (usually the road side) and the Government fronted on the other (obviously the lake) there resulted in only one person being able to purchase this strip of land. This is good, as the neighbours could not purchase someone else's shoreline and thus "cut them off" from using the lake. As the government had no interest in retaining the land and the neighbours could not purchase it either, most lot owners decided not to put out the money as they were already using it without problem and no one else could purchase it anyway. This resulted in approximately 85%-90% of the people NOT purchasing the shore road allowances in front of their property, however as time moves ahead I expect this percentage will reduce as more people decide to purchase it. The non-ownership of the shore road allowance, in essence, means that the owner of the property abutting it does not own lakefront as their frontage is on the crown owned shore road allowance and not on the lake. This non-ownership has not restricted the property owner from the full enjoyment of this parcel of land, however it must be kept in mind that the erection of a boat house may not be permitted as obviously the land is not part of the property being purchased (unless, of course, the shore road allowance was purchased and is part of the property). The large majority of Canadians are caring people and feel that if someone is in trouble on the Lake and needs a place to dock then they would be more than happy to have them do so and without hesitation. To date I have not heard of any complaints of "transients" using the crown owned shore road allowance in front someone else's cottage and thus causing anxiety for the land owner. Can the shore road allowance be purchased? The Ministry of Natural Resources must agree to the disposal of shore road allowances, as must the township or town's council. In most cases they will agree, however this is not always the case. They are concerned about the development of the shore road allowances and the removal of submersed trees and weedy areas which make good spawning areas for fish. If you do or do not own the original shore road allowance it is recommended to contact the town or township office where the property is located to find out specific answers to your particular case.  If you are concerned about whether or not the shore road allowance can be purchased for a specified lake you can contact the Ministry of Natural Resources in 
Bracebridge 1-705-645-8747 or
Parry Sound at 1-705-746-4201
as well as the town or township where the property is located.

Neither Ken Mashinter, nor HomeLife/Muskoka Real Estate accepts any responsibility for any inaccuracy in this report.  The reader is encouraged to investigate alternate sources to confirm or refute any content herein. 

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