WELLINGTON COUNTY – The last day to visit a land registry office in person in Ontario is Oct. 9, as the service is moving to a digital model.
“Effective [Oct. 13], the Ontario government will be discontinuing land registration counter services at all 54 Land Registry Offices (LROs),” states a letter from Examiner of Surveys sent to the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors in July.
“This means that October 9, 2020 is the last day LROs will be open to the public.”
This is not the result of COVID-19.
According to the letter, “Data shows that 99% of documents are registered online, 87% of searches are conducted online and 98% of surveyors submit plans for pre-approval via email.
“This shift has happened organically as a result of lawyers, law clerks and surveyors visiting the LROs less frequently because of preference to conduct business online.”
The letter notes the government “has already made great progress in offering digital services and the time is right to continue this evolution …”
Derek Graham, a professional surveyor based in Fergus, thinks it’s a change that will be detrimental to land owners and is counter to the Land Titles Act.
“A public protection is being cut off,” he said in an interview.
“People with no internet are being marginalized. This is a disaster for many people.”
LROs register and store public documents including deeds, mortgages and land surveys – everything from lot lines to road alignments to subdivision plans.
Lawyers, land surveyors, environmental engineers and property appraisers are the typical customers, although historians and the general public can also access the material.
LROs began processing material digitally in 2018 when the OnLand registry was launched.
OnLand was created and is operated by the Toronto-based company, Teranet.
Brian Maloney, executive director of the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, said the change won’t have too great of an impact on most customers of the land registry offices.
“For most people selling or buying land or discharging a mortgage, the service is available online. Most modern documents are available online. That’s easy and it’s been there for some time,” he said.
“But surveyors have a challenge. They go back to the boundary creation. So, if it’s an old document that created a boundary, they need to search behind the electronic system.”
In the past, surveyors could go to an LRO, pay a nominal fee, and search through hard-copy books and documents.
Graham, in Fergus, said he’s grateful the Wellington County Museum and Archives is keeping the books to facilitate historical searches.
“Many times, you have to follow the historical line to see how roads were put together or boundaries were drawn. If one letter is out, you don’t have the full information,” Graham said.
Maloney acknowledged there are flaws with the online system.
“Scanning old documents has not been done well – that’s a problem,” he said.
“Some scans are illegible – they have to be re-scanned and that causes delays. And colours have been used to interpret plans. They are now going back and scanning in colour.
“There is a process, but it’s not the same as going to the land registry office.”
Maloney said there has been some consultation from the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS), which oversees the land registry offices.
And his association has offered some webinars to train surveyors on the new system, “but it’s not as intuitive as we’d like it to be,” he said.
“The pace of change was unexpected. I would have liked to see it roll out over a year. To turn around so quickly is difficult for people.”
MGCS spokesperson Harry Malhi said while customer service counters are closing, land registry staff will still be working in the offices.
“For those services that won’t be immediately available online (like paper plans/documents and some records), exception handling processes will be in place to ensure continued seamless access to land registry services,” Malhi wrote in an email.
“Customers can contact us through the website www.onland.ca or they can continue to call their local LRO for assistance.”
