Property developer loses SCC fight over Quebec underwater lots
The Supreme Court (Justice Nicholas Kasirer pictured) has ruled 8-1 several submerged lots located in Quebec's Laurentians were sold with their adjoining riparian lands, despite a developer's arguments to the contrary.
Friday, July 24, 2026 @ 4:35 PM
The Supreme Court has ruled that several submerged plots in Quebec’s Laurentians region were sold with the adjoining riparian lands — while also outlining a test on how to interpret a provision in the province’s Civil Code that says a seller must deliver a property with “all its accessories.” The conflict the court was weighing in on traces its origins to 1881, when the construction of a dam raised the level of Lac Masson, north of Montreal. A strip of land between the lake and the shore was then flooded and became submerged. ... [read more]