Who Pays for a Boundary Fence in Ontario — and Why the Line Fences Act No Longer Applies in Toronto

Ontario has a statute built to split the cost of a shared fence, complete with appointed “fence-viewers.” But the first question isn’t how the law divides the bill — it’s whether the law even applies where you live.

I’m Arthur Zhao, a real estate broker who has spent 12 years working in the GTA. Here’s a scene I’ve watched play out more than once: the wooden fence along the back property line is leaning, one neighbour wants to replace it with cedar and split the bill down the middle, the other refuses to pay a cent — and someone opens their phone and types “who pays for a fence in Ontario.” The search almost always lands on the same tidy answer: apply for a fence-viewer under the Line Fences Act. That answer is real, and in much of Ontario it’s exactly right. But if you live in Toronto, it sends you to a counter that closed in 2018. This piece walks through both paths — and, more importantly, how to tell which one is yours before you waste a week on the wrong one.

The answer everyone Googles first is the wrong question

Search “who pays for a fence” and you’ll be told to apply for a fence-viewer who will attend, arbitrate, and split the cost. That mechanism genuinely exists — it’s the whole point of Ontario’s Line Fences Act — and across most of the province it’s the correct route. The trouble is that it answers the second question (how does the law divide the cost?) while skipping the first one (does this law apply to me at all?). For a large share of GTA homeowners the two questions collapse into one, because the Act is in force and the fence-viewer route is available. But the Act contains a switch that lets a municipality turn the whole thing off — and at least one major municipality has flipped it. Answer the jurisdiction question first, and everything else falls into place. Skip it, and you can spend real time chasing a process that no longer exists where you live.

Where the Act still applies: how the fence-viewer process actually works

In a municipality that hasn’t opted out, the Line Fences Act gives you a specific, appointed-official process for splitting the cost of a boundary fence. Here’s the shape of it, using the current (2024) version of the Act — not the older procedure that most online write-ups still describe.

But first: is the Act even in force where you live?

Here’s the switch. Section 26 of the Act reads, verbatim: “This Act, except section 20, does not apply to land in an area that is subject to a by-law passed under subsection 98 (1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 or subsection 109 (1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as the case may be.” Read that carefully: a municipality can pass its own fence by-law and displace the entire Line Fences Act, with only s.20 left standing (the piece dealing with land formerly used as part of a line of railway). So s.26 is the reason the fence-viewer route can simply not exist in your city — and why “apply for a fence-viewer” is not a universal Ontario answer. According to Ontario’s e-Laws (September 2026), the Act is current to 2026-09-15 and was substantially rewritten by 2024, c. 16, Sched. 8 (in force 2024-06-06).

Toronto did exactly that in 2018

According to the City of Toronto, City Council at its meeting on May 22, 2018 used the power in the City of Toronto Act, 2006 (s.109) to opt out of the Line Fences Act — everything except s.20 — and By-law 641-2018 replaced Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 447 (Fences) in its entirety, in force June 20, 2018. The practical consequence for a Toronto homeowner: Municipal Licensing & Standards no longer accepts line fence viewing applications. There is no fence-viewer to call. Instead, the City’s guidance is that boundary-fence disputes are to be worked out between the neighbours; failing agreement, they can go to civil court, or use free confidential community mediation through TNG Community Services. The City’s stated reason for opting out is that the Act’s process was built for rural areas, where fences are long and construction and maintenance costs are significant — a poor fit for a dense urban lot.

Same fence, same dispute — two completely different paths

Don’t assume your town — here’s a test you can run yourself

I’ve verified Toronto’s opt-out against the City’s own by-law and guidance. I have not verified the status of any other municipality — and neither should you assume one way or the other for Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Mississauga or anywhere else. A neighbouring city can be fully under the Act, fully opted out, or somewhere in between, and the only reliable answer is a first-hand one. Two ways to get it: (1) read your own municipality’s fence by-law (it’s public, usually on the city’s website); or (2) call the municipal clerk’s office and ask a single direct question — “Does this municipality still accept line fence viewing applications under the Line Fences Act?” Their answer tells you immediately which path in the table above is yours. That two-minute call is worth more than any general article, including this one, because it’s specific to where your fence actually sits.

Where this stops being general information

Two boundaries worth naming plainly. First, this article is general information, not legal advice: an active dispute — money on the line, a neighbour who won’t budge — belongs with a lawyer or, where the Act applies, the municipal clerk. Second, the Line Fences Act is only about apportioning the cost of a boundary fence; it doesn’t tell you where your property line runs, and it doesn’t set fence height or placement. Where the line actually sits is determined by an Ontario Land Surveyor — never by your best guess or your neighbour’s — and getting that wrong before you build is its own expensive problem. Everyday fence rules (how tall, how close, what materials) live in your municipality’s own fence by-law, not in this Act. Sort out the jurisdiction question, then the survey, then the by-law — in that order.