The provincial government is going to introduce changes to the Trespass to Property Act.

It will increase penalties on trespassers and make it easier for rural landowners to take legal action against people who come onto their land. Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant says “These changes will support and extend that best practice by creating a statutory tort of trespass and providing for increased penalties for trespassers.”

Under the new legislation, the maximum penalty for repeat offenders trespassing on the same land increases to $25,000.

The act also adds imprisonment of up to six months as a possible penalty. A corporation that is complicit in a trespassing offence will receive a maximum fine of $200,000.  The changes are slated to come into effect on January 1st.