Ontario. Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Property Office

• Property Office

• Ontario. Dept. of Highways. Office of the Chief Property Valuator

• Ontario. Dept. of Highways. Property Branch

• Ontario. Ministry of Transportation and Communication. Property Section

• Ontario. Ministry of Transportation. Property Section.

• Ontario. Ministry of Transportation. Corridor Management and Property Office

The Property Office has its origins in the position of Chief Property Valuator for the Ontario Department of Public Highways. This position was established in 1928, and reported to the Office of the Chief Engineer. In 1931, the Ontario Department of Public Highways was replaced with the Ontario Department of Highways, and the Chief Property Evaluator became part of this new department. In 1954, the Department of Highways was reorganized, and the Office of the Chief Property Officer, by this time known as the Property Section, was administratively placed within the Services Branch. The title of the head of the Section was also changed by this time to Superintendent of Property.

In 1971, the Property Section became part of the Right of Way Branch within the newly formed Ontario Department (and later Ministry) of Transportation and Communications. The Property Section consisted of four parts: Appraisal, Acquisition, Property Management, and Administration.

In 1972, the Property Section was renamed the Property Office, and by 1976, the Property Branch. In 1984, it was once again renamed the Property Office. Since 1976, the branch has reported to several different divisions: from 1976 to 1983, it formed a part of the Services Division; from 1983 to 1987, it reported directly to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Engineering and Construction; from 1987 to 1992, it formed a part of the Transportation Capital Branch; from 1992 to 1993, it formed a part of the Transportation Operations Branch; and from 1993 to 1995, it was part of the Acquisition Standards Branch.

From 1995, it came under the Construction and Operations Branch (later the Contract Management and Operations Branch). From ca. 2008, the name of was changed to Corridor Management and Property Section but it remained in the same branch until ca. 2015 when it moved to the Highway Standards Branch and changed its name to Corridor Management and Property Office.

The central Property Office was originally located in Toronto, but is presently (2016)based in St. Catharines.

The Property Office was originally responsible for property acquisition and property management for the Ontario Department of Highways. Property in this context mainly relates to land needed for the building of roads. In 1958, many of the functions of the Office were decentralized to regional offices, and the central Property Office became responsible for the general application and monitoring of provincial policies and procedures in the areas of appraisal, acquisition, land management, sales and leasing for the Ontario Department of Highways. It has continued in this role for the Ontario Department/ Ministry of Transportation and Communications and later for the Ministry of Transportation. It is also responsible for the arbitration of claims of property in cases where land owners choose to dispute the regional office's compensation offer, and represents the ministry's interests in expropriation cases appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

(For more information on the role of the regional offices, consult the administrative history for Regional Offices Property Section. Confusingly, both the central office and the units within regional offices were called "Property Section" at certain times throughout their respective histories.)

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Department of Highways/Ministry of Transportation and Communications Annual Reports; KWIC Index to Services; Ontario Government Telephone Directories, MTO records.

Not found in Canadiana Authorities, 1996-12-24.

Archivist(s):
Lisa Singer, Mark Epp, Carol Hopp, Yuri Shimpo