The basic principle can be summed up nicely in the phrase, "if there is no statute, there is no power to expropriate." To put it another way, all expropriation powers are found in legislation.

Many statutes contain expropriation powers. The following table provides some examples:

This list only provides a small sample. In fact there are hundreds of statutes which grant powers to expropriate and there are an equally large number of parties having those powers. Many of those parties are government agencies but not all. Private persons can also act as expropriating authorities. Privately owned utilities are an obvious example of this.

Where the power to expropriate exists, the procedures and compensation principles applicable are often found in a different statute than the one which grants the power to expropriate. In other cases a single statute provides the complete code.

The Statutes page on this website provides links to the most common procedural statutes and regulations applicable within Canada.