The City of Dauphin has updated its property-related bylaws to establish clearer property maintenance standards, improve how vacant and boarded buildings are managed, and provide a fair and effective process for addressing properties that have become derelict.
The following bylaws received third reading and were adopted by Council on August 31, 2026:
- Bylaw 04/2026 – Property Standards Bylaw
- Bylaw 05/2026 – Vacant and Boarded Buildings Bylaw
- Bylaw 06/2026 – Derelict Buildings Bylaw
The bylaws work together as a progressive property standards framework. Most properties are governed simply by the Property Standards Bylaw. Additional requirements apply when a building remains vacant or boarded for an extended period. The Derelict Buildings Bylaw provides a further process for the most serious cases where a property remains vacant or abandoned, is in substantial contravention of City bylaws, and previous enforcement efforts have not achieved compliance.
For most residents and property owners who maintain their properties in a reasonable condition, the bylaws do not result in a significant change.
Why did the City update its property bylaws?
Well-maintained properties contribute to safe, healthy, and attractive neighbourhoods. Properties that are significantly neglected, left unsecured, or allowed to deteriorate over long periods can create fire and safety risks, attract unauthorized entry, affect surrounding properties, and require significant municipal resources to monitor and address.
The bylaws are intended to:
- establish clearer and more measurable property maintenance standards;
- encourage early intervention and voluntary compliance;
- establish specific requirements for vacant and boarded buildings;
- ensure that vacant properties are appropriately secured and maintained;
- encourage vacant buildings to be returned to productive use;
- provide a clear process for addressing properties that remain abandoned or seriously deteriorated despite previous enforcement efforts; and
- provide property owners with appropriate notice and opportunities to address contraventions before more significant enforcement action is considered.
Property Standards Bylaw – Bylaw 04/2026
The Property Standards Bylaw establishes minimum standards for the maintenance, repair, safety, sanitation, and appearance of properties throughout the City.
The purpose is not to require every property to look the same or to establish a standard of perfection. Rather, the bylaw establishes reasonable minimum standards to prevent properties from becoming unsafe, unsanitary, significantly deteriorated, or a nuisance.
The bylaw addresses matters including:
- yards and exterior property areas;
- garbage, waste, and debris;
- grass, weeds, and vegetation;
- derelict and unused vehicles;
- exterior building maintenance;
- roofs, foundations, walls, windows, and doors;
- accessory buildings, fences, decks, and other structures;
- drainage and grading;
- driveways and parking areas;
- sidewalks and boulevards;
- health and safety hazards; and
- other conditions that may create a nuisance or unsightly condition.
The updated bylaw is also intended to support earlier intervention, so that property concerns can be addressed before they deteriorate into more significant problems.
View Bylaw 04/2026 – Property Standards Bylaw
Vacant and Boarded Buildings Bylaw – Bylaw 05/2026
The Vacant and Boarded Buildings Bylaw establishes additional requirements for buildings that remain vacant for an extended period.
Vacancy itself is not prohibited. The City recognizes that buildings may be vacant for many legitimate reasons, including a property being sold, an estate being settled, renovations or reconstruction, or a transition between occupants.
However, prolonged vacancy can create additional risks, including fire, vandalism, unauthorized entry, deterioration, and impacts on neighbouring properties. Vacant buildings can also require additional monitoring and enforcement resources.
When is a building considered vacant?
Under the bylaw, a building generally becomes a Vacant Building when it is not lawfully occupied and remains unoccupied for 90 consecutive days or more.
Temporary or seasonal absence does not automatically make a building vacant, provided it remains furnished or otherwise equipped for lawful use, is maintained and secured, and does not show signs of abandonment or deterioration.
Newly constructed buildings actively being offered for sale or lease in the normal course of development are also excluded where they remain secured, maintained, and compliant with applicable bylaws.
Vacant Building Registry
Owners of buildings that meet the definition of a Vacant Building are required to register them with the City's Vacant Building Registry.
A building must generally be registered within 30 days after it becomes a Vacant Building, or within 14 days of receiving a Notice to Register from the City, whichever occurs first.
Registration will provide the City with current information about the property, including:
- owner contact information;
- a responsible person who can respond to concerns;
- when the vacancy began;
- the owner's plans for the property, such as sale, renovation, demolition or re-occupancy;
- known hazards; and
- security information where required.
Owners of buildings that already met the definition of a Vacant Building when the bylaw came into force have 60 days from the effective date of the bylaw to register.
Maintaining and securing vacant buildings
Registration does not replace the owner's responsibility to maintain the property.
Vacant buildings must continue to comply with the Property Standards Bylaw and must be appropriately secured against unauthorized entry. Owners are also responsible for mitigating hazards, removing combustible debris, and maintaining a responsible person who can respond to concerns.
The bylaw also regulates prolonged boarding of buildings. Boarding is intended to be a temporary security measure rather than a long-term substitute for repairing, reoccupying, redeveloping, or demolishing a building.
Registration and annual monitoring fees
Vacant buildings require additional City resources for administration, inspection, monitoring, and enforcement. The framework therefore includes a registration fee and an annual Vacant Building Monitoring Fee.
The annual monitoring fee increases based on the length of time a building remains vacant. This recognizes the increasing municipal resources and neighbourhood impacts that can be associated with prolonged vacancy and provides an incentive to return vacant properties to productive use.
Additional charges may apply where a building remains boarded for an extended period.
Paying a monitoring fee does not give an owner permission to leave a property vacant or boarded indefinitely. Owners remain responsible for complying with all applicable bylaws, and the City may continue to require corrective action where necessary.
The bylaw also recognizes circumstances where some flexibility may be appropriate. The annual monitoring fee may, subject to the requirements of the bylaw, be deferred or reduced in certain situations involving:
- administration of an estate following the death of an owner;
- active repair or reconstruction following fire, structural damage or another significant event; or
- genuine efforts to sell, lease or redevelop a property.
These provisions are intended to distinguish between responsible owners actively working toward a solution and properties that remain vacant without meaningful progress.
When can a vacant property become a derelict-property concern?
A building does not become derelict simply because it is vacant.
However, where a building remains vacant or boarded for two or more consecutive years, or is subject to repeated non-compliance, the property may be referred for review under the Derelict Buildings Bylaw.
Referral does not automatically mean the property will be declared derelict or acquired by the City. A separate statutory process must then be followed.
View Bylaw 05/2026 – Vacant and Boarded Buildings Bylaw
Derelict Buildings Bylaw – Bylaw 06/2026
The Derelict Buildings Bylaw is intended for serious and persistent cases where a vacant or apparently abandoned property remains in substantial contravention of municipal bylaws despite previous enforcement efforts.
It is designed as a last-resort process, not as the City's first response to a property maintenance concern.
A property is not considered derelict simply because a building is old, vacant, boarded, unattractive, or in need of repairs. For the process to apply, the building must be vacant, the property must be in contravention of a municipal bylaw, previous Orders must remain substantially unfulfilled, and reasonable enforcement efforts must have failed.
Indicators that a property appears abandoned or lacks responsible property management may include prolonged vacancy, disconnected utilities, accumulated tax arrears, an absence of active property management, or failure to respond to enforcement notices.
What happens before the City can take further action?
The bylaw establishes a formal process with multiple notice and compliance opportunities.
Where the required conditions are met, the City may issue a Preliminary Derelict Building Order. The Order identifies the outstanding contraventions, advises that the property is being considered a Derelict Property, and provides 90 days to bring the property into compliance.
The Order must also be registered against the property title and served on the owner and other persons with a registered interest in the property.
An affected person has the right to request that Council review the Order.
If the property remains in substantial non-compliance, a Second Notice may be issued. This provides a further compliance period and again advises of the right to request Council review.
Only after the required process has been completed and the property remains derelict may the matter be brought before Council for consideration of a Derelict Building Certificate.
Can the City take ownership of a derelict property?
In limited circumstances, yes — but only as a last resort and after the statutory process has been completed.
The authority comes from The Municipal Act and is intended to provide municipalities with a way to address properties that have effectively been abandoned and remain in serious non-compliance despite repeated attempts to have the owner address the property.
Council is not required to acquire a derelict property.
Before issuing a Derelict Building Certificate, Council must be satisfied that the required statutory process has been followed, that the property remains a Derelict Property, and that acquisition of the property would be in the public interest.
Council may consider factors such as:
- the history of enforcement involving the property;
- the condition of the building;
- how long it has been vacant or apparently abandoned;
- outstanding property tax arrears; and
- the impact of the property on neighbouring properties and the community.
If Council issues a Derelict Building Certificate, the City may register the certificate and apply through The Property Registry to have title issued in the City's name in accordance with The Municipal Act.
This authority is intended for exceptional circumstances where other reasonable enforcement efforts have failed. The primary objective remains to have property owners address contraventions and return properties to safe and productive use.
View Bylaw 06/2026 – Derelict Buildings Bylaw
Review the Bylaws
Residents are encouraged to review the complete bylaws:
Bylaw 04/2026 – Property Standards Bylaw
Bylaw 05/2026 – Vacant and Boarded Buildings Bylaw
Bylaw 06/2026 – Derelict Buildings Bylaw
The information on this page is provided as a plain-language overview. Where there is any difference between this summary and the wording of a bylaw, the bylaw itself governs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these bylaws already in effect?
Yes. All three bylaws received third reading and were adopted by Council on August 31, 2026.
Why did the City update its property bylaws?
The updated bylaws provide clearer property standards and a more structured approach to properties presenting greater concerns. They create a progression from ordinary property maintenance requirements, to additional requirements for prolonged vacancy, to a formal process for the relatively small number of properties that remain abandoned or seriously non-compliant despite previous enforcement efforts.
Is the City going to enforce minor cosmetic issues on people's properties?
The Property Standards Bylaw establishes minimum standards, not a requirement that every property look the same or be maintained to a particular aesthetic preference. The City's objective is to address conditions that constitute a contravention of the bylaw and to encourage compliance before concerns become more serious.
Does my house become a "vacant building" if I go away for the winter or take an extended vacation?
Not necessarily. Temporary or seasonal absence does not make a building vacant where it remains furnished or otherwise equipped for normal lawful use, is appropriately maintained and secured, and does not show objective signs of abandonment or deterioration.
I own an empty house. Do I have to register it immediately?
A building generally becomes a Vacant Building under the bylaw after it has remained unoccupied for 90 consecutive days. Once it meets the definition, the owner must register it within the timelines established by the bylaw. Owners of buildings that already met the definition when the bylaw came into force have 60 days from the effective date of the bylaw to register.
Why is there a fee for owning a vacant building?
Vacant buildings can require additional municipal resources for administration, monitoring, inspections, and enforcement. The registration and annual monitoring fees are intended to allocate those additional costs to vacant properties rather than to taxpayers generally. The escalating annual fee also encourages owners to return properties to occupancy or move toward sale, redevelopment, rehabilitation or lawful demolition rather than leaving them vacant indefinitely.
What if I am genuinely trying to sell or repair my vacant property?
The bylaw includes flexibility for certain circumstances. Depending on the situation and the requirements of the bylaw, the annual monitoring fee may be deferred or reduced where an estate is being administered, substantial reconstruction is actively underway, or an owner can demonstrate genuine efforts to sell, lease, or redevelop the property. Owners must still keep the building secured and maintained.
Can I simply pay the annual fee and leave my building vacant indefinitely?
No. Payment of the annual monitoring fee does not authorize indefinite vacancy or boarding and does not exempt the owner from complying with City bylaws. Where circumstances warrant, the City may still require repair, rehabilitation, redevelopment, sale, re-occupancy, or lawful demolition.
Does a vacant building automatically become a derelict building after two years?
No. A building that remains vacant or boarded for two or more consecutive years may be referred for review under the Derelict Buildings Bylaw, but that does not automatically make it a Derelict Property. The separate requirements of the Derelict Buildings Bylaw must be met, including outstanding contraventions, substantially unfulfilled Orders, and unsuccessful previous enforcement efforts.
Can the City just take someone's property if it looks run-down?
No. The authority to apply for title is reserved for serious cases involving vacant or apparently abandoned properties where previous enforcement has failed. There are multiple formal steps, notice requirements, compliance periods, and opportunities for review before Council can consider issuing a Derelict Building Certificate. Council must also determine that acquisition of the property is in the public interest.
If I receive an Order, will I have an opportunity to address the problem before further action is taken?
Yes. The enforcement framework is intended to provide owners with notice of the contravention and an opportunity to achieve compliance, except where immediate action is necessary because of an urgent health or safety concern. The Derelict Buildings Bylaw contains additional statutory notice and review requirements because of the seriousness of the potential consequences.
What happens if an owner brings a derelict property back into compliance?
The objective of the process is compliance, not City ownership. If the property is brought into compliance, the basis for proceeding through the derelict-property process may no longer exist. The City's preferred outcome is for the owner to address the property before acquisition of title ever becomes necessary.
Will the City automatically demolish a property if it takes title?
No. Acquisition of title does not automatically require the City to repair, demolish, or redevelop the property. Any subsequent decision would depend on the circumstances of the property and future decisions of Council.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
Residents and property owners who have questions about the bylaws, vacant-building registration, or their responsibilities may contact City Hall at 204-622-3225.