Alberta’s Petty Trespass Act bars entry onto land without the permission of the owner or occupier wherever entry is prohibited. It also requires you to leave the moment either one tells you to.
Nothing in the statute is called abandoned. A townsite with no residents is still somebody’s land. So is a grain elevator with a caved roof, and so is the general store with a faded sign. Each belongs to a rancher, a company, an estate or a municipality.
Key facts
- Section 2 of Alberta’s Petty Trespass Act prohibits entering land without the owner’s or occupier’s permission where entry is prohibited, and requires a person to leave immediately when directed, according to the Alberta King’s Printer text of the Act. Alberta King’s Printer
- A first offence by an individual carries a fine of up to $10,000 or up to six months in jail, according to the Act as amended and summarized by Alberta Municipalities. Alberta Municipalities
- Under section 2.2 of the Act, lawns, gardens, land used for crops or animals, fenced land and land enclosed to show the owner’s intent are prohibited without any sign.
- Transport Canada requires no registration or pilot certificate for a drone under 250 grams, and requires registration and a Basic Operations certificate for a drone from 250 grams to 25 kilograms. Transport Canada
- Transport Canada’s updated drone rules took effect in two phases, the second on November 4, 2025, and a drone flown at an advertised event requires a Special Flight Operations Certificate. Transport Canada
Abandoned is not a legal category
Visitors say abandoned. The Act says prohibited entry, and it gives an owner or occupier the right to order you off. Two things settle a visit, whether entry is prohibited and whether the visitor was told.
Notice can be given orally, in writing, or by posters and signboards at the access points. Tearing down or defacing a sign is a separate offence. Some land needs no notice at all. Lawns and gardens, land used to grow crops or keep animals or bees, fenced land, and land enclosed in a way that shows the owner wants people off it all count as prohibited.
The penalty for a first offence by an individual is a fine of up to $10,000 or up to six months in jail. Walk into a fenced townsite for a photograph and the price is far larger than the picture is worth.
A drone launched from public ground lets a visitor look without entering
Transport Canada sorts drones by weight. Under 250 grams, no registration and no pilot certificate, though the pilot still may not endanger people or aircraft. From 250 grams to 25 kilograms, registration and a Basic Operations certificate, earned through an online exam.
Those rules govern the aircraft. They leave the ground, the neighbours and the livestock to other law. So launch from a public road allowance, keep the drone in sight, stay away from people and animals, and never fly low over a home. A legal flight can still breach privacy law or a landowner’s rights. A townsite in or near a park carries that park’s own drone policy, so read it before launch.
The honest visit starts with a title search
The visit takes four steps. Find the owner first. The municipality can usually name them, and a land title search settles it. Next, send a written request, a short email saying who is coming, when, and what they will do. If permission doesn’t come, stay off the land and fly from public ground within the drone rules. If ownership can’t be verified, stay away.
This reading of the public rules is general information and not legal advice.
Related reading covers how Alberta’s historic places face pressure from their own popularity, and the rules that Alberta’s heritage sites carry. The piece on the Hillcrest Cemetery and its 1914 mass graves covers a rural site where the records disagree, and the piece on the Etzikom windmill museum covers a museum of dry land settlement. For a ghost-town story where the ground is protected and open to see, read the piece on the Lille coke ovens and townsite.
Two outside references apply to any visit. Alberta Municipalities summarizes the recent trespass amendments, and Transport Canada sets the drone rules that apply over any townsite.
Before you drive out, phone the municipality, get the owner’s name and send the email.
