Do Common-Law Partners Get Half the Property in Ontario?

No. Common-law partners in Ontario do not get an automatic half share of property when they separate. Ontario says unmarried couples are not legally required to split property acquired while they lived together, and they cannot share in the increase in value of property the other brought into the relationship.

The equal-sharing process, called equalization, applies to married spouses: the spouse with the lower net family property is entitled to one-half the difference. The definition of spouse that controls Part I of the Family Law Act covers only people who are married, or who entered a void or voidable marriage in good faith. For unmarried partners, furniture, household items and other property generally belong to the person who bought them.

There is an alternative. A partner who contributed to property the other owns may have a right to part of it, and if the owner will not agree to repay, you may have to go to court. Those claims turn on the facts, and which time limit applies to them also depends on the facts, so it is worth confirming early with a lawyer. A lawyer can tell you which route fits your situation.