Can a common-law partner claim a share of the home if their partner dies without a will in Ontario?

Possibly, but not through intestacy, and not automatically. Married spouses get a property equalization claim under Part I of the Family Law Act; common-law partners do not, whether or not there is a will. So if your name is not on title and you were not left anything by will, the intestacy formula sends the home to the deceased's children or other relatives — not to you.

The remedy available to a common-law partner is a claim in unjust enrichment, often resolved through a constructive trust over the property. You would need to show that you contributed — financially, through mortgage payments, renovations, or paying down debt, or through unpaid work like childcare and household management that let your partner build or preserve the asset — and that it would be unfair for the estate to keep the full benefit of that contribution without compensating you.

These claims turn heavily on the facts: contribution records, how title was held, and any agreements between you and your partner all matter. They are also litigation, filed against the estate rather than automatic, and resolving one can take considerably longer than an uncontested estate administration.

If you contributed to a home you do not own and your partner has died without providing for you, get advice quickly — evidence of your contributions can be harder to gather as time passes.