What's the difference between a joint partner trust and a spousal trust in Ontario?

The main difference is who can benefit and when the trust can be created. A joint partner trust can only be set up by someone 65 or older, during their own lifetime, and it must provide that only the person who created it and their spouse or common-law partner can receive income or capital while either of them is alive. A spousal trust, by contrast, is most often created by will on death, though it can also be set up during life, and it requires only that the surviving spouse or partner receives all the income for life, with no one else able to receive income or capital while they're alive; it doesn't require the settlor to still be living or receiving anything.

Both can achieve a tax-deferred rollover of property into the trust and can help assets bypass Ontario probate and the Estate Administration Tax, but a joint partner trust is a lifetime planning tool built around a couple both still being alive, while a spousal trust is typically the tool used to provide for a surviving spouse after the first spouse has died. Which one fits depends on your age, whether you're planning during life or through your will, and what you want to happen to the property afterward.