What is a limited liability partnership and which Ontario professions can use one?

A limited liability partnership, or LLP, is a partnership structure under Ontario's Partnerships Act that gives partners protection from personal liability for the negligence or misconduct of other partners, while each partner generally remains personally liable for their own professional negligence and for the ordinary debts of the partnership. This is meant to address the specific risk general partners face in a professional practice, where one partner's mistake could otherwise expose every other partner personally.

The LLP form isn't available to every business — it's limited to certain regulated professions whose own governing legislation authorizes its use, most notably lawyers and public accountants, who commonly organize larger firms this way. A business outside an eligible profession generally can't simply call itself an LLP to get this protection; the availability depends on the specific governing legislation for that profession, not a general choice available to any partnership. If you're part of a professional partnership considering this structure, confirm with your governing body whether the LLP form is available to your profession and what conditions apply, since the protection it offers, and its limits, matter for how the partners are actually exposed.