Why are there two separate agreements when I buy a mobile home on leased land in Ontario?

There are two agreements because two legally different things are changing hands. The purchase agreement covers the home itself — a physical structure that you're buying much like any other significant personal property, with terms about price, condition, and what fixtures or belongings are included. The land underneath it is never sold to you at all, so a second document, the site lease or occupancy agreement, sets out your separate right, as a tenant, to place and keep that home on a specific site within the community.

This separation matters because the two agreements are governed differently. The home purchase is essentially a sale of goods between you and the seller. The site lease is governed by Part X of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and creates an ongoing landlord-tenant relationship between you and the community's operator, with its own rules on things like site fees, assignment, and eviction that have nothing to do with the terms of your home purchase. Because both documents need to work together for you to actually own and keep the home where you want it, review both carefully, and make sure the closing of the home purchase is properly coordinated with the operator approving and putting your site lease in place.