1000 plain-language Q&As about real estate. Browse below, or search the whole library.
There is no legally required minimum deposit amount in Ontario — it is whatever the buyer and seller agree to include in the Agreement of Purchase and…
Read the full answer →The deposit is a fundamental term of an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, and a cheque that bounces at this stage is treated seriously because it can…
Read the full answer →When you purchase a property in Ontario and paid a deposit on signing the agreement, that deposit is credited to you on the statement of adjustments.…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, once an offer is accepted, the deposit is held in a trust account maintained by the listing brokerage — not the seller personally. Real…
Read the full answer →Your deposit is not a separate closing cost — it forms part of your down payment. When you make an offer to purchase in Ontario, you typically deliver…
Read the full answer →No, not for the core matrimonial home protections. Spouses can use a marriage contract to address a great deal about how property is owned and divided…
Read the full answer →It can, depending on how the deferral was structured, which is exactly why a buyer needs to check rather than assume either way. Development charge…
Read the full answer →In an Ontario condominium, your "unit" is the space you own exclusively — typically defined in the declaration and measured from certain boundary…
Read the full answer →Diplomatic and consular property matters are generally treated differently from an ordinary foreign national's purchase, largely because Canada has…
Read the full answer →Once you have paid off a mortgage, the lender is obligated to provide a discharge document so the charge can be removed from title at the Ontario land…
Read the full answer →A restrictive covenant is a private agreement registered on title that limits how land can be used, such as no commercial use, specific building…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes. Under the Commercial Tenancies Act, a landlord has a remedy called distress, which allows seizing and selling a tenant's goods found on…
Read the full answer →HST treatment depends on whether the home is newly constructed or a resale property. For resale homes (previously owned and occupied), HST does not…
Read the full answer →Yes. In Ontario, residential real estate transfers must be registered electronically, and licensed lawyers are the standard, near-universal route for…
Read the full answer →No, Ontario law does not require you to use a real estate agent when buying a home. You can negotiate directly with the seller or their agent. However,…
Read the full answer →Under the federal Income Tax Act, Canadians can claim the principal residence exemption (PRE) to shelter capital gains when they sell a home they…
Read the full answer →Yes. Your agent's duties to you under TRESA and the Code of Ethics do not disappear because a deal fell through before closing. The fiduciary…
Read the full answer →It depends entirely on what the Agreement of Purchase and Sale says. Most Ontario residential sales include an "as is, where is" clause, meaning the…
Read the full answer →Yes. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, a change in the ownership of a rental property does not end the tenancy or require any special action…
Read the full answer →Banks routinely flag large or unusual wire transfers for fraud or anti-money-laundering review, and a hold placed on closing day can delay your funds…
Read the full answer →Drainage on rural Ontario land is primarily governed by the Drainage Act. The Act establishes a system of municipal drains — engineered drainage works…
Read the full answer →There's no fixed or standard length for a commercial due diligence period. It's freely negotiated between the parties based on the complexity of the…
Read the full answer →Early mortgage renewal means agreeing to new mortgage terms before your current term expires. Most lenders will offer early renewal — sometimes as…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes. Absent wording in the original grant that says otherwise, the resulting lots continue to share the benefit of an appurtenant easement…
Read the full answer →An easement of necessity is a right of access that courts will imply, even without an express written grant, where a parcel of land would otherwise…
Read the full answer →If you hold a registered easement over a neighbouring property, the easement owner (the dominant tenement) has the legal right to use it for the…
Read the full answer →When one person or entity comes to own both the dominant property, the one benefiting from the easement, and the servient property, the one burdened by…
Read the full answer →Not automatically, and this is one of the most common misunderstandings in this area. An easement isn't extinguished simply because it hasn't been used…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes, unless the granting document says otherwise. Because the dominant owner, the one who benefits from the easement, is the one actually…
Read the full answer →An easement appurtenant is attached to and benefits a specific piece of land, called the dominant tenement, rather than benefiting a particular person.…
Read the full answer →An easement whose exact location or width was never precisely surveyed can become a genuine source of dispute later, particularly once the original…
Read the full answer →An easement is a registered right that allows someone else to use a specific part of your land for a specific purpose. The most common example in…
Read the full answer →Generally, no, not without agreement or a fresh legal basis. The owner who benefits from an easement, the dominant owner, is limited to using it for…
Read the full answer →The easement continues to burden whichever portion, or portions, of the land it physically crosses, regardless of how the servient property is later…
Read the full answer →An encroachment occurs when a structure — a fence, deck, shed, or even part of a building — extends over a property line onto your land. In Ontario,…
Read the full answer →An environmental condition clause in an Ontario Agreement of Purchase and Sale is what gives a buyer the contractual right to investigate a property's…
Read the full answer →An environmental due diligence period is generally built into the Agreement of Purchase and Sale as a condition period running from acceptance of the…
Read the full answer →An environmental holdback is an arrangement in a purchase agreement where a portion of the sale proceeds is held back at closing, often by the lawyers…
Read the full answer →An environmental indemnity clause is a contractual promise, negotiated as part of the purchase agreement, that allocates responsibility between buyer…
Read the full answer →Yes, in general. Ontario's environmental protection framework focuses primarily on who currently owns or controls a contaminated property, not on who…
Read the full answer →Yes, this is a recognized way of securing an equalization payment owed between spouses. Where one spouse owes the other an equalization payment under…
Read the full answer →An Environmental Site Assessment looks at the land itself and its history, checking for contamination in soil and groundwater from past uses like fuel…
Read the full answer →A gap or escrow closing addresses a timing problem within one deal, letting the practical closing happen while formal registration or another loose end…
Read the full answer →The "executor's year" is a long-standing convention in estate administration, giving an estate trustee roughly a year from the date of death as a…
Read the full answer →Whether an Ontario home must go through probate depends on how it is owned at the time of death. "Probate" refers to the court process of obtaining a…
Read the full answer →Often, yes, at least until the trustee is reasonably confident that claims like dependant support applications, unresolved creditor claims, or tax…
Read the full answer →A sale isn't necessarily frozen just because one of several named estate trustees can't or won't act, but formal steps generally need to be taken to…
Read the full answer →An estate trustee generally has to identify and address the estate's debts before making final distributions to beneficiaries, and there's a rough…
Read the full answer →An estate sale involves selling a property that belonged to someone who has died, with the estate trustee (executor) acting on behalf of the estate.…
Read the full answer →Estate trustee compensation in Ontario isn't set by a single fixed dollar figure or formula written into a statute; instead it's typically calculated…
Read the full answer →Generally, only in a limited way. An estate trustee during litigation is a special, interim appointment made specifically because there's a genuine…
Read the full answer →Potentially, yes, though it depends on whether the delay was unreasonable in the circumstances rather than simply the result of normal estate…
Read the full answer →Where a will gives the estate trustee genuine discretion over whether to sell or retain property, the trustee generally isn't required to follow the…
Read the full answer →An estate trustee can often start the process before the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee arrives, but generally cannot complete the sale…
Read the full answer →An estate trustee has a fiduciary duty to administer the estate carefully and in the beneficiaries' interests, which generally includes taking…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes, and it's often sensible to do so. Selling a property is different from distributing the proceeds to beneficiaries, and converting real…
Read the full answer →Generally, no special conveyancing steps are needed just because beneficiaries live in another province. The trustee's authority to sell Ontario real…
Read the full answer →Not always as a strict legal requirement, but it's generally the safest approach, because selling estate property to a related party, including the…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes, once the trustee has their Certificate of Appointment. A well-drafted will typically includes an express power of sale, giving the…
Read the full answer →An estoppel certificate is a short document signed by a tenant confirming the current state of their lease — the rent being paid, the remaining term,…
Read the full answer →A tenant estoppel or tenancy statement is a written confirmation, usually from the seller and sometimes from the tenant directly, setting out the key…
Read the full answer →An estoppel certificate is a document signed by the tenant, certifying facts about their own lease, such as rent paid, remaining term, any defaults,…
Read the full answer →Because a land-lease community resident is a tenant of the site under Part X of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, an operator generally can't simply…
Read the full answer →An exclusivity clause in a retail lease promises a tenant that the landlord won't lease other space in the same plaza to a competing business, for…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, when a court issues a money judgment against someone, the judgment creditor can file that judgment with the sheriff's office in the county…
Read the full answer →Yes, if you need more time to satisfy a condition — for example, if your lender requires an extra day or two, or if the home inspector can't schedule…
Read the full answer →If no tender is received, or none meets the required cancellation price, the tax sale for that round is generally treated as unsuccessful, and the…
Read the full answer →Treat it as fraudulent until proven otherwise, and do not wire any money based on it. Real estate wire fraud almost always works by intercepting or…
Read the full answer →The Family Law Act gives both spouses an equal right to live in the matrimonial home, regardless of whose name is on title, but this right of…
Read the full answer →To have rural land assessed in Ontario's farm property class, the land generally needs to be actively used for an eligible farming operation that…
Read the full answer →The Farm Property Class Tax Rate Program is the mechanism Ontario uses to tax working farmland differently from ordinary residential or commercial…
Read the full answer →Severing a lot from a larger parcel in Ontario requires "consent to sever" granted by the local municipality's Committee of Adjustment or Land Division…
Read the full answer →Long-term agricultural use can leave behind soil and groundwater contamination from pesticides, fertilizers, and fuel used to run farm equipment,…
Read the full answer →The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act is a federal law that restricts non-Canadians - generally meaning people…
Read the full answer →A fence-viewer is a municipal official appointed by a local municipality, under the authority of the Line Fences Act, specifically to help resolve…
Read the full answer →Often not without the utility's consent, or at least not in a way that blocks their access. Even a fence, which seems far less permanent than a…
Read the full answer →The First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a registered savings plan introduced by the federal government that allows eligible first-time buyers to save…
Read the full answer →Yes, and you should treat it as more than a formality. Most Agreements of Purchase and Sale give the buyer the right to inspect the property once…
Read the full answer →Whether financing a fourplex looks like financing a single-family home depends heavily on whether you plan to live in one of the units. CMHC's mortgage…
Read the full answer →A financing condition — sometimes called a "condition on financing" or "mortgage condition" — gives you a set period (typically 3–7 business days)…
Read the full answer →Generally not in the way you could mortgage a house or condo. A mortgage is a security interest registered against real property title, and a co-op…
Read the full answer →The most direct closing-cost relief for Ontario first-time buyers is the land transfer tax rebate: up to $4,000 on the provincial LTT, and up to $4,475…
Read the full answer →This is a personal financial decision rather than a legal one, but there are legal and practical distinctions worth understanding before buying. In a…
Read the full answer →The minimum down payment rules in Canada are set by federal regulation and apply equally across all provinces, including Ontario. For a home priced at…
Read the full answer →Ontario offers first-time homebuyers a rebate on the provincial land transfer tax of up to $4,000. This effectively eliminates the tax entirely on…
Read the full answer →Real estate legal fees in Ontario vary by firm and transaction complexity. For a typical residential purchase, you should budget roughly $1,000 to…
Read the full answer →If you are purchasing a home with a co-buyer and only one of you qualifies as a first-time buyer, the Ontario land transfer tax rebate is prorated…
Read the full answer →Unfortunately, previous ownership of a home anywhere in the world — not just in Canada or Ontario — disqualifies you from the Ontario first-time home…
Read the full answer →In most cases, yes. Ontario's Partition Act gives any co-owner the right to apply to the Superior Court of Justice for partition (physical division of…
Read the full answer →The federal ban's regulations set a specific ownership and control percentage below which a corporation is not treated as non-Canadian for the purposes…
Read the full answer →Yes - the federal ban is not limited to purchases made by non-Canadian individuals in their own name. It also reaches corporations and other entities…
Read the full answer →The federal ban's regulations set out a number of specific exemption categories rather than a single general test. Canadian citizens and permanent…
Read the full answer →When the federal ban first came into force, it came with transition considerations addressing agreements that were already in place before the…
Read the full answer →The federal ban was not designed as a permanent fixture from the outset, and it has in fact already been extended more than once since it originally…
Read the full answer →Violating the federal ban carries real consequences beyond simply having to unwind a purchase informally. The Act allows for meaningful financial…
Read the full answer →No - permanent residents are not considered "non-Canadians" for the purposes of the federal ban, so the restriction simply does not apply to them at…
Read the full answer →This depends on where someone stands in the immigration process, and the distinction matters more than it might seem. The federal ban's exemptions…
Read the full answer →The federal ban is generally aimed at housing intended for people to live in - detached homes, semis, townhouses, and condominium units are the core…
Read the full answer →Yes. Ontario's Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) is an additional land transfer tax that applies to certain purchases of residential property by…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes - a corporation incorporated outside Ontario that wants to properly hold and deal with real estate here typically needs to…
Read the full answer →Links go to the official consolidated text. Legislation changes — confirm you are reading the current version.
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