1000 plain-language Q&As about real estate. Browse below, or search the whole library.
Not in the same targeted way. Some other provinces have specific legislation restricting non-resident or non-Canadian ownership of agricultural land as…
Read the full answer →Building on a former landfill or dump site is not automatically prohibited in Ontario, but it is one of the more heavily scrutinized situations in…
Read the full answer →No — there's no blanket rule that erases a validly registered easement simply because it's old or hasn't been used in a long time. A common source of…
Read the full answer →A franchise agreement is a separate contract between the franchisor and the franchisee, governing branding, royalties, and operating standards, and it…
Read the full answer →More sophisticated real estate scams do coordinate impersonation across more than one professional involved in your transaction, using compromised or…
Read the full answer →Yes, prepaid fuel oil or propane that remains in a tank at the property can be adjusted on the statement of adjustments in Ontario. If the seller has…
Read the full answer →Yes. Verbal assumptions about which furniture and items are included in a furnished rental sale are a common source of dispute after closing, since…
Read the full answer →It depends on how your specific municipality has authorized the garden suite. Some municipalities permit garden suites only through a temporary use…
Read the full answer →A ground lease is a long-term lease of land itself, under which the tenant typically owns and builds improvements, like a commercial building, on land…
Read the full answer →If contamination is genuinely migrating onto your land from a neighbouring property, you generally have more than one avenue available. Ontario's…
Read the full answer →Ontario law generally splits defects into two categories: patent defects, which a reasonably careful inspection would reveal, and latent defects, which…
Read the full answer →There is no single, universal provincial certificate specifically required before every former grow-op can be resold in Ontario; what's actually…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes. A lease guarantee is a separate agreement in which the guarantor promises to answer for the tenant's obligations under the lease, and…
Read the full answer →A Heritage Conservation District plan generally goes further than an individual designation in scope, because it's meant to protect the collective…
Read the full answer →An ordinary property easement is a right one party holds over another's land for a specific practical purpose, such as a right-of-way or a utility…
Read the full answer →Designation under the Ontario Heritage Act means a municipality has formally recognized your property as having cultural heritage value or interest,…
Read the full answer →A municipal heritage designation is a bylaw passed by a local municipal council, administered and enforced by that municipality's own planning and…
Read the full answer →Some Ontario municipalities offer financial support programs for owners of heritage-designated properties, recognizing that maintaining protected…
Read the full answer →A municipality can take enforcement action against an owner who alters a designated heritage attribute without the required approval, which can include…
Read the full answer →Being listed on a municipal heritage register is an earlier and less restrictive step than formal designation. Listing generally means the municipality…
Read the full answer →Researching a property's historical industrial uses is exactly what a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is designed to do systematically, drawing…
Read the full answer →A holdback is an amount withheld from the seller's (or builder's) proceeds at closing to cover work that was not yet complete or deficiencies that were…
Read the full answer →A holdback is an amount of the closing funds your lawyer keeps in trust, rather than releasing in full to the other side, as security for something…
Read the full answer →Yes, Ontario property can be held in a family trust. A trust is a legal arrangement where a trustee holds legal title to the property for the benefit…
Read the full answer →A holding zone symbol, usually shown as an "H" attached to a zoning designation on a property, indicates that while the underlying zoning has generally…
Read the full answer →A commercial tenant who stays in possession after their lease term has expired, with the landlord's acquiescence, generally becomes what's known as an…
Read the full answer →A home inspection is typically paid before closing rather than on closing day, so it is more accurately a pre-closing cost — but it is part of the…
Read the full answer →A home inspection condition gives you a set period after offer acceptance to have a licensed home inspector examine the property and report on its…
Read the full answer →Yes, in practice you must have home insurance in place before you can close on a property purchase in Ontario if you are financing with a mortgage.…
Read the full answer →In the traditional Ontario commission structure, the seller pays a total commission to the listing brokerage, and the listing agreement specifies what…
Read the full answer →To file a complaint about a registered real estate agent or brokerage in Ontario, you submit it to RECO — the Real Estate Council of Ontario. RECO's…
Read the full answer →A mortgage pre-approval is a conditional commitment from a lender stating it will lend you up to a specified amount at a stated interest rate, for a…
Read the full answer →Refinancing means replacing your existing mortgage with a new one, typically to access home equity, secure a better interest rate, consolidate debt, or…
Read the full answer →The mortgage stress test is a federal rule set by OSFI that requires lenders to qualify you at a rate higher than your actual contract rate. This is…
Read the full answer →Property tax in Ontario is calculated by multiplying the assessed value of your property by the municipal tax rate. The Municipal Property Assessment…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, real estate commissions are paid on closing day out of the sale proceeds. The seller's lawyer receives the purchase funds from the buyer's…
Read the full answer →Real estate wire fraud usually works by intercepting email communication and sending convincing but fake instructions to redirect money at the last…
Read the full answer →The closing period is the time between when your offer is accepted and when ownership legally transfers to you. In Ontario, residential deals typically…
Read the full answer →The legal process has two phases. The first is the conditional period in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale — typically five to ten business days…
Read the full answer →A typical financing condition in Ontario runs 3–5 business days, though buyers sometimes negotiate 7 or even 10 business days depending on the…
Read the full answer →Every offer in Ontario includes an irrevocability clause that states the date and time by which the seller must accept, reject, or counter-sign the…
Read the full answer →The federal rules under the Income Tax Act set a specific percentage a buyer must generally withhold from the purchase price when buying from a…
Read the full answer →Lenders use two main ratios when assessing affordability. The Gross Debt Service (GDS) ratio measures your housing costs — mortgage principal and…
Read the full answer →The minimum down payment in Canada depends on the purchase price. For homes priced up to $500,000, the minimum is five percent. For the portion of the…
Read the full answer →Property tax adjustments on an Ontario statement of adjustments divide the year's property taxes between the seller and the buyer based on how many…
Read the full answer →Most real estate wire fraud starts with a compromised email account, either the buyer's, the seller's, or one of the lawyers', giving the fraudster a…
Read the full answer →The most effective way to avoid a prepayment penalty is to not break your mortgage — but there are strategies that can legally reduce or eliminate the…
Read the full answer →In a multiple-offer situation several buyers submit offers on your property, often simultaneously on an offer night your agent has arranged. As the…
Read the full answer →Buying a commercial building triggers HST in a different way than buying a home does. Most resale homes are exempt from HST because they're "used…
Read the full answer →Yes, HST applies to the purchase of newly built homes in Ontario. Unlike resale homes, which are exempt from HST, new construction is a taxable supply…
Read the full answer →HST applies to new home construction and newly built homes in Ontario but not to re-sales of existing residential properties. When you buy a brand-new…
Read the full answer →This is a genuinely technical question under the federal Excise Tax Act, and the answer depends heavily on the specific circumstances of the sale…
Read the full answer →Largely, yes, for the residential unit itself. A new residential condominium unit is generally subject to the same HST new-housing rules whether it…
Read the full answer →Possibly, and this is genuinely a fact-specific question rather than a simple yes or no. Whether HST applies to a real property purchase under the…
Read the full answer →Self-assessing HST means the buyer, rather than the seller, calculates and remits the HST owing on a commercial property purchase directly to the…
Read the full answer →Potentially, yes, through a doctrine related to but distinct from an easement of necessity, sometimes described as an implied easement from prior use,…
Read the full answer →A buyer who relied on a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment that turns out to have missed an obvious, discoverable issue may have a claim against the…
Read the full answer →An individual heritage designation applies to a single property, identifying specific heritage attributes of that particular building or site that…
Read the full answer →Owning an industrial or commercial condominium unit means owning your specific unit, typically the interior space, while a condominium corporation owns…
Read the full answer →Yes. When you buy a commercial plaza, you generally step into the seller's shoes as landlord under every existing lease, whether you've read the fine…
Read the full answer →Your lender generally requires proof of adequate property insurance before releasing mortgage funds, so a lapsed binder on closing morning can directly…
Read the full answer →A property's stigmatized history, such as a past death, a former grow operation, or other reputational issue, is generally distinct from what an…
Read the full answer →Insurers generally treat a multi-unit rental building as a different kind of risk than a single owner-occupied home, and a standard homeowner policy is…
Read the full answer →In some meaningful ways, yes. Because you own the home but not the land it sits on, your insurance generally needs to cover the structure itself, your…
Read the full answer →Insuring a vacant property before closing generally takes more advance planning than arranging a standard homeowner's policy, since many insurers treat…
Read the full answer →Generally no, at least not for the full amount. Interac e-Transfers carry daily and per-transaction limits set by your bank that are far below what a…
Read the full answer →In Ontario, interest earned on money sitting in a standard, pooled lawyer's trust account generally does not belong to the individual client; it is…
Read the full answer →Generally yes, at least in the first instance. Interest for a delayed closing is usually calculated on a per diem basis for each day between the…
Read the full answer →The interest rate differential (IRD) is the prepayment penalty most commonly applied when you break a fixed-rate mortgage before the end of its term.…
Read the full answer →An interim control bylaw is a tool available to Ontario municipalities under the Planning Act that temporarily restricts land uses within a defined…
Read the full answer →General student status on its own is not one of the core, broadly recognized NRST exemption categories - the more reliable pathways are being nominated…
Read the full answer →The "irrevocable until" clause in an Ontario offer is the deadline by which the seller must accept, reject, or counter-sign your offer. During that…
Read the full answer →A joint tenancy can be broken — "severed" — at any point before a co-owner dies, converting it into a tenancy in common. Severance matters because it…
Read the full answer →When two or more people buy a property together in Ontario, they must decide how to hold title. The two main options are joint tenancy and tenants in…
Read the full answer →Generally, it goes straight to the surviving joint owner and doesn't form part of the deceased's estate at all. That's the core feature of a joint…
Read the full answer →Joint-venture rent-to-own arrangements often blend an investment partnership between the parties with what is, in substance, a residential tenancy for…
Read the full answer →Part X of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 recognizes that closing a land-lease community affects residents differently than ending an ordinary…
Read the full answer →Closing a land-lease or mobile home community isn't as simple as an operator deciding to end the tenancies. Because residents own homes that can be…
Read the full answer →Generally, the operator, since they own the land. Property tax on the underlying land in a land-lease or mobile home community is assessed against the…
Read the full answer →Largely, yes, but with some community-specific differences. Site fees in a land-lease or mobile home community are generally treated as rent under Part…
Read the full answer →Generally, an operator's role in a resale is meant to be limited to reasonably approving the incoming resident as the new site tenant, not controlling…
Read the full answer →You own the physical home itself outright — the structure you buy and can sell, insure, and pass on like any other significant personal asset. What you…
Read the full answer →Yes, Ontario charges a fee to register the transfer of a property through the Teranet electronic land registration system. This is a government fee…
Read the full answer →Ontario land transfer tax (LTT) is calculated using a sliding scale based on the purchase price of the property. The rate increases as the price rises,…
Read the full answer →Land transfer tax in Ontario is not typically shown as a line item on the statement of adjustments. The statement of adjustments is a document that…
Read the full answer →Land transfer tax and title are closely connected in Ontario even though they are different things. The land transfer tax (LTT) is a provincial tax…
Read the full answer →Yes, some Ontario municipalities require landlords of certain rental properties, often multi-unit buildings specifically, to hold a rental licence…
Read the full answer →An ongoing Landlord and Tenant Board proceeding generally does not stop or restart simply because the property changes hands partway through; the new…
Read the full answer →The Law Society of Ontario maintains a compensation fund intended to provide relief where a client suffers a loss because of the dishonesty of their…
Read the full answer →Yes, and this is generally what your lawyer should do. Having the money ready is only part of what makes a closing complete; your lawyer also needs the…
Read the full answer →After a real estate closing in Ontario, your lawyer should provide you with a trust ledger statement — sometimes called a closing statement or…
Read the full answer →When a member leaves a non-profit housing co-op, they generally get back the membership share or initial deposit they originally paid to join, as set…
Read the full answer →Real estate legal fees in Ontario are charged by the lawyer you retain to handle your closing. Fees vary between firms, deal types, and deal…
Read the full answer →Yes, this is one of the more common ways legal non-conforming use status is lost. The protection generally exists only so long as the non-conforming…
Read the full answer →Generally, no, not without separate approval. Legal non-conforming use status protects the use as it actually existed at the time the zoning bylaw…
Read the full answer →Generally, yes. Ontario's planning framework recognizes what's often called "legal non-conforming use," meaning a use that was lawfully established…
Read the full answer →Lenders financing rural or commercial property often require an environmental assessment because contamination and environmental liability can…
Read the full answer →Banks operate on internal daily processing windows for outgoing and incoming wires, and funds sent after that day's cutoff generally will not actually…
Read the full answer →Not directly, and this is a common point of confusion. A mortgagee exercising power of sale generally owes a duty to take reasonable steps to obtain a…
Read the full answer →If the lender's lawyer withdraws or delays acting on mortgage instructions, your mortgage funds are effectively unavailable for closing, even though…
Read the full answer →Links go to the official consolidated text. Legislation changes — confirm you are reading the current version.
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