What Time Does Closing Happen in Ontario? Registration Deadlines

Many buyers and sellers picture closing as a handshake at a set hour. In Ontario it works differently. The real event is the registration of the transfer, and the hour that matters is the one your lawyer tells you.

This article explains how registration, funds and keys fit together on closing day. Specific cut-off times are not set out in one rule, so you will need to confirm them for your own deal.

Closing is a registration event

Electronic registration is mandatory in Ontario, except for complex registrations, and land transfer tax statements are completed as part of the electronic transfer. Only authorized Teraview account holders and their registered users, such as lawyers and conveyancers, can create and submit documents in the system.

That means you do not register the transfer yourself.

Land transfer tax is payable on every conveyance tendered for registration, and it must be paid when the conveyance is tendered for registration or before then. So the tax can be paid earlier than the registration, but not later than when the transfer is tendered for registration.

Where cut-off times come from

There is no single clock time for closing that applies to every Ontario deal. The time usually depends on the agreement of purchase and sale, and on what your lender and the other side's lawyer need to do before release.

• Your agreement of purchase and sale may name a closing date and a time, or leave the time to be worked out by the lawyers.
• Your lender may need to send mortgage funds to your lawyer before the transfer can be registered.
• The other lawyer must be ready to deliver documents and receive funds in the same window.

Because these details vary, ask your lawyer early in the week of closing for the time by which you must have your money in place and signed documents returned.

How funds move on closing day

A lawyer or paralegal in Ontario may not accept more than $7,500 in cash for any one client file, including on the purchase or sale of real property. In practice, closing funds are delivered by non-cash methods. Limited exceptions exist, such as cash received to pay a fine, a penalty or bail, but they are not what ordinary closings rely on.

The fee to register an instrument electronically, such as a transfer or a discharge of charge, is $85.00 effective November 3, 2025. It is made up of a $71.55 statutory fee, an $11.90 ELRSA fee and $1.55 HST. Check with your lawyer, since fees can change.

If a brokerage holds the buyer's deposit in trust, it first deducts the commission owing. The balance owing to the seller may be released only when the transaction is completed, or with the mutual written consent of both parties.

When keys are actually released

When and how you receive the keys depends on your agreement of purchase and sale and on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer. Closing day does not always mean you will have the keys at a particular hour.

Your agreement of purchase and sale may also say when the buyer takes possession. If you need to move in at a particular hour, raise it with your realtor and lawyer well before closing so the arrangement is written down.

What to do next

• Ask your lawyer for the time by which funds and signed documents must be in place.
• Confirm how your closing funds will be delivered, using non-cash methods.
• Check when your agreement says possession and key release happen.
• Plan movers and utilities for after you hear that registration is complete.
• Keep your phone on during the day in case your lawyer needs a quick decision.

Frequently asked questions