What happens on the day my mortgage closes?

Signing before the money moves

A few days before closing you sign the mortgage, a statement of the amount and terms, and any undertakings the lender's instructions require, such as proof of home insurance naming the lender as loss payee. Bring two pieces of government identification; the lender's instructions set out anything else needed for your particular file.

If you are buying and financing at the same time, this happens alongside the purchase signing, usually in the same appointment.

Registering the charge

Ontario mortgages are registered electronically as a charge against the property in the land registration system operated with Teranet. Registration establishes the lender's priority against the property and against other creditors, which is why we confirm what is already registered before adding a new charge.

For a purchase, the new charge registers at the same time as the transfer to you. For a refinance, it registers against a property you already own, sometimes alongside the discharge of the mortgage it replaces.

Meeting the lender's final conditions

Lenders commonly require final conditions satisfied before releasing funds: a current property tax certificate, proof of insurance, confirmation there are no undisclosed liens, and, on a purchase, confirmation the sale itself is closing. We report title to the lender in the form its instructions require, called a solicitor's opinion, before it will fund.

Anything unusual on title, an old mortgage, an execution or an easement, needs to be dealt with before this report can be given without qualification.

When the money actually arrives

For a purchase, the lender's funds are combined with your own money in trust and paid to the seller's lawyer on closing, and the charge registers as part of the same transaction. For a refinance, funds are usually advanced once the discharge of any existing mortgage is arranged and the new charge is registered, with any surplus paid to you.

Delays on either side, an unregistered discharge, a missing document, can push the actual advance to the next business day.