A closing date is a contract term. Neither side can change it alone. If your deal needs more time, the extension has to be agreed and signed by both the buyer and the seller, and the amendment has to deal with the cost of the delay, not just the new date.
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The agreement of purchase and sale fixes the completion date, and neither party can change it alone. A buyer whose lender is slow and a seller whose own purchase collapsed are in the same position: they need the other side's signature. What moves a closing date is a written <strong>amendment</strong>, signed by everyone who signed the original agreement, including a spouse who signed only to consent to the sale of a matrimonial home under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90f03">Family Law Act</a>.
An amendment is not a waiver and not a notice of fulfilment. A waiver removes a condition inserted for your benefit. A notice of fulfilment confirms a condition has been satisfied. An amendment changes a term both parties agreed to: date, price, chattels, possession. Agents exchanging messages about a possible new date changes nothing until the amendment is signed and delivered.
Ask your lender before you agree to anything. Mortgage commitments and rate holds expire, and a new date can mean re-approval, fresh income documents, an updated appraisal, or a different rate. Lenders also need lead time to send funds. A date the lawyers can meet but the lender cannot is not an extension, it is a second missed closing.
Delays travel. If you are selling and buying on the same day, moving one closing without the other leaves you either without a home or carrying two mortgages. Every deal in the chain needs its own signed amendment, and the party at the far end has no obligation to co-operate. Bridge financing is often the faster fix, and your lender will want the signed amendment first.
Nearly every Ontario agreement of purchase and sale says time is of the essence. Deadlines are then strict. A party who is not ready to complete on the closing date is in breach, and the other side can terminate and sue. There is no grace period, no reasonable-efforts standard, and no obligation to accept the money a day late.
The clause has limits, and it cuts both ways. A party who is not ready itself cannot enforce it against the other. If the day passes and neither side tenders, the strict deadline falls away, and a party who wants it back has to give reasonable notice fixing a new date. That is why lawyers tender: it settles on the record who was ready and who was not.
Tendering means being ready, willing and able on the day, with funds available, documents executed and the discharge or keys in hand, and formally offering to complete. Ontario closings run through electronic registration under a document registration agreement, so tender is now an exchange between lawyers rather than a meeting. It still has to be done properly if the file may end up in court.
If the buyer walks away, the deposit is usually forfeited and the seller can resell and sue for the shortfall plus carrying costs. The deposit is not a ceiling on damages. If the seller cannot close, the buyer can claim damages, an abatement where the problem is fixable, or specific performance where the property is genuinely unique. All of it is slower and dearer than an extension.
The party who needs the extra time normally pays for it. The other side is being asked to carry a property, hold movers, or delay their own closing. Working out early what you are willing to offer is more productive than arguing about whose fault the delay is. Sellers who refuse every extension often end up litigating instead of closing.
Terms that recur in Ontario extension amendments: interest on the unpaid balance at a stated daily rate, reimbursement of the seller's carrying costs such as mortgage interest, taxes, insurance and utilities, an additional deposit, storage and accommodation costs, and a firm new date with time of the essence expressly reinstated. Vague amendments simply produce a second dispute.
Everything on the statement of adjustments is recalculated to the new date: realty taxes, utilities, condominium common expenses, fuel in the tank, and rent and rent deposits if the property is tenanted. If the extension crosses a tax instalment or a month end, the numbers change. Your lawyer reissues the statement rather than correcting it by hand on the day.
Put the whole arrangement in the amendment. A side agreement by email about who pays the seller's interest is exactly the thing that gets litigated later. We quote a flat fee for residential real estate work, currently $1,354.87 with taxes included, so a delay does not start a meter running. See <a href="/pricing">pricing</a>, or the <a href="/real-estate">real estate</a> overview.
No. A closing date can only be changed by an amendment both parties sign. If the other side refuses, you either close on time, or you fail to close and face the consequences of breach. That is why the request should go out as early as possible, with a specific new date and a specific offer of compensation attached.
You are in breach. A buyer normally forfeits the deposit, and the seller can resell and sue for any shortfall plus carrying costs. A seller who fails to close can be sued for damages or, where the property is unique, for specific performance. The deal does not automatically end on the closing date; the innocent party chooses whether to terminate or press for completion.
It can. Commitments and rate holds have expiry dates, and lenders often re-verify employment, income and sometimes value before funding a delayed closing. Some lenders will honour the rate, others will not. Speak to your lender or broker before you sign the amendment, and give them the signed document as soon as it exists.
Whatever the amendment says. There is no statutory formula. The usual starting point is that the party asking for the extension covers the other side's out-of-pocket costs: mortgage interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, storage and accommodation, often expressed as a daily amount. If the amendment is silent, expect an argument once the file closes.
Yes, and it happens often. Registration and funds transfer have to be completed within the registry system's business hours, so lawyers frequently agree to complete later the same day, sometimes on an escrow basis with a written undertaking. If funds will not arrive at all that day, a same-day extension only postpones the problem.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.