What Ontario law makes a seller disclose, what stays buyer-beware, and how to answer questions without creating a claim.
⚖️ This is general information, not legal advice. It can't account for your specific situation. Use it to get oriented, then confirm the details with a licensed Ontario lawyer.
Ontario still runs on caveat emptor: the buyer is expected to inspect and to ask. But the rule has hard edges. A seller who knows about a hidden defect that makes the home unsafe or unfit to live in, who covers a problem up so an inspector will miss it, or who gives a wrong answer to a direct question can be sued after closing. This checklist separates the must-disclose items from the should-disclose items and from the things you may keep to yourself. Use it before you list, and again before you sign any written statement about the property.
Must disclose: known latent defects
- A defect you know about that cannot be found by a reasonable inspection and that makes the home dangerous or unfit to live in: structural failure, a foundation that lets water in, an unsafe electrical system, serious mould behind finished walls.
- A defect you know about that makes the home unfit for the buyer's stated purpose, where the buyer has told you what they plan to do with it.
- Any step you took to cover a problem up. Painting over water stains or boxing in a cracked beam turns a silent seller into a liable one.
- A former grow-op or drug lab, if you know of it. Buyers, lenders and insurers treat this as material, and concealing it has been treated as misrepresentation.
Must answer honestly: direct questions and written statements
- Any question the buyer or their agent asks you directly. You may decline to answer; you may not answer falsely.
- Every line of a Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS) if you choose to complete one. It is optional in Ontario, and once signed it becomes a representation the buyer can rely on.
- Warranties and representations written into the agreement of purchase and sale, for example that the basement has never flooded or that all work was permitted.
- Information your listing agent has. Under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, a registrant must disclose material facts they know, so telling your agent is not the same as keeping something private.
Should disclose: it protects the deal, not only the buyer
- Unpermitted renovations and open building permits. The buyer's lawyer often finds these anyway, and an open permit can hold up a closing.
- Rental contracts that stay with the house (water heater, furnace, water softener, alarm) and whether they can be assumed or bought out.
- Past insurance claims, especially for water and fire, since the buyer's insurer will see them.
- Older-home materials: knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring, asbestos, vermiculite, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, an underground oil tank. Insurers and lenders ask about all of them.
- Well and septic history on a rural property, including the last pump-out and any water tests.
- Boundary questions, easements and encroachments you are aware of, and whether you hold a survey.
Usually not required: patent defects and stigma
- Patent defects, meaning anything a careful buyer or inspector can see: worn shingles, a cracked driveway, an old furnace. The buyer's job is to look.
- A death in the home, in most cases. Ontario has no statute requiring it. If asked, answer truthfully; if a death is well known locally, ask your lawyer whether silence is wise.
- Neighbourhood matters such as noise, planned development or a difficult neighbour. Generally not a legal duty, and again, do not misstate if asked.
- Your reasons for selling and your bottom line. Those are yours to keep.
How to disclose safely
- Put it in writing, once, before the offer. A disclosure in the listing or attached to the agreement is far stronger than a remark at a showing.
- Attach the paperwork: permits, invoices, reports, warranties. A documented repair is a strength, not a confession.
- Ask your lawyer to word any representation narrowly and accurately, and to pair the sale with an entire-agreement clause so pre-contract conversation does not become a term.
- Consider an as-is clause for a known problem you will not fix. It limits, but does not erase, liability for what you know and do not say.
How Treadstone Law can help
Disclosure is less about confessing and more about matching the buyer's picture of the home to the real thing. A seller who documents what they know rarely hears from the buyer again. A seller who guesses, or stays quiet about a danger, sometimes hears from a lawyer instead.
Treadstone Law handles real estate matters on a transparent flat fee, with online intake and a real lawyer on your file, across Ontario.
- Start your file online at treadstonelaw.ca/start-file
- See flat-fee pricing at treadstonelaw.ca/pricing
- Learn more about our real estate services at treadstonelaw.ca/real-estate
- Or call us: 1-844-900-1070
This is not legal advice
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Ontario laws and government programs change, and how the law applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, speak with a licensed Ontario lawyer. Treadstone Law is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario — reach us at 1-844-900-1070 or start a file online.