Almost every Ontario closing now includes title insurance, and most buyers sign for it without being told that there are two policies, that only one of them protects them, and that the one the lender insists on protects the lender.
Our charges include applicable taxes. Disbursements are extra and billed at cost — itemized upfront, in writing, never hidden.
From $1,354.87 taxes included
Two policies get issued on a typical purchase with a mortgage. The lender's policy protects the lender, up to the amount of the loan, and it ends when the mortgage is discharged. The owner's policy protects you, in the amount of the purchase price, and it lasts as long as you or your estate hold an interest in the property. You pay for both of them.
On a refinance, only a lender's policy is issued. Homeowners often assume they are covered because they saw a title insurance charge on the statement — they are not. If you have never bought an owner's policy, you can still buy one on a property you already own, without a sale or a refinance, and it is worth getting priced.
The premium is paid once, on closing, and is based on the value of the property. There is no renewal, no annual bill and no deductible on the standard residential policies. Coverage does not rise as the home appreciates, though some policies build in a limited escalation. Nothing about the policy passes to a buyer when you sell — they buy their own.
Ontario land is registered under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90l05">Land Titles Act</a>, which carries a government guarantee of registered title and an assurance fund behind it. That guarantee is real, but it is narrow and slow. Title insurance exists because a contract with an insurer that has a duty to defend you produces an answer in months rather than in years.
A title search tells you what is registered. It cannot tell you that the previous owner built a deck over the lot line, that the city has an open work order on the property, that the basement apartment was never permitted, or that a discharge sitting on title was forged by someone. Those are the losses title insurance was designed to answer.
The standard owner's policy responds to defects in title, undischarged mortgages and liens, unregistered easements and rights of way, encroachments in either direction, lack of legal access to a public road, municipal work orders and open permits outstanding at closing, realty tax and utility arrears from before your ownership, and existing structures that breach the zoning by-law.
It also covers title fraud after closing — someone forging a transfer or a mortgage against your property while you own it. That coverage matters more than all the rest combined for owners who have paid off their mortgage, rent the property out, or live abroad for part of the year, because in those cases nobody is watching the register.
The insurer's duty to defend is the underrated part of the policy. If a neighbour sues over a boundary, the insurer takes on the cost of defending your title, which in practice is worth more than the eventual payout. Notify the insurer promptly when something surfaces; the policies require it, and paying your own lawyer first can prejudice the claim.
Title insurance does not cover the condition of the building. A failing roof, a cracked foundation, knob-and-tube wiring or a furnace at the end of its life are inspection problems, not title problems. It also does not cover environmental contamination in most cases, and it does not cover a defect you knew about and accepted before you closed.
It does not cover what happens after closing either. If the municipality rezones your street, expropriates part of the frontage, or issues an order about work you did yourself, that is yours to deal with. Anything you created, agreed to or assumed is excluded under every policy on the market, which is exactly why what you tell your lawyer before closing matters.
The policy pays; it does not fix. If a neighbour's garage sits three feet onto your land, the insurer's obligation is to compensate you for the loss in value or to defend the claim — not to move the garage. If what you actually want is the land, you need a lawsuit, and the policy funds that fight rather than replacing it.
None of this replaces the title search. We still search title, read the parcel register and the plans behind it, check executions, order tax and utility certificates, and raise requisitions with the seller's lawyer, because making a seller fix a problem before closing is cheaper than claiming on a policy after. Our flat residential fee of $1,354.87, taxes included, covers that work — see <a href="/pricing">pricing</a>.
No law requires it, but effectively every institutional lender requires a lender's policy as a condition of funding, so the charge appears on almost every closing. The owner's policy is optional and separately priced. Declining it is a decision worth making deliberately and in writing, rather than by simply never being asked the question.
It removes the need for one in order to close, which is why surveys became rare in Ontario residential deals. It does not tell you where your boundary is. If you plan to build a fence, an addition or a pool, or if the lot line materially affects what you are willing to pay, order a current survey anyway.
Yes. Existing homeowner policies are sold without a purchase or a refinance, and they cover the same fraud, encroachment and work-order risks. They are most useful for owners with no mortgage registered on title, since a clear title is the easiest target for a fraudulent charge and nobody is monitoring the register for you.
No. A lender's policy pays the lender for its loss on its loan, and the insurer may then pursue the borrower for what it paid out. It gives you nothing as an owner. If the only title insurance on your file was the one your mortgage lender required, you are uninsured, and a separate owner's policy is what fixes that.
You notify the insurer in writing with the policy number, the title documents and whatever triggered it — a letter from the city, a neighbour's demand, a statement of claim. The insurer then decides whether to defend, resolve or pay. Do not spend money fixing the problem before you report it, because unauthorized costs are usually not reimbursed.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.