Guides & explainers
Short, practical reads on the questions that come up most in Ontario real estate and corporate law. Search or filter by topic below, or if you just have a quick question, see our FAQ.
Residential
Buying your first home in Ontario
An accepted offer is the start of the work, not the end. Your conditions are your way out until the deal goes firm, then the closing date is a hard commitment because time is of the essence. Send your lawyer the signed agreement early so we can search title, handle the mortgage, and claim your first-time buyer rebate before closing day, not after.
Read moreWhat happens if you can't close on time
Missing a closing date is serious, because time is usually of the essence, and your deposit and the other side's losses are real exposure. But most short delays come from ordinary timing problems and get fixed with a signed extension when both sides still want the deal. The thing that decides whether your delay becomes a breach is how early you raise it. Call your lawyer the moment a date might slip.
Read moreDeposits: what you get back and what you don't
Your deposit is part of your purchase price, not a refundable fee. If a conditional deal falls through properly, you generally get it back. If you default on a firm deal, you can lose all of it, and the law does not make the seller prove a matching loss. Protect yourself with conditions, respect their deadlines, and be certain before you go firm.
Read moreBuying a home with a tenant in it
A tenant is not a dealbreaker, but it changes the deal. If you want to move in, the seller has to deliver vacant possession, and lawfully ending a tenancy for your own use takes time, notice, and compensation. If you are keeping the tenant, you inherit the lease, the rent rules, and the deposit. Decide which path you are on before you make your offer.
Read moreJoint tenants vs. tenants in common
How you hold title with someone else decides what happens when one of you dies. Joint tenancy means the survivor automatically takes the whole property, outside the will. Tenants in common means each owner has a share that passes through their own estate. Couples usually choose the first, co-buyers and investors often the second. Make it a deliberate decision, not an accident.
Read moreSelling a home: a plain-language closing checklist
The seller's side is quieter than the buyer's, but it has its own critical path. Discharging your mortgage is the one thing that genuinely goes wrong when ignored, because lenders can be slow, so start it the moment your deal is firm. Keep your insurance until closing, settle the adjustments, and leave the home in the agreed condition with everything that was included.
Read moreRefinancing or switching lenders
Refinancing is legal work because it changes what is registered against your home: the old mortgage comes off title and the new one goes on, and the new lender will not advance funds until it is confident of its priority. Before you commit, get the full cost picture, especially any penalty for breaking your current mortgage, so the savings are real once everything is counted.
Read moreHST on new and substantially renovated homes
Buying a used home from an ordinary seller? HST generally does not apply. New or substantially renovated housing from a builder or corporation? It generally does, rebates may reduce it, and the rules are technical and change often. A corporate seller cannot use the personal owner-builder treatment. Because the figures move, confirm the current numbers with us and a tax advisor before you commit.
Read moreGuaranteeing a family member's mortgage: what you're really taking on
A guarantee is not a signature of support, it is real financial liability. Depending on the wording, the lender can pursue you for the whole debt without first chasing the borrower or selling the house, the commitment can outlast your expectations, and if you pledged your own home, that home is at risk. Find out whether you are a guarantor or a co-signer, and get your own advice before you sign.
Read moreChanging title: family transfers & after a death
Adding or removing someone from title
Changing who is on title is a transfer of an interest in land, not a formality. Even with no sale, an assumed mortgage can trigger land transfer tax, you usually need the lender's consent, and adding a child or removing an ex carries tax and family-law consequences that go well beyond the title step. Removing someone from title does not remove them from the mortgage. Get advice first.
Read moreDoes your mortgage lender need to know about a title change?
Usually yes, and it is consent you need, not just a courtesy notice. Standard mortgage terms generally prohibit transferring title without the lender's prior written consent, and doing it anyway is typically a default that can let the lender call the whole loan due. This holds even for transfers between family, and removing a name from title never, on its own, removes that person from the mortgage.
Read moreGifting property to a child or family member
A gift of property is generous but rarely simple. A true gift with no mortgage generally escapes land transfer tax, but an assumed mortgage is taxable consideration, the gift can expose the home to the recipient's creditors and marriage breakdown, it can affect your principal-residence tax position, and it is usually irreversible. First be clear whether you want a present gift or an estate-planning step with a better tool.
Read moreTransferring your home into (or out of) a family trust or holding company
Moving your home into a trust or corporation is a genuine conveyance. It can trigger land transfer tax on any assumed mortgage, disturb the principal-residence treatment that shelters the gain on your home, and needs your lender's consent, all on top of real setup and ongoing cost. It can be the right call for the right goal, but only once the real cost is priced against the benefit.
Read moreTransferring title when a joint owner dies
When a joint tenant dies, the home usually passes to the surviving owner automatically, and clearing the deceased's name is a simple registration step with no probate and, in the ordinary case, no land transfer tax. The one thing that must be checked first is that the joint tenancy was still intact at death. The mortgage does not die with the owner, and has to be dealt with.
Read moreTransferring title when the home passes through the estate
When a home does not pass by survivorship, because the owner was the sole owner or a tenant in common, it moves through the estate, and that almost always requires probate before title can be transferred or the home sold. Once the estate trustee's authority is confirmed, they can transfer the home to a beneficiary or sell it. Expect this route to take months, not weeks.
Read moreWhy clearing title after a death takes time, and what can hold it up
How long it takes to clear title after a death depends almost entirely on one thing: whether the home passes by survivorship (usually weeks) or through the estate (usually months, because of probate). The common delays, obtaining probate, dealing with the mortgage, a missing survey, coordinating several beneficiaries, are mostly manageable if tackled early. The first useful step is finding out which track you are on.
Read moreResidential & commercial
Condo status certificates, explained
Buying a condo means buying into the corporation that runs it, and its finances become partly yours. The status certificate shows the condo fees, the reserve fund, any looming special assessment, and the rules on pets and rentals. Your offer should give your lawyer time to review it. The most common avoidable problem is a certificate that arrives too late to act on.
Read moreConditional offers, explained
Conditions let you commit now while keeping a way out if financing, the inspection, or the condo documents do not work out. The protection is real, but it lives and dies by the deadlines, and once a condition is waived it is gone for good. Manage the dates, get extensions in writing before they pass, and never waive a condition until you are actually satisfied.
Read moreTitle insurance in plain English
Title insurance protects your ownership, looking backward as well as forward, including against title fraud, which is a growing problem. What it does not cover catches people out: it is not a warranty on the condition of the house, so it is no substitute for a home inspection. It is a one-time cost at closing that protects you for as long as you own the property.
Read moreEasements, rights of way, and encroachments
These words sound alarming and are often routine. An easement gives someone a defined right to use part of your land, a right of way is about passage, and an encroachment is a structure crossing a boundary. Most surface on title or a survey and never affect daily life. They matter most when you want to build, rely on an access right, or suspect a structure is over the line.
Read moreThe HST rebate you don't qualify for can still raise your land transfer tax
On a new build, HST is not part of the price for land transfer tax, but a rebate amount your builder keeps is. If you do not qualify and the builder charges it back to you on closing, land transfer tax, Toronto's municipal tax, and the Non-Resident Speculation Tax all apply to the higher figure. Before assuming you are ineligible, check the 2026 enhanced rebate, which now covers far more buyers.
Read moreCommercial
Signing a commercial lease
The rent you are quoted is rarely what you actually pay once additional rent for taxes, maintenance, and insurance is added. The terms that shape your business for years are the additional rent, the renewal and exit rights, the landlord's own rights to terminate or relocate you, and the personal guarantee. Negotiate before you sign, because once the landlord has your signature, your leverage is gone.
Read moreCommercial vs. residential leases: why the rules are different
The strong tenant protections you know from renting an apartment mostly vanish in a commercial lease. The lease is the rulebook, the landlord's remedies on default are faster and stronger, disputes go to court rather than a tenant-friendly tribunal, and you are generally bound for the full term. That makes careful negotiation and a proper review before signing far more important than first-time business tenants expect.
Read moreBuying commercial real estate through a holding company: when it helps and when it doesn't
A holding company can isolate liability across properties, ease financing and joint ventures, separate a valuable property from an operating business, and open up succession planning. It is often not worth it for a single small hold, or where a hoped-for tax benefit was never confirmed, or where lenders require personal guarantees anyway. Decide before you buy, because moving a property in later can trigger Land Transfer Tax.
Read moreCorporate
Provincial vs. federal incorporation
For most Ontario businesses operating mainly here, provincial incorporation is simpler and usually enough. Federal makes sense if you plan to operate across provinces or want stronger national name protection, but it does not get you out of registering in Ontario anyway. Incorporate for the business you are actually building, because changing the structure later is more work than getting it right the first time.
Read moreWhy a shareholder agreement matters
If you own a company with anyone else, this is the document that decides what happens when things change, and things always change. It sorts out how decisions get made, what happens when an owner leaves, dies, or wants out, and how disputes get broken. Write it while everyone is still getting along. That neutrality is impossible to recreate once there is a fight.
Read moreShould you incorporate at all?
Incorporation gives you a real but partial liability shield, potential tax advantages that depend entirely on your numbers, and a cleaner structure for growth, at the cost of more money and administration. It is often the right move, but not automatically, and not on day one for every business. Two people should weigh in before you decide: a lawyer on the structure, an accountant on the tax.
Read moreDirectors' and officers' personal liability
Incorporation protects directors from a lot, but not everything. The law makes directors personally responsible for certain obligations, above all unpaid employee wages and unremitted source deductions and HST, and sometimes environmental and other liabilities. The practical takeaways are simple: keep your remittances current, pay attention to your duties, and get advice early when a business starts to struggle.
Read moreBuying or selling a business: asset deal vs. share deal
A share deal transfers the whole company, history and liabilities included, and often suits the seller for tax reasons. An asset deal lets the buyer take the good parts and leave the liabilities behind, and often suits the buyer. That opposition is exactly why structuring a sale is a negotiation, not a formality. Get legal and tax advice before you commit to a structure.
Read moreYour minute book and why it matters
Your minute book is the official proof of who owns your corporation, who runs it, and what it has decided, and keeping it current is a legal obligation, not optional housekeeping. A neglected one rarely bites on a quiet Tuesday. It bites when you try to sell, finance, or bring in a partner, as delay and expense at the worst moment. Set it up properly and keep it current.
Read moreThe transparency register: what Ontario and federal corporations must keep
If you own a private corporation, you are very likely required to keep a register of the individuals who really control it, with sensitive details like date of birth kept current. Many owners do not know the obligation exists. And if your corporation is federal, the rules go further: you have to file the information with the government, and some of it is made public. Confirm which rules apply to you.
Read moreBringing on a co-owner or investor
Sharing ownership means either issuing new shares, which dilutes everyone, or transferring existing ones. Either way, understand the dilution and the valuation before you agree, and get the documents, above all a shareholder agreement, in place before any money or shares move. If you are raising money from investors, securities law may be in play. Done in the right order, this strengthens the business.
Read moreCommercial contracts: the boilerplate that actually bites
The clauses that look like standard filler, indemnities, limitation of liability, governing law, termination, are exactly where a contract decides who carries the risk. They control what you owe when things go wrong, how much you can recover, where you have to fight about it, and whether you can get out. Read the back half of the contract, or have it read, before you sign.
Read morePersonal guarantees: what you're really signing
A personal guarantee makes you personally responsible for your company's debts and deliberately bypasses the protection of incorporating. They hide in leases, loans, and even supplier credit applications, and they are negotiable far more often than people assume. The goal is to know when you are signing one and to limit it in amount, time, and scope. Read before you sign, and ask.
Read moreWinding up or dissolving a corporation
Closing a company is a process, not an act of neglect. "I'll just stop filing" leaves liabilities open and can let the company be revived to pursue claims. Pay or provide for every liability, including tax, before distributing anything to the owners, because doing it in the wrong order can leave you personally exposed. Involve your accountant on the tax side and do it deliberately.
Read moreShareholder agreement vs. unanimous shareholder agreement
They sound the same and are not. An ordinary shareholder agreement is a contract among the owners and leaves the directors running the company. A unanimous shareholder agreement can lawfully take powers away from the directors and give them to the shareholders, and the matching liability moves with the power. It binds future shareholders too. Most owners need the first; the second is a deliberate, advice-driven choice.
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