Find a Real Estate Lawyer in Canada

An electronic transfer of land must include legal statements from the seller's lawyer, and in an ordinary sale from the buyer's lawyer as well, and only a person entitled to practise law in Ontario as a solicitor may make them. Land bought or sold by the Crown, a Crown agency or a municipality, and transfers of easements, are the exceptions.

Provincial land transfer tax is 0.5 per cent up to $55,000, 1 per cent to $250,000, 1.5 per cent to $400,000 and 2 per cent above that. Where the land has one or two single family homes, another 0.5 per cent applies to the part above $2 million. Buying in Toronto adds a second, municipal tax, set out on our Toronto real estate page.

A first-time buyer can recover up to $4,000 of the provincial tax, which means no tax on the first $368,000. The buyer must be at least 18, a citizen or permanent resident (or become one within 18 months), never have owned a home anywhere in the world, have a spouse, including a qualifying common-law partner, who has not owned one while in the relationship, move in within nine months, and apply within 18 months.

Unless an exemption applies, foreign nationals, foreign corporations and some trustees buying a home anywhere in Ontario (land with one to six single family homes) pay a non-resident speculation tax on top of the land transfer tax. The rate has been 25 per cent since 25 October 2022.

Since 1 January 2023, federal law has prohibited most non-Canadians from buying residential property in Canada's census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, with exceptions that include buying with a spouse or common-law partner who is a citizen or permanent resident. Under the law as it stands, the ban is repealed on 1 January 2027, so check the position on the day you sign.

When you buy a unit from the developer, you can rescind by written notice that the developer receives within 10 days of the latest of three dates: receiving the disclosure statement, the condominium guide, or the signed agreement. The developer must refund your money with interest. This right does not apply to resale condos.

Whoever sells you a new home warrants workmanship, materials and Building Code compliance for one year; water penetration, the building envelope, the electrical, plumbing and heating distribution systems, exterior cladding and health and safety Code breaches for two years; and major structural defects for seven. These warranties apply despite any clause or waiver to the contrary.

A first-time buyer who is the first to live in a newly built home, bought as their primary residence under an agreement made after 19 March 2025 and before 2031, can recover up to $50,000 in total of the federal part of the HST where the price is $1 million or less, provided construction starts before 2031 and finishes before 2036. The rebate phases out between $1 million and $1.5 million.