Updated: April 2026
By Françoise Pollard, Realtor®, and Keith Goldson, Broker, Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team, eXp Realty Brokerage. We work with buyers across the GTA and Niagara Region. Part of that work is making sure clients understand their title search and title insurance before closing day, not after something goes wrong.
A title search in Ontario is one of the most important things your lawyer does between your accepted offer and closing day. It confirms the seller legally owns the property, identifies any liens or encumbrances registered against it, and ensures you receive clean title on closing. Your lawyer can resolve problems found before closing. Problems discovered after closing become your problem to solve.
How to approach title search as a buyer: Focus on whether your lawyer has enough time to complete the search and raise issues before closing. Confirm you have retained a real estate lawyer immediately after your offer is accepted, and do not assume that clean title is automatic. If something is found, your negotiating position exists before closing, not after.
On This Page
- The legal foundation of ownership
- How your lawyer conducts the search
- Off-title searches: what else gets checked
- Title insurance in Ontario
- When the search finds a problem
- When the title search happens in the buying timeline
- Why title search matters more than most buyers realise
- Three misconceptions buyers carry into closing
- Frequently asked questions
Title Search in Ontario: The Legal Foundation of Ownership
A title search in Ontario decides whether you own the property cleanly on closing day or inherit someone else’s problem. Most buyers treat it as a background process their lawyer handles. That works right up until something on title surfaces after closing that nobody caught before it, and by then the options for resolving it are narrower and more expensive.
The title search is the step buyers ignore until it costs them. By then, it is no longer their lawyer’s problem to solve. It is theirs.
For the full buying timeline and how the title search fits into the conditional period, see our complete guide to buying a home in Ontario. For what happens on the day your lawyer registers the transfer, see our guide to closing day in the GTA.
Title is the legal concept of ownership. When you purchase a property in Ontario, your lawyer registers the transfer of title through Ontario’s electronic land registry system, Teraview. Before that registration happens, your lawyer searches the existing title records to confirm exactly what you are receiving.
A clean title means the seller owns the property outright, with no debts secured against it and no other parties with registered claims. A title with issues means your lawyer must resolve something before you can take clean ownership. The title search is the process of finding out which situation you are in.
Your offer accepted is not your ownership confirmed. Those are two different events. A legal process most buyers never read sits between them.
How Your Lawyer Conducts the Title Search
When your lawyer conducts a title search in Ontario, they review the full chain of ownership going back through the property’s history. Your lawyer examines every document registered against the title. The goal is confirming nothing outstanding will transfer to you on closing.
The six items your lawyer is checking
| Issue | What it means for the buyer |
|---|---|
| Mortgage registered against title | Must be discharged by the seller at closing |
| Construction lien | Contractor or supplier has a claim on the property |
| Judgment lien | A court judgment registered as a debt against the property |
| Easement | A third party has a registered right to use part of the property |
| Restrictive covenant | A registered restriction on how the property can be used |
| Right of way | Another party has a registered right to cross the property |
Standard issues resolved at closing
Lawyers resolve most issues as a condition of closing. An existing mortgage gets discharged using the sale proceeds. The seller pays out or bonds over any construction liens. The seller must clear any judgment liens before delivering clean title. Easements and restrictive covenants registered on title transfer with the property. They become the buyer’s responsibility to understand and comply with.
Off-Title Searches: What Else Gets Checked
A title search in Ontario covers what the public land registry records for the property. Off-title searches cover everything that is not. These searches identify issues that could affect the property but would not appear in the title records.
Common off-title searches in Ontario
A tax certificate search confirms whether there are any outstanding property tax arrears. A zoning compliance search confirms the property’s permitted uses. A utility search identifies whether there are any outstanding amounts owing to utility providers that could affect title. In some municipalities, additional searches check for work orders, open permits, or local improvement charges.
Off-title searches are what catch the issues that sellers sometimes do not disclose or do not know about themselves. They catch what the title registry misses. That includes unpaid local improvement charges, open building permits from old renovations, and zoning violations affecting your planned use.
Title Insurance in Ontario
Title insurance protects against losses from title defects, fraud, and certain off-title issues not discovered before closing. Most Ontario buyers purchase title insurance through their lawyer at closing. Premiums typically range from $250 to $500 for an owner’s policy on a standard residential purchase, paid once at closing alongside the rest of your closing costs in Ontario, for coverage that lasts as long as you own the property. The two dominant title insurers in Ontario are Stewart Title and FCT (First Canadian Title), and your lawyer will usually recommend one based on the transaction.
Coverage title insurance provides
Title insurance covers losses from fraud, forgery, survey errors, zoning violations unknown at closing, and encroachments. It also covers the cost of defending your title if a claim arises after you take ownership. This matters in Ontario, where high-profile residential title fraud cases in the Greater Toronto Area over the past few years have underscored why this coverage is standard practice.
Coverage title insurance does not provide
Title insurance does not cover issues you knew about before closing or defects visible during an inspection. It is not a substitute for a proper title search. It does not cover environmental issues, certain indigenous land claims, or future zoning changes. Read the policy with your lawyer before closing to understand exactly what protection you have.
Title insurance is not a replacement for due diligence. It is a backstop for what due diligence misses.
When the Search Finds a Problem
Most title issues found during a search in Ontario are resolvable. The question is whether your lawyer can resolve them before your closing date and who bears responsibility.
Resolvable issues
An existing mortgage gets discharged at closing from the sale proceeds. The seller can bond over or pay out a construction lien. A judgment against the seller clears from the proceeds of sale. These are standard items. Lawyers handle them regularly without the deal falling apart.
Issues that affect the deal
Some title problems are more significant. Consider an easement that substantially limits how you can use the property. Consider a restrictive covenant that prevents the renovations you planned. Or an encroachment from a neighbouring property that nobody can resolve before closing. These situations require negotiation, a price adjustment, or a decision about whether to proceed at all. Your lawyer advises you on the options. The key is that your lawyer discovers them before you close, not after.
A real title issue from our files
We’ve Seen This Play Out
A couple retained us to sell their detached home in Oakville during one of the most contentious divorces we have handled. The husband had initiated the separation after months of quiet planning. His wife had no idea it was coming. By the time she retained her own lawyer and proceedings had started, the two of them could not communicate directly. Both were paying significant fees to separate divorce lawyers. We were one of the few people who could speak to both sides.
When the title search and off-title searches came back, they showed significant property tax arrears. The husband had stopped paying them. His wife had not been managing that side of the household finances and had no idea the debt existed. The husband, who had spent months organising his own financial position before filing, refused to contribute toward clearing it. He had planned his exit. The tax debt was not part of his plan.
Because they were still legally married and both on title, neither party could direct the other. Both divorce lawyers had to negotiate clearing the debt from the sale proceeds before either party received their share. It added time, legal cost, and stress to a closing that was already under strain. But the debt did not disappear because the house was sold. Clearing it was a condition of delivering clean title to the buyer. That is what the process is for. It finds what people do not disclose, do not know about, or quietly hope will not surface.
Not sure what your lawyer should be checking before closing?
We help buyers understand what matters in the title search process so issues are caught before they become your problem.
Start the conversationWhen the Title Search Happens in the Buying Timeline
Your lawyer begins the title search after receiving the accepted Agreement of Purchase and Sale. The search typically takes place during the conditional period, or immediately after waiver on a firm deal. Your lawyer needs enough time to complete the search, review the results, and raise any issues before closing.
This is why hiring a real estate lawyer promptly after an accepted offer matters. Waiting a week to retain a lawyer compresses the time available to resolve title issues before closing. For buyers managing the full purchase timeline for the first time, our first-time home buyer checklist walks through exactly when to retain each professional and what should be happening in each phase. Once the title search is complete and the transfer is ready to register, see our guide to closing day in the GTA. For the full picture of buyer due diligence from offer to possession, see our guide to buying a home in Ontario. You can also find independent guidance on title insurance through Ontario.ca.
Why Title Search Matters More Than Most Buyers Realise
Most buyers focus on the home inspection and mortgage financing. Both are critical. But they address condition and affordability. Title search addresses something more fundamental: whether what you are buying is actually yours to own.
A home inspection can tell you the roof needs work. Financing tells you what you can afford. Neither one tells you whether there is a construction lien on the property, a registered easement that limits what you can build, or an open work order from a renovation the previous owner never finished properly.
Title search deals with ownership. Everything else deals with the house.
If a title problem is not caught before closing, it does not disappear. It becomes your problem the moment you take possession. The cost of resolving it after closing, including legal fees, potential litigation, delays to any future sale, and the impact on your ability to mortgage the property, is almost always significantly greater than resolving it before you closed.
Title problems your lawyer finds before closing are the seller’s problem to fix. Anything that surfaces after closing is yours to live with.
Title search also fits directly into how you structure your offer. If you are purchasing in a competitive GTA market and considering waiving conditions, understanding what your lawyer can and cannot verify before closing is essential. For how to protect yourself as a buyer in competitive situations, see our guide to winning offers in the GTA.
What actually matters in a title search: that your lawyer identifies any claim against the property before closing, has time to resolve it, and confirms that you will receive clean title at registration. The process works when issues are discovered early. It becomes expensive when they are not.
Three Misconceptions Buyers Carry Into Closing
Misconception 1: The title search confirms the house is problem-free. It does not. A title search confirms the legal ownership and registration status of the property. It does not assess the physical condition of the building, flag neighbourhood issues, or substitute for a home inspection. Buyers who conflate the two end up surprised when a structural issue or a bylaw infraction surfaces after closing that the title search had no reason to capture.
Misconception 2: Title insurance replaces the need for a thorough search. Title insurance is a financial backstop, not a substitute for due diligence. It covers losses from issues that the search did not discover. It does not fix the underlying problem. An open permit does not get closed because you have title insurance. An encroachment does not get resolved. You carry the issue and make a claim on the loss. The correct approach is a proper search by a competent lawyer, combined with title insurance at closing. Not one or the other.
Misconception 3: Title issues are rare and not worth worrying about. They are more common than most buyers assume. Judgment liens, open permits, old easements that nobody ever formally addressed, and properties with convoluted ownership histories are not unusual, particularly in older GTA neighbourhoods and in rural or semi-rural Niagara properties where boundary descriptions have not been updated in decades. When we sold our Vaughan home in 2025 and bought in St. Catharines, we paid close attention to both title searches ourselves. The fact that lawyers quietly resolve most issues before closing is not evidence they are rare. It is evidence the system works when buyers retain a lawyer early and give them time to work.
Title Search in Ontario: Your Questions Answered
What is a title search in Ontario?
A title search in Ontario is a legal review of a property’s registered ownership history and any claims, debts, or encumbrances registered against it. Your lawyer conducts it after your offer is accepted to confirm you will receive clean ownership on closing. The search runs through Ontario’s electronic land registry system, Teraview.
What does a title search look for?
A title search looks for mortgages registered against the property, construction liens, judgment liens, easements, restrictive covenants, and rights of way. It also confirms the seller has legal ownership and the right to sell. Lawyers resolve most issues as a condition of closing.
What is the difference between a title search and an off-title search?
A title search reviews the public land registry records for the property. Off-title searches cover matters not recorded in the title registry: property tax arrears, zoning compliance, outstanding building permits, and local improvement charges. Your lawyer typically orders both as part of the due diligence process.
How much does title insurance cost in Ontario?
Title insurance premiums in Ontario typically range from $250 to $500 for an owner’s policy on a standard residential purchase. The premium is paid once at closing and coverage lasts as long as you own the property. Stewart Title and FCT (First Canadian Title) are the two dominant providers.
Do I need title insurance if my lawyer does a title search?
Title insurance and a title search serve different purposes. The title search identifies known issues before closing. Title insurance protects you against losses from issues your lawyer did not discover before closing, including fraud, forgery, and defects that emerge after you take ownership. Most Ontario lawyers recommend both at closing.
What happens if the title search finds a problem?
Most problems found during a title search in Ontario are resolvable before closing. The seller discharges any existing mortgage from the sale proceeds. The seller pays out or bonds over any lien. More significant issues such as easements or encroachments require negotiation between the parties. Your lawyer advises on the options: proceed, renegotiate, or withdraw.
When does the title search happen after an accepted offer?
Your lawyer begins the title search after receiving your accepted Agreement of Purchase and Sale. The search typically takes place during the conditional period or immediately after waiver on a firm deal. Retaining your lawyer promptly after acceptance gives them maximum time to identify and resolve any issues before your closing date.
Does a title search protect against title fraud in Ontario?
A title search confirms registered ownership at the time of the search. It cannot prevent fraud occurring between the search and closing. Title insurance provides additional protection against fraud, forgery, and identity theft affecting your ownership after closing. Every Ontario buyer should have both the search and title insurance.
Do condo purchases require a title search in Ontario?
Yes. Every condo purchase includes a title search on the unit itself. Condo purchases also require a review of the status certificate, which covers the condominium corporation’s financial and legal position, including reserve fund status, any pending special assessments, and existing litigation. The title search and the status certificate review are separate processes. Your lawyer handles both.
Can a deal fall through because of a title issue?
Yes, though it is uncommon. Most title issues are resolvable before closing. If a serious problem cannot be cleared in time, including a lien the seller cannot discharge or an unresolvable encroachment, your lawyer may advise delaying closing or not proceeding. This is one of the reasons retaining a lawyer promptly after acceptance matters.
Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team
eXp Realty Brokerage · GTA & Niagara Region
We are Françoise Pollard, Realtor®, and Keith Goldson, Broker, with eXp Realty Brokerage. Together we have more than 30 years of combined experience with buyers across the GTA and Niagara Region. We help clients understand what their lawyer is doing between accepted offer and closing. Informed buyers make better decisions when issues arise. A title search is one of the most important protections in the buying process and one of the least talked about.
By the time you reach closing day, your title search should already be complete and any issues resolved. The buyers who avoid problems are the ones who understand this process early and give their lawyer the time to do the work properly.
Questions about what happens between your accepted offer and closing day?
We work with buyers across the GTA and Niagara Region. We help them understand every step before they are in the middle of it.
Talk to the TeamTitle searches, off-title searches, and closing procedures vary by property, municipality, and transaction. This article reflects how the process works across Ontario and is intended to help buyers understand what their lawyer is doing and why. Every purchase is different, and your real estate lawyer is the right person to advise on the specifics of your transaction.