Canada

Registering Property in

Canada

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: CAD 2,372,467
  • City: Toronto

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 The purchaser should obtain the opinion of a qualified appraiser to estimate the value of the property

The seller or the buyer would like to have the market value of the property, to see whether it is under-priced or over-priced, depending whether you are the buyer or the seller.

A property appraisal is a formal and impartial written estimate of the property.

14-21 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 4, and 5) CAD 5500
* 2 Obtain tax clearance certificate from the Municipality

The parties have to show reasonable evidence to the title insurance company that the property is clear of tax obligations.
A written tax clearance certificate should be obtained from the Municipality in 1 day for CAD 65. This will need to show the latest tax receipts including the amount of current year taxes and whether all taxes are paid to date.


Agency: Municipality 		2 days (simultaneous with procedures 1, 3, 4, and 5) CAD 65
* 3 Obtain a copy of Title Register and relevant registered documents and a Certificate regarding Writs of Execution

A copy of Title Register and relevant registered documents are obtained on-line, as are the Certificate regarding Writs of Execution filed against the vendor.
1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 4, and 5) CAD 18 (Title Register) + CAD 28 (Writs of Execution)
* 4 Obtain Status Certificate with respect to selling corporation

Seller obtains a Status Certificate from the government of province (or the federal government, if applicable).
1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 3, and 5) CAD 55
* 5 Conduct title search (in the absence of title insurance)

Depending on whether the property is located in a jurisdiction governed by the Land Titles Act or the Registry Act or by electronic registration, in the absence of title insurance a simple title search will cost CAD 2,000 and more difficult searches can cost CAD 10,000 or more.

In terms of additional investigations:
(a) an environmental report would costs between CAD 1,500 to CAD 3,000;
(b) a building inspection would take 10 to 21 days and would cost CAD 2,500 to CAD 10,000; and
(c) a zoning review by a planning consultant would take between 1 day and 14 days and would cost between CAD 2,000 and CAD 10,000.

Title insurance can be obtained for CAD 0.75 / CAD 1000 of purchase price if the purchase price is CAD 2,000,000 or more and for CAD 0.80 / CAD 1000 of purchase price if the purchase price is less than CAD 2,000,000.
5-7 days (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 3, and 4) CAD 2,000
6 Registration of the transfer of title

After the agreement has been prepared and the transaction closed, the parties’ solicitors will complete the registration for transfer of title.

There are two systems of registration, depending on location of property.
(1) In the electronic registration regime, the transfer is registered electronically by an authorized licensee at the offices of the purchaser’s solicitor. The registration takes approximately 30 minutes and the cost of electronic registration is CAD 70.70, for each document, including tax and service fees. Only authorized licensees have access to the electronic registration system for security reasons.

(2) Where electronic registration is not available, representatives of the vendor’s and purchaser’s solicitors meet at the local land registry office to exchange documentation. The purchaser’s solicitor will register the transfer document manually. This process may take several hours. The cost of paper or manual registration is CAD 60 for each document.

Regardless of the system of registration, the purchaser is responsible for the cost of registering the transfer. The payment of registration fee and the Land Transfer Tax is done electronically too if it is in the electronic regime.
Solicitor’s fees for their intervention in the whole process are estimated in about CAD 6,000 (CAD 3,500 for the buyer’s solicitor and CAD 2,500 for the seller’s solicitor).

Notification of change of ownership to assessment department and utility companies can be done the same day immediately after closing, in about 30 minutes.


Agency: Purchaser's solicitor or Land registry 		1 day CAD 71.30 (electronic registration) + Land transfer tax according to the following cumulative schedule: Property value (in CAD) Land Transfer Tax Under 55,000
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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