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The Ontario Land Transfer Tax Rebate program enables first-time homebuyers to receive a rebate of a portion of the land transfer tax associated with buying their first home.

To qualify, a homebuyer must be at least 18 years of age; they cannot have owned a home or an interest in a home anywhere in the world; and
if the buyer has a spouse, their spouse cannot have owned a home or an interest in a home anywhere in world while they were the buyer’s spouse.

The rebate applies to both new construction homes as well as resale properties. The rebate can be claimed instantly by registering the claim at the time of the purchase.

The maximum rebate amount is $4,000.00, and the rebate will be reduced if one or more of the buyers do not qualify under the eligibility rules. For example, if you are purchasing the home with another person who does not qualify for the rebate, the maximum rebate amount will be halved, to $2,000.00.

The amount of land transfer tax payable increases along with the value of the property. If you qualify for the full amount of the rebate ($4,000), this means you will not pay land transfer tax on the first $368,000.00 of the home’s costs.

For properties located within Toronto, Municipal Land Transfer Tax is also payable, and there is a similar rebate program available for qualified buyers.

Title insurance protects the owner(s) of real property by insuring them against unforeseen defects in the property’s title. The insurance represents a one-time cost added onto your legal fees, however the protection lasts as long as you remain on title to the property.

Title insurance can help cover the costs of fixing title defects including unknown liens against the property, conflicting ownership interests, encroachment issues, and more. Once a defect is discovered, it often must be corrected before the property can be sold. Depending on the nature of the defect, the cost to fix it can be considerable.

In addition to protecting the property owners, it also protects the mortgage lender should a costly issue arise with respect to title. In fact, some lenders will make obtaining title insurance a mandatory condition of the mortgage.

If your lender has not required you to obtain title insurance, it remains an optional part of your closing transaction. However, given the relatively small cost upfront, the peace of mind it will provide often makes purchasing a policy worthwhile.

Joint tenancy and tenants in common are means of taking title to a property. Joint tenancy, commonly used by married couples and common-law spouses, creates joint ownership over 100% of the property. As joint tenants, neither party can sell or mortgage the property without the other party’s consent.

Further, joint tenancy creates a right of survivorship if one owner were to pass away. This means that if a couple jointly owns a home and the husband dies, his share of the property would, by right, transfer to his spouse.

Tenants in common, on the other hand, allows multiple parties to each own a specified share of a property. Two people can own a property 50/50, or one person can own 99% of the property while the other owns the remaining 1%. Each party is free to do what they choose with their share of the property.

There is also no right of survivorship for tenants in common, allowing each owner to bequeath their share to the beneficiaries of their estate or gift it to others during their lifetime. This type of ownership can be especially helpful for parties looking to purchase an investment property together or families looking to share a recreational property, such as a cottage.