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Summary: A title search is the legal review your lawyer does before closing to confirm the seller actually owns the property and that nothing is registered against it that you don’t already know about. In Ontario, most of the work runs electronically through Teraview, so a standard residential title search typically takes 1 to 3 business days once your lawyer has the file. Rural properties, multi-parcel files, and properties with off-title issues take longer.
What is a title search?
A title search is the legal review your lawyer does to confirm two things: the seller actually owns the property they’re selling, and nothing is registered against the property that the buyer doesn’t already know about. In Ontario, the lawyer pulls public records from the provincial Land Registry: parcel registers, registered transfers, mortgages, charges, easements, restrictive covenants, and any other instruments tied to the property’s PIN (Property Identification Number).
Think of it as a background check for the property itself. Until the search is done, you don’t actually know whether the title is clean. That matters because most of the scariest things about owning a property aren’t physical — they’re legal. A leaky roof you can see and price. A construction lien you inherited because the seller never paid their renovator is a different problem entirely.
How long does a title search take in Ontario?
For a standard urban residential property, expect 1 to 3 business days from the moment your real estate lawyer has the agreement of purchase and sale, the deposit, and your file’s basic information. The actual searching is fast: Ontario’s Land Registry runs on Teraview, an electronic system, so pulling the parcel register, registered instruments, and historical references is typically a same-day task. What takes the rest of the time is the lawyer’s review, including reading every registered document, matching encumbrances to the file, and flagging anything that needs to come off title before closing.
Some files take longer. Here is the rough range by scenario:
Type of property | Typical title-search timeline |
Standard freehold or condo in a major Ontario city | 1–3 business days from when the lawyer has the file |
Rural property or multi-parcel file | 3–7 business days; surveys and adjacent-parcel checks add time |
Property with off-title issues (liens, work orders, estate) | 1–2 weeks; requisition back-and-forth extends the calendar |
Older Registry-system property | Add 2–5 business days for the historical chain-of-title review |
A useful framing: the technical search is almost always quick. The legal review, off-title document gathering, and back-and-forth requisitions with the seller’s lawyer are what stretch the calendar. Plan for your lawyer to start title work as soon as the deal is firm and aim to have the search done well before the requisition date in your agreement of purchase and sale, typically 25 days before closing in OREA-form contracts.
What does a title search look for?
Ownership. Does the seller, and only the seller, currently hold registered title?
Mortgages and other charges. Is anything secured against the property that needs to be paid out or discharged on closing?
Liens. Construction liens, tax liens, family law liens, judgment liens, anything that could attach to the property and follow it to a new owner.
Easements and rights-of-way. Does someone else have a registered right to use part of the property? Utility easements are common and usually fine; private easements sometimes matter.
Restrictive covenants. Are there registered restrictions on what can be built or how the land can be used?
Survey and boundary issues. Does the registered description match the physical property?
Compliance issues. Work orders, outstanding building permits, or zoning by-law contraventions that may attach to the property.
How does a title search work in Ontario?
Once your file is open and the deal is firm, your lawyer (or a clerk under their supervision) runs the search in a standard order:
Identify the property. Confirm the municipal address, the legal description, and the PIN.
Pull the parcel register through Teraview. Ontario’s electronic land registration system gives the current ownership snapshot, every registered instrument affecting the property, and a link to each PDF.
Pull and review each registered instrument. Charges, transfers, easements, notices, restrictions — the lawyer reads each one to understand what it actually says, not just what it is.
Sub-search. A short sub-search just before closing confirms no last-minute registrations have hit the title (a new lien, a new mortgage by the seller, etc.).
Off-title searches. The lawyer also checks the things that don’t appear on the parcel register but can still bind the buyer — property tax certificates, work orders, water and utility arrears, building permit status. These take longer because they’re requested from municipalities and utilities, which respond on their own clock.
Identify issues and send a Requisition Letter. Anything that needs to come off title before closing is flagged in a letter to the seller’s lawyer, sent by the requisition date in the agreement of purchase and sale.
What can slow a title search down?
The technical search is almost always quick. Delays come from one of five places:
Rural or multi-parcel properties. More parcel registers, more documents to read, sometimes manual surveys to interpret.
Older Registry-system properties. A small portion of Ontario titles are still under the older Registry system, which requires a longer historical chain-of-title review.
Off-title responses. Municipal tax certificates and work-order searches depend on the municipality’s response time. Toronto, for example, can take longer than smaller municipalities.
Estate- or family-law-affected title. Probate documents, spousal consents, and bankruptcy registrations all add review steps.
A late-firm deal. If your offer becomes firm close to closing, the lawyer is racing the requisition date. The search itself is the same length — but there’s less buffer to negotiate fixes.
What happens after the title search?
The buyer’s lawyer compiles everything the seller needs to clear and sends a Requisition Letter — the formal request to remove or address specific items by closing. Most asks are routine: discharge the existing mortgage on closing, satisfy a small lien, deliver a statutory declaration. Once the seller’s lawyer commits to addressing each item, the file moves toward closing day.
If the seller’s lawyer pushes back or can’t satisfy a valid requisition, the requisition date is what matters. The buyer’s lawyer has to raise the issue by that date; after it, the buyer is treated as having accepted title as-is, except for a few narrow statutory exceptions.
This is also when title insurance gets bought. Title insurance covers things a title search can miss — especially off-title issues like fraud or undisclosed work orders — and lenders almost always require it when there’s a mortgage.
Frequently asked questions
Is a title search required by law in Ontario?
Not strictly. No Ontario statute forces a buyer to do a title search. But every standard form of agreement of purchase and sale (including OREA’s) gives the buyer a requisition window, and effectively no buyer’s lawyer would close without doing one. Lenders also require it before they’ll advance mortgage funds.
How much does a title search cost in Ontario?
Most of the cost is a disbursement, not legal fees. Teraview charges per parcel register and per instrument retrieved, and the total for a standard residential title search typically runs $50 to $200 in registration-system disbursements. Off-title searches (municipal tax certificate, work orders, utility letters) add another $50 to $200 depending on the municipality. Your lawyer’s time to review and act on the search is bundled into your legal fee.
Can I do my own title search?
Technically, the parcel register is a public record and accessible through OnLand and Teranet’s consumer site for a fee. In practice, interpreting what’s registered, identifying which items matter, and drafting a valid requisition letter is legal work and missing the requisition date or accepting bad title costs far more than a lawyer.
How long is a title search valid?
Until something new is registered on title. That’s why a sub-search on or close to the closing date is standard practice; it catches anything the seller (or a creditor) may have registered between the original search and closing.
What’s the difference between a title search and title insurance?
The title search is the lawyer’s diligence before closing. Title insurance is a one-time policy you buy at closing that protects you after closing against title defects, including ones a standard search wouldn’t catch (off-title work orders, fraud, undisclosed easements). Most Ontario closings use both.
What happens if the title search misses something?
Two safety nets. First, the lawyer carries professional liability insurance through the Law Society of Ontario’s LawPRO program. Second, title insurance covers most title defects that surface after closing, including ones that wouldn’t have shown up in a standard search. Carrying both is why title issues are rare in Ontario residential closings.
About the author
Joel Fox is a co-founder and COO at Ownright. He helps run the firm’s day-to-day work on Ontario residential closings, refinances, and sales, and writes regularly to demystify the parts of a real estate transaction most buyers and sellers never see.
At Ownright, we focus entirely on Ontario residential real estate law. We help buyers and sellers with resale closings, refinancing, pre-construction assignments, and status certificate reviews. You can get a quote at ownright.com.
Legal references: Land Titles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.5 (the regime under which most Ontario titles are registered). Registry Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. R.20 (the older Registry system, still in effect for a small minority of titles). Land Registration Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.4 (electronic registration and forms). OREA Form 100 (standard residential agreement of purchase and sale, including the requisition clause).
Important note: This article is not legal advice. No one should act, or refrain from acting, based solely on the information in this post or any linked materials without first seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice from a licensed real estate lawyer for the specific facts of their transaction.
