This guide explains why, what your lawyer actually does from offer to keys, the mistakes buyers make about deposits and dual representation, and what closing costs look like for a home in Brampton and the rest of Peel Region.

Key Takeaways

• In Ontario, a transfer of title is registered electronically, and the “law statements” on that transfer can only be completed by a licensed Ontario lawyer. That makes a lawyer essential in practice.
• The best time to involve a lawyer is before you sign the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, because resale homes in Ontario have no cooling-off period.
• Your deposit is usually held by the seller’s real estate brokerage, not by your lawyer.
• One lawyer generally cannot act for both the buyer and the seller of the same home. The Law Society of Ontario allows only narrow exceptions.
• Brampton buyers pay only Ontario’s provincial land transfer tax. There is no municipal land transfer tax as there is in Toronto.

Why Can’t You Close Without a Lawyer in Ontario?

You can’t close without a lawyer because of how Ontario’s land registry works. Almost every property transfer in Ontario is registered electronically, and the system requires “law statements” that only a lawyer can make. A Government of Ontario land registration bulletin explains that a law statement requires a conclusion of law, may only be made by a person entitled to practise law in Ontario as a solicitor, and that the system only lets registrants with that authority complete it (Government of Ontario, Electronic Registration Bulletin, retrieved 2026-10-30). Only authorized Teraview account holders can submit documents to the registry at all (Government of Ontario, Register Your Land Documents, retrieved 2026-10-30).

Since Ontario Regulation 76/08 took effect in 2008, most transfers of title also need two different lawyers to sign, one for each side, with only a few exceptions (Government of Ontario, Land Registration Bulletin; Bulletin 2009-01, both retrieved 2026-10-30).

Two more practical reasons:

• Your lender requires it. A bank or credit union will only advance mortgage funds through a lawyer’s trust account, after the lawyer confirms title and registers the mortgage.
• Land transfer tax is paid through the registration. Your lawyer calculates the tax and pays it when the transfer is registered on closing day.

What Does a Real Estate Lawyer Do When You Buy a Home?

Your lawyer handles the legal side of the purchase, from reviewing the contract to registering you as the owner. Here is the typical sequence for a resale home in Brampton:

1. Review the offer before you sign. Your lawyer checks the Agreement of Purchase and Sale (usually OREA Form 100) for conditions, closing date, chattels and fixtures, and any unusual clauses.
2. Search title. They confirm the seller actually owns the property and check for mortgages, liens, easements, executions (court judgments) against the seller, and work orders or permit problems with the City of Brampton.
3. Send requisitions. Problems found on title go to the seller’s lawyer in writing, with a deadline to fix them before closing.
4. Arrange title insurance. Title insurance protects you against title defects, survey problems and fraud that a search may not reveal.
5. Act for your lender. They review the mortgage instructions, explain your mortgage terms, and register the mortgage.
6. Prepare the statement of adjustments. This balances property taxes, utilities and any condo fees the seller has prepaid or owes.
7. Close the deal. On closing day, your lawyer sends funds to the seller’s lawyer, registers the transfer and your mortgage, pays the land transfer tax, and arranges for you to get the keys.
8. Report to you. After closing, you receive a reporting letter with your registered deed, title insurance policy and closing documents.

Tip: Send your lawyer the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, your mortgage commitment and your photo ID as soon as your offer is accepted. Last-minute files are where closing delays happen.

When Should You Hire a Lawyer?

Hire a lawyer before you sign a firm offer, or at the latest as soon as your offer is accepted. Ontario resale homes have no cooling-off period. Once an agreement is firm, you are bound by it, and backing out can cost you your deposit and expose you to a claim for the seller’s losses.

A lawyer is especially worth calling before signing if:

• you are thinking of waiving conditions (financing, inspection, or a status certificate review)
• the home has a basement apartment or another second unit
• you are buying a new build or a pre-construction home from a builder
• you are buying privately, without real estate agents
• you are buying with family members, a partner you are not married to, or through a company

Who Holds Your Deposit?

In most Ontario resale purchases, your deposit is held in the listing brokerage’s trust account, not by your lawyer. It sits there until closing and is then applied to the purchase price.

Brokerages must keep deposits in a separate real estate trust account under Ontario’s real estate legislation, and the Agreement of Purchase and Sale states who holds the money. Your lawyer becomes involved if the deal falls apart and you need to recover the deposit, which can turn into a civil dispute, or if it is a private sale where the parties agree the deposit will go to a lawyer instead.

Can the Buyer and Seller Use the Same Lawyer?

Not the same individual lawyer. Under the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 3.4-16.7 prohibits a lawyer from acting for both the seller and the buyer in a transfer of title. Rule 3.4-16.8 allows two different lawyers in the same firm to act for each side, as long as the conflict-of-interest rules are followed, and rule 3.4-16.9 sets out a few situations where one lawyer may act for both (Emond Publishing, Rules of Professional Conduct index, retrieved 2026-10-30). Those exceptions are narrow, such as a change in how the same owner holds title, a transfer between related persons as defined by the Income Tax Act, a transfer from an estate trustee to a beneficiary, or a lawyer practising in a remote area with no other lawyer reasonably available (Law Times; SLC Lawyer, both retrieved 2026-10-30).

In a normal Brampton resale purchase between strangers, expect the buyer and the seller to each have their own lawyer.

How Much Does It Cost to Close a Home Purchase?

On top of your down payment, budget for these closing costs:

Ask for a written, all-in quote that separates the legal fee from disbursements, so you can compare firms fairly.

Land Transfer Tax in Brampton

Brampton, Mississauga and the rest of Peel Region pay only the provincial land transfer tax. The City of Toronto charges its own municipal land transfer tax in addition to the provincial tax (City of Toronto, Municipal Land Transfer Tax Rates and Fees, retrieved 2026-10-30). Brampton has no municipal land transfer tax.

First-time buyers can get a refund of up to $4,000 of the provincial tax. Your lawyer usually claims it during the electronic registration, and if it is missed you can still apply within 18 months (Government of Ontario, Land Transfer Tax Refunds for First-Time Homebuyers, retrieved 2026-10-30).

Calculated using Ontario’s land transfer tax rates: 0.5% up to $55,000, 1% to $250,000, 1.5% to $400,000, 2% to $2,000,000, and 2.5% above $2,000,000 for homes with one or two units. Your lawyer will confirm the exact amount.

Buying a Condo or a New Build? There Is More to Check

Resale Condos: The Status Certificate

For a resale condo, your lawyer reviews the status certificate. It shows whether the unit’s fees are paid up, how healthy the reserve fund is, whether special assessments or lawsuits are coming, and the rules you will live under. A condo corporation can charge up to $100 including taxes and must provide it within 10 days of the request and payment (Condominium Authority of Ontario, retrieved 2026-10-30). Make your offer conditional on your lawyer’s review of it.

New Builds and Pre-Construction Homes

Builder agreements are drafted by the builder’s lawyers and are much longer than a resale agreement. Your lawyer should review:

• extra closing charges the builder can pass on to you, such as development charges, utility connection fees and Tarion enrolment fees
• interim occupancy terms for new condos
• the HST rebate terms. New homes carry HST, and builders usually take the buyer’s rebates as a credit. In March 2026, Ontario announced an expanded rebate covering the full HST on eligible new homes up to $1 million, to a maximum of $130,000, and separate first-time buyer rebates also exist (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, retrieved 2026-10-30). Eligibility depends on the agreement date, the price and who is buying, so have your lawyer confirm it before you sign.

For a new condo bought from a builder, the Condominium Act gives you a 10-day period to cancel after you receive the signed agreement and the disclosure statement. Use those 10 days for a lawyer’s review.

Buying If You Are Not a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident

Two extra rules apply:

• The federal foreign buyer ban. Non-Canadians are generally prohibited from buying residential property in Canada until January 1, 2027, with exceptions for some work-permit holders, students and refugees (Aird & Berlis LLP, retrieved 2026-10-30). Reports in 2026 say the federal government is weighing a new framework rather than a simple extension (Canadian Mortgage Professional, retrieved 2026-10-30), so check the rule in force when you sign.
• Ontario’s Non-Resident Speculation Tax. Buyers who are not citizens or permanent residents pay an extra 25% tax on residential property anywhere in Ontario (Government of Ontario, Land Transfer Tax, retrieved 2026-10-30).

Getting either rule wrong is expensive, so speak to a lawyer before you make an offer.

What Can Go Wrong Without Proper Legal Advice?

• Title fraud. Fraudsters sometimes pose as owners to sell or mortgage a home. The Ontario government advises victims to contact the police, a lawyer and the Land Registry Office, and some losses can be compensated through the Land Titles Assurance Fund (Government of Ontario, Victims of Real Estate Fraud, retrieved 2026-10-30). Identity checks and title insurance are your main protection.
• Unpaid debts that follow the property. Unpaid property taxes, utility arrears or a builder’s lien can become your problem if they are not cleared on closing.
• Illegal second units. A basement apartment without permits may not be a legal unit, which affects rental income, insurance and resale value.
• Co-ownership problems. Buying with a partner you are not married to? Ontario’s property rules for common-law couples are very different from married spouses, so decide how you will hold title, and what happens if you split up, before closing.
• Clauses you didn’t understand. “As is” clauses, waived conditions and tight closing dates are hard to undo once an offer is firm.
• Closing day failures. Missing mortgage documents or funds that are not ready can delay closing, and a delayed closing can put you in breach of the agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it a legal requirement to have a lawyer to buy a house in Ontario?

There is no single law that orders buyers to hire a lawyer. In practice, though, Ontario’s electronic land registry requires law statements that only a licensed Ontario lawyer can make to register a transfer of title, and mortgage lenders require a lawyer to advance funds. So you cannot close a purchase without one.

Can a paralegal close my home purchase in Ontario?

No. Licensed paralegals in Ontario are not permitted to handle real estate transactions. A real estate purchase needs a lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.

What should I send my lawyer?

Send the signed Agreement of Purchase and Sale and any amendments, your mortgage commitment and lender contact, government photo ID for every buyer, your home insurance details, and how you want to hold title (for example, joint tenants or tenants in common). For a condo, also send the status certificate.

What happens if closing is delayed?

If documents or funds are not ready, the lawyers can agree in writing to extend the closing date. Without an agreed extension, the side that cannot close may be in breach of the agreement, which can mean losing the deposit or paying damages. Tell your lawyer about any problem with your mortgage or funds as early as possible.

Do first-time buyers in Brampton pay land transfer tax?

Yes, but first-time buyers can get a refund of up to $4,000 of the Ontario land transfer tax. Brampton has no municipal land transfer tax, so there is no second tax to pay as there is in Toronto.

How TM Law Can Help

For more than 16 years, TM Law Professional Corporation has helped home buyers across Peel Region and the GTA with resale homes, condos, new builds and private sales. We review your offer before you sign, search title, work with your lender and handle closing day from start to finish.

To see how we can help with your purchase, visit our Real Estate Lawyer in Brampton, Ontario page, or book a consultation before you sign your next offer.

About the Author

Tahir Majeed is a lawyer at TM Law Professional Corporation. He is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario (licence number 57193N) and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2009. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of the Punjab and studied at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

This article provides general information about Ontario real estate law and is not legal advice. Every transaction is different. Speak with a lawyer about your situation.

Sources

• Government of Ontario, Electronic Registration Bulletin
• Government of Ontario, Register Your Land Documents
• Government of Ontario, Land Registration Bulletin on Two-Lawyer Requirements
• Government of Ontario, Bulletin 2009-01: Access and Registration Requirements
• Government of Ontario, Land Transfer Tax Refunds for First-Time Homebuyers
• Government of Ontario, Land Transfer Tax and Non-Resident Speculation Tax
• Government of Ontario, Victims of Real Estate Fraud
• Condominium Authority of Ontario, What Is a Status Certificate?
• Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Ontario’s New HST Rebate: Key Details
• Aird & Berlis LLP, Prohibition on Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Extended to January 1, 2027
• City of Toronto, Municipal Land Transfer Tax Rates and Fees
• Law Society of Ontario, Rules of Professional Conduct, Chapter 3
• Emond Publishing, Rules of Professional Conduct index
• Law Times, New Real Estate Rules Aim to Reduce Fraud
• SLC Lawyer, Can a Real Estate Lawyer Represent Both Buyer and Seller?

Canadian Mortgage Professional, Canada’s Foreign Buyer Ban Is Expiring

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