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Home records, explained › For owners and sellers › Before you list: documents to gather

Documents to gather before you list a home in Ontario, and where each one comes from

A buyer's agent, lender and lawyer will ask for most of these papers, and some take days to arrive. This checklist names each document, who issues it and the fee the issuer publishes, with the source and date for each line. Condo documents are outside OfferDue's scope and not listed.

Page reviewed 22 Oct 2026. Every line names its source below.

Before you list: documents to gather
  • $37.10

    A parcel register copy on ONLand, from 2 November 2026 ($36.50 before).

  • ¼

    Only about a quarter of survey plans are in the Land Registry Office (Association of Ontario Land Surveyors).

  • $90.33

    A City tax certificate in Toronto ($74 in Ottawa).

  • 365days
    12 of 12 months

    The CRA's flipping rule covers homes held under 365 days.

  1. 3 Nov 2025A parcel register copy: $36.50 with the first page.
  2. 2 Nov 2026A parcel register copy: $37.10.

The checklist: 10 documents

Where each one comes from, and what its issuer says, is in the checklist below.

In detail

The checklist
DocumentWhere it comes from, and what the issuer says
Parcel register (title)Ontario's land registry holds "the official records of property ownership and other legal interests"; a copy is bought through ONLand. Fee: $37.10 from 2 November 2026; before that, $36.50 including the first page, $2.56 for each further page. ServiceOntario "cannot search, give legal advice or explain the records of any property."
SurveyONLand's help page: "Surveys are not stored in the OnLand system"; it points to "your lawyer, your mortgage company, or a licenced professional surveyor." Reference plans "are deposited in the local Land Registry Office". A Surveyor's Real Property Report "clearly illustrates the location of all visible public and private improvements relative to the property's boundaries" (AOLS).
Property assessmentMPAC: "Property assessments for the 2026 property tax year will continue to be based on fully phased-in January 1, 2016 current values." AboutMyProperty lets owners see the information MPAC has on file.
Tax certificateToronto: "A statement of all amounts owing for taxes, issued by the City's Treasurer", $90.33 per certificate (from 1 January 2026). Ottawa: $74 for each tax or water certificate.
Building permits and inspectionsThe City's building department; Toronto's property information report and Ottawa's records application are set out on inspections and permit records.
Electrical recordsThe Electrical Safety Authority's record search, $76 per address; see electrical work and its records.
New-home warranty (homes under 7 years old)Tarion: the one-year and two-year coverage begin on the home's date of possession "even if the home is sold", and the seven-year warranty covers major structural defects. Tarion's FAQ: "any subsequent owners of a home under warranty benefit from the balance of its coverage."
Rental equipment contracts (water heater, furnace, air conditioner)The Province's page on notices of security interest (updated 6 January 2026): the Homeowner Protection Act "bans the registration of NOSIs for consumer goods" and "deems all consumer NOSIs currently registered on land titles to be expired"; expired notices still appear on title, but "the land is not affected by the NOSI." Its page on home service contracts lists cancellation fees on selling the home among the terms to read.
Mortgage prepayment statementThe Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: a penalty may apply if you "pay back your entire mortgage before the end of your term, including when you sell your home"; federally regulated lenders must "provide to a borrower, on request, a written statement of their prepayment charge."
Rented homeThe tenancy agreement and any notice given; the forms in use from 30 November 2026 are on selling a rented home.
What the CRA publishes about selling a home
  • Principal residence. On a sale, "you must report the sale on Schedule 3, Capital Gains or Losses, and Form T2091(IND)."
  • The flipping rule. A flipped property is one "owned by the taxpayer for less than 365 consecutive days prior to the disposition"; the rule applies to sales on or after 1 January 2023, and where it applies "the Principal Residence Exemption is not available." The CRA lists life-event exceptions, including death, separation, illness, job loss and relocation.
  • Sellers who are not residents of Canada. CRA Information Circular IC72-17R6 describes notice on Form T2062 "either before they dispose of the property or within ten days after the disposition"; without a certificate of compliance, the purchaser is liable to remit 25% of the cost.
The records a buyer's side reads

The permits on file, the heritage register, the lot size on the City's maps and the tax rate are public records a buyer's report reads. The entries below name each record and where it is published.

Who answers questions

A real estate lawyer handles title, the survey and the closing; the Law Society of Ontario's Referral Service gives a free consultation of up to 30 minutes. An accountant advises on tax. The lender issues the mortgage statement. Who does what in an Ontario offer names each role and its public register.

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Sources

  1. Government of Ontario, Overview of land registry, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  2. Government of Ontario, Land services fee changes effective November 3, 2025, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  3. Government of Ontario, Bulletin 2026-04, Electronic Land Registration Services Act, 2010 (published 14 September 2026), checked 22 Oct 2026.
  4. ONLand help, Where can I get a copy of my survey?, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  5. Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, Survey plans, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  6. Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, FAQs, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  7. Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, Title insurance, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  8. MPAC, Notices and notifications, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  9. City of Toronto, Property tax rates and fees, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  10. City of Ottawa, Tax and water certificates (service help), checked 22 Oct 2026.
  11. Tarion, Coverage for homes, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  12. Tarion, Purchaser and homeowner FAQs, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  13. Government of Ontario, Notices of security interest (updated 6 January 2026), checked 22 Oct 2026.
  14. Government of Ontario, Door-to-door sales and home service contracts (updated 19 June 2026), checked 22 Oct 2026.
  15. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Reduce prepayment penalties, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  16. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Mortgage Prepayment Information, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  17. Canada Revenue Agency, Principal residence and other real estate, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  18. Canada Revenue Agency, Residential property flipping rule, checked 22 Oct 2026.
  19. Canada Revenue Agency, IC72-17R6, Procedures concerning the disposition of taxable Canadian property by non-residents of Canada (section 116), checked 22 Oct 2026.
  20. Law Society of Ontario, Law Society Referral Service, checked 22 Oct 2026.

A rule or a form can change after the date a line was checked; the source's own page is the current version. Spotted something out of date? Write to [email protected] and it goes on the corrections list.

Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. OfferDue reports what each record and official page shows, with its source and date. Back to for owners and sellers.