Title, Surveys, Easements, and Land Registry Due Diligence (Ontario)

The land registry is the ownership record

Ontario's land registry contains official records of ownership and registered legal interests in land, including transfers, mortgages/charges, leases, easements, plans, and some notices. Most modern registration is electronic.

Realtor explanation:

The registered owner is confirmed by title, not by who pays tax or lives there.
Registered interests can bind the property and affect use, financing, closing, and resale.
The buyer's lawyer searches title and raises requisitions before the requisition date.

What title can show

Title may reveal:

Current registered owner.
Mortgages/charges and discharges.
Liens, executions, cautions, notices, restrictions, and other encumbrances.
Easements and rights-of-way.
Restrictive covenants.
Condo declarations, by-laws, and common-element interests.
Plans, severances, parcel creation history, and legal description issues.

Title does not prove every physical fact. It may not show a fence in the wrong place, an unregistered encroachment, illegal use, open building permit, or unregistered tenancy.

Land Titles, Registry, and conversion issues

Ontario has properties under land titles and registry systems, with many parcels converted over time. Some older or converted titles can carry historical complexities.

Realtor guardrails:

Do not explain title conversion, LTCQ, possessory title, or absolute title as if it is routine.
If the legal description is long, old, or odd, send it to the lawyer early.
If the listing depends on acreage, frontage, access, severability, or waterfront rights, ask for survey/plan review.

Surveys and SRPRs

A survey or Surveyor's Real Property Report can help identify boundaries, buildings, fences, easements, encroachments, setbacks, and physical occupation. Many residential deals close with title insurance instead of a new survey, but title insurance is not a substitute for knowing where a boundary is when the buyer's intended use depends on it.

When to push harder for survey review:

Rural, waterfront, cottage, farm, vacant land, or large acreage.
Additions, pools, decks, garages, sheds, fences, or laneway/garden-suite plans.
Private roads, shared driveways, rights-of-way, or landlocked access.
Boundary disputes or neighbour encroachments.
Buyer intends to build, sever, fence, expand, or change use.
Listing advertises exact lot dimensions, acreage, or "deeded access."

Easements and rights-of-way

An easement is a legal right for someone to use land for a specific purpose, or for one parcel to benefit from another. Examples include utility easements, mutual driveways, drainage, access roads, and waterfront access.

Deal issues:

A driveway may be physically used but not legally registered.
A right-of-way may exist but be narrower or more limited than the buyer expects.
Utility or drainage easements can limit building, pools, additions, fences, and landscaping.
"Deeded access" needs the lawyer to review the actual registered instrument.

Assistant response pattern:

"That is a title/survey question. Ask the lawyer to pull the registered easement instrument and plan, then confirm with a surveyor whether the physical use matches the legal right."

Encroachments and boundary disputes

Encroachments include fences, sheds, eaves, retaining walls, driveways, septic components, docks, or landscaping crossing a boundary or easement area.

Red flags:

Seller says "the neighbour lets us use it."
Fence line differs from tax map or listing sketch.
Shared driveway has no written maintenance agreement.
Waterfront dock or stairs may be on Crown, municipal, conservation, or neighbour land.
Septic bed, well, or laneway appears close to lot line.

Do not solve this through MLS remarks. Get the lawyer and surveyor involved.

Title insurance

Title insurance can protect against some losses from title defects, fraud, unknown liens, survey/boundary issues, and certain permit or compliance matters, depending on the policy. It does not make an illegal use legal, guarantee future zoning approvals, or replace professional diligence where the buyer has a specific plan.