Closing day in Ontario runs almost entirely through your lawyer and an electronic land registry system, not a single fixed moment when a house changes hands. If you’re a few days out from your own closing and wondering what actually happens, the honest answer is that most of it happens on a computer between your lawyer, the other side’s lawyer, and your lender, while you’re probably not in the room at all. This guide walks through what a lawyer is actually doing, when keys really change hands, and what can push the whole thing back a day, separate from what closing day actually costs, which our guide to closing costs in Toronto already covers in full, alongside everything else in our complete Toronto real estate guide.
What a lawyer is actually doing on closing day
Your lawyer’s job on closing day is to register the transfer of title, and any new mortgage against it, electronically through Teraview, Ontario’s own land registration system, and to move money between the right parties in the right order. Ontario has run its land registration this way for years now, and on the day itself, a buyer’s lawyer and a seller’s lawyer both log in to exchange documents and confirm the transfer is ready to register.
The money side runs on a hold-and-release protocol between the two lawyers. The buyer’s lender wires mortgage funds to the buyer’s lawyer, who combines them with the buyer’s own down payment and closing costs, then sends the total purchase funds to the seller’s lawyer. The seller’s lawyer holds that money in trust and doesn’t release a dollar of it to the seller until the title transfer is actually registered on Teraview. Only once registration is confirmed does the seller’s lawyer release the funds, which is exactly why neither side gets paid, or gets the house, before the other side’s part of the deal has actually gone through.
Do you need to be there in person?
Generally, no, not for a standard resale closing. Both the buyer and seller typically sign the documents their own lawyer needs, mortgage instructions, the transfer, a statement of adjustments, well before the actual closing date, often at a signing appointment days in advance. On closing day itself, the two lawyers exchange documents and money electronically, and neither side usually needs to be physically present or even available by phone for the registration itself to happen.
What each side does need to do is make sure their lawyer has everything required well ahead of time: certified funds for a buyer, and for a seller, proof any existing mortgage will be paid out and discharged from title. A lawyer who’s missing a document from either side on the morning of closing is the single most avoidable reason a closing slips, and it’s avoidable precisely because none of it depends on being in a specific room at a specific hour.
When do keys actually change hands?
Later than most people expect, and this is the single biggest source of closing-day frustration. Keys typically don’t move until the buyer’s lawyer has confirmed the title transfer is registered and the seller’s lawyer has confirmed receipt of the funds, and both of those depend on Teraview and the banks involved, not on a clock. Teraview itself closes at 5:00 p.m. on business days, and bank cut-off times for wiring funds into the land registry system usually sit mid-afternoon, so registration and fund confirmation both tend to land sometime in the early to mid-afternoon on a normal closing, not first thing in the morning.
That means a buyer who books movers or utility hookups for 9 a.m. is very often waiting well into the afternoon before their lawyer actually calls to say the keys are released. It isn’t a sign anything has gone wrong. It’s simply how long it genuinely takes for two lawyers, a bank wire, and an electronic registry to all line up in sequence, and building a moving day around it, rather than around a specific hour, avoids most of the frustration.
What is a final walkthrough, and is it guaranteed?
A final walkthrough is a buyer’s last look at the property before closing, usually the day of or the day before, to confirm it’s in roughly the condition it was in when the offer was accepted. It isn’t an automatic legal right that comes with every Ontario resale purchase. It only carries real enforcement weight if it’s actually written into the Agreement of Purchase and Sale as a specific term. Our guide to Agreements of Purchase and Sale in Ontario covers how a condition or term like this gets negotiated into an offer in the first place, and the same logic applies here: if a walkthrough clause isn’t in your agreement, ask for one to be added rather than assuming it’s included by default.
If a walkthrough does turn something up, a missing appliance, damage that wasn’t there before, the fix depends entirely on what’s actually written into the agreement and how quickly the seller can resolve it before the funds move. Without a walkthrough clause specifically addressing this, a buyer’s options after closing are far more limited than most people assume, which is exactly why this is worth confirming with your lawyer before you sign, not after you’ve already moved in.
What can actually delay a closing?
A handful of causes account for most real delays, and none of them are exotic. A mortgage funding delay is the most common: the lender’s underwriting hasn’t given final sign-off, or asks for one more document, right when the file needs to move. A late wire is the second: since bank cut-offs for sending funds into the land registry system sit mid-afternoon, a wire that misses that window pushes the whole registration to the next business day, through no fault of either lawyer. Title issues found late, an old mortgage that was never formally discharged, an unregistered easement, an outstanding work order, can also stall things by days rather than hours once they surface.
A seller who hasn’t actually vacated by the agreed time is a real, if less common, cause too, and it usually gets resolved through the agreement’s own remedies rather than by simply waiting. Where a buyer’s own purchase and sale are linked in a chain, one falling through on the other side of that chain can force a new date to be coordinated on short notice. None of these mean a closing is broken; they mean it’s delayed, usually by a day or a few, and a good real estate lawyer will already be watching for the ones most likely to affect a specific file.
If you have a closing date coming up
If you’re still shopping and haven’t found the right property yet, none of this changes what you should be doing right now, which is looking at what’s actually available. Browse current Toronto listings while you get the rest of your process lined up. Land transfer tax, which our guide to land transfer tax in Ontario covers in full, is paid at this exact moment through your lawyer as part of the same closing funds, not separately or afterward.
If you already have a closing date and a specific question about your own file, whether a document is missing, whether your walkthrough clause covers a specific concern, whether a delay you’ve just been told about is normal, that’s a question for your own lawyer first, since they can see the actual file. Where it’s a question this guide genuinely can’t answer from a distance, get in touch with our team and we’ll point you toward the right next step.
Frequently asked questions
What does a lawyer actually do on closing day in Ontario?
A lawyer registers the transfer of title, and any new mortgage, electronically through Teraview, Ontario’s own land registration system, and coordinates the movement of money between the buyer’s lender, the buyer’s lawyer, and the seller’s lawyer. The seller’s lawyer holds the buyer’s funds in trust and doesn’t release them to the seller until the title transfer is confirmed as registered, a hold-and-release protocol that protects both sides from paying or handing over the property before the other side’s part of the deal has actually gone through. Both lawyers typically log in to the same electronic system on the day itself to complete this in sequence.
Do I need to be at the lawyer’s office on my own closing day?
Generally, no, not for a standard resale closing. Buyers and sellers typically sign the documents their lawyer needs at a signing appointment days ahead of the actual closing date, and on the day itself, the two lawyers exchange documents and funds electronically without either party needing to be present. What matters more than being physically available is making sure your lawyer has every document and, for a buyer, certified funds, well before the closing date itself, since a missing document on the morning of closing is the most avoidable reason a file gets delayed.
What time do you actually get the keys on closing day?
Later than most people expect, typically sometime in the early to mid-afternoon rather than first thing in the morning. Keys don’t move until the buyer’s lawyer confirms the title transfer is registered and the seller’s lawyer confirms the funds have been received, and both depend on Ontario’s Teraview system and on bank wire cut-off times, which usually sit mid-afternoon on a business day. A buyer who plans movers or utility hookups for 9 a.m. is very often waiting several hours before the actual key release call comes through, and that gap is completely normal, not a sign something has gone wrong.
Is a final walkthrough guaranteed before closing in Ontario?
No, it isn’t an automatic legal right that comes with every resale purchase; it only has real weight if it’s specifically written into the Agreement of Purchase and Sale as a negotiated term. If a walkthrough clause isn’t in your agreement, the property’s condition on closing day is largely locked in by whatever the agreement itself says, with far fewer options if something’s changed since the offer was accepted. Ask your lawyer to confirm a walkthrough clause is actually included, and what it specifically covers, before you sign rather than assuming it comes standard.
What are the most common reasons a closing gets delayed?
A mortgage funding delay is the most common cause, where a lender’s underwriting hasn’t finished or needs one more document right when the file has to move. A wire that misses the bank’s mid-afternoon cut-off for sending funds into the land registry system is the second most common, since it pushes the whole registration to the next business day. Title issues discovered late, an old mortgage never properly discharged, an unregistered easement, and a seller who hasn’t actually vacated by the agreed time round out the realistic list. None of these are exotic, and a good real estate lawyer is usually already watching for the ones most likely to affect a specific file.
What should I do if I have a closing coming up soon?
Confirm with your own lawyer that every document they need is in, and for a buyer, that certified funds are arranged well before the date itself, since a missing document is the single most avoidable cause of a delay. If you have a specific question about your own file, a missing walkthrough clause, a delay you’ve just been told about, your lawyer can see the actual details and is the right first call. For anything this guide can’t answer from a distance, get in touch with our team, and if you’re still searching for the right property, current listings are the place to start while the rest of your process comes together.
A closing date stops being a mystery once you know the sequence: documents to your lawyer early, certified funds ready, and an afternoon kept clear rather than a morning. Browse current Toronto listings while the rest of your file comes together, or check our guides if a step along the way needs more detail.