Purchases, sales, refinancings, title transfers, and builder deals across Ontario. Your matter stays with the same Garrison team from the first review through closing.
Every transaction is different. We handle the legal work each file requires.
Residential purchases
We review your agreement before the conditions come off, search title, and carry the file through to the day you get the keys.
Agreement of purchase and sale review
Title and off-title searches
Mortgage instructions and lender reporting
Statement of adjustments
Title insurance and closing registration
Residential sales
We answer the buyer's requisitions, arrange the discharge of your existing mortgage, and account for every dollar leaving the transaction.
Review of the accepted agreement
Responding to requisitions on title
Mortgage discharge and payout statements
Commission and adjustment accounting
Release of net proceeds on closing
Refinancing and new mortgages
Whether you are moving lenders, taking equity out, or adding a second charge, we handle the registration and the discharge that follows it.
Lender instructions and compliance
Registration of the new charge
Discharge of the prior mortgage
Independent legal advice where a lender requires it
Private and alternative lender transactions
Title transfers
Adding a spouse, removing a name, transferring to family, or updating title after a death. Each one carries tax and mortgage consequences worth understanding first.
Adding or removing an owner
Transfers between family members
Survivorship applications after a death
Land transfer tax and mortgage implications
Severances and related registrations
New construction and builder purchases
Builder agreements are written for the builder. We read yours as early as we can, and where a statutory rescission right applies, inside that window, while there is still something you can do about it.
Review within any applicable statutory review or rescission period
Interim occupancy and final closing costs
Delayed closing and Tarion protections
Assignment and amendment provisions
HST rebate eligibility
In-person and remote signing
In-person signing at our Thornhill office is our standard approach, and remote identity verification and document signing are available if you prefer. Remote signing changes how you meet with us, not the lawyer-led legal work performed on your closing.
In-person signing at our Thornhill office
Remote identity verification
Electronic signing of closing documents
Electronic registration and funds transfer
Remote signing for clients elsewhere in Ontario or temporarily away
How a closing runs with Garrison
Five stages, and you hear from us at each one. Clear communication is part of how we run a closing.
Send us the agreement
As soon as your offer is firm, or earlier if it is still conditional, send it over. The sooner we see it, the more room there is to act on what we find.
We review and search
We read the agreement, search title, and run the off-title searches that apply to the property and the municipality it sits in.
Lender and requisition work
We take instructions from your lender, raise or answer requisitions, and resolve anything on title before it becomes a closing-day problem.
Signing
In-person signing at our Thornhill office is our standard approach. If you prefer, remote identity verification and document signing are also available. Either way, we take you through the documents before anything is signed.
Closing day
Funds move, the transfer registers, and we confirm the moment it is done. You are told the same day, not the following week.
Service areas
We act across Ontario.
The tax, the title questions, and the searches genuinely differ from one municipality to the next. For the cities below we have set out what is locally specific about a closing.
On a purchase: reviews the agreement, searches title and the off-title records, deals with your lender, prepares the statement of adjustments, and registers the transfer so the property is legally yours. On a sale: answers the buyer's requisitions, discharges your mortgage, and accounts for the proceeds. In Ontario, the transfer cannot be registered without a lawyer, so the question is not whether you will use one but how early you involve them.
Can we close without meeting in person?
Yes. In-person signing at our Thornhill office is our standard approach, but remote identity verification and document signing are also available if you prefer. Remote signing changes how you meet with us, not the lawyer-led legal work performed on your closing.
When should I involve a lawyer in the transaction?
Before the agreement is firm, wherever that is possible. Once conditions are waived, the agreement governs, and the room to negotiate or withdraw is gone. New construction is worth separating out: a purchase of a new or pre-construction condominium unit from the declarant carries a statutory rescission period under Ontario's condominium legislation, and that window is short. A freehold new build does not carry the same statutory right, so whatever review period exists comes from the agreement itself. In both cases the answer is the same: send it to us immediately.
Do you act for my lender as well as for me?
Usually, yes. On most residential mortgages the lender instructs the same firm acting for the buyer, which keeps the transaction efficient and avoids duplicated fees. Where a lender requires separate independent legal advice, or where a conflict makes joint representation inappropriate, we will tell you at the outset.
Do you act on properties outside these cities?
Yes. Garrison acts on real estate transactions across Ontario. The cities listed here are the ones we have written up, because what is locally specific about a closing differs from one municipality to the next. You can sign at our Thornhill office, or use remote identity verification and document signing if you prefer.
Planning a purchase, sale or refinance?
Tell us about your transaction and receive a personalized closing estimate by the next business day.