Adding or removing someone from title on your Ontario home

No. Even a transfer for $0, like adding a new spouse after marriage or an adult child for estate planning, is a registered transfer of land. Your lawyer prepares and registers it, checks for existing liens or mortgages, and confirms which land transfer tax rules apply.

It depends who's involved. Ontario land transfer tax is calculated on the value of consideration, which includes any mortgage the new owner is taking on. Transfers between spouses are generally exempt under Ontario Regulation 696 when the only consideration, apart from natural love and affection, is taking on a mortgage already registered on the property. For this tax, spouse includes a common-law partner you've lived with for at least three years. Transfers between non-spouses, like a parent adding an adult child, don't get that exemption, and tax applies on any mortgage amount assumed even though no cash changes hands. Separately, if there's a mortgage on the property, you almost always need the lender's consent before adding or removing an owner. Skipping this step can put you in default.

Adding a non-spouse, like an adult child, as a joint owner can mean the Canada Revenue Agency treats part of the property as having been sold to them at fair market value, which can trigger capital gains tax even though no money changed hands. Your principal residence exemption may not fully protect your child's share if they own another home.

For the share added, generally yes, since a joint tenant's interest passes automatically to the survivor by right of survivorship rather than through a will. See our page on joint tenancy versus tenants in common for the risks, including exposure to the new owner's creditors or a relationship breakdown.

If you're married and the home is your matrimonial home, the Family Law Act requires your spouse's consent before you can sell it, transfer it, or put a new mortgage on it, even if only your name is on title. This rule covers married spouses, not common-law partners. A court can set aside a transfer done without that consent, unless the new owner paid for it in good faith without knowing it was a matrimonial home. Separately, if a deceased owner held title as a joint tenant, the survivor generally applies to register a survivorship application with a certified copy of the death certificate, rather than going through the estate. If the deceased held their share as a tenant in common, their share instead passes through their estate and probate.