Glossary
Ottawa property terms, in plain language
Every term this site uses, defined once and written the way people actually search for it. 102 entries — filter by what you're doing, or jump to a letter.
How to use this: definitions are short on purpose — enough to unblock you mid-sentence, not a substitute for the guide that covers the subject properly. Where one of ours goes deeper, the entry links to it. Nothing here is legal or financial advice, and figures that change annually are described rather than quoted, so check the current number at its source.
- Above-guideline increase
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An increase beyond the annual guideline, which a landlord must apply for and justify — typically for major capital work. Tenants are entitled to notice and to respond.
Also called: AGI
- Adjustments
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The closing-day apportioning of prepaid or unpaid items — property tax, utilities, condo fees — between seller and buyer. On new builds, adjustments can also carry development levies and connection charges, which is where the price quietly grows.
Also called: closing adjustments · statement of adjustments
- Agreement of purchase and sale
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The contract to buy a property — price, closing date, what is included, and any conditions. On a resale it is usually a standard industry form; on a new build it is the builder's own form, which is a materially different document.
Also called: APS · purchase agreement
- Amortisation
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The total time it would take to pay a mortgage down to zero. A longer amortisation lowers the monthly payment and raises the total interest paid over the life of the loan.
Also called: amortization · amortisation period
- Appraisal
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A valuation ordered by a lender to confirm the property supports the loan. It is the lender's report, not yours, even where you pay for it — and it is not a home inspection.
Also called: appraised value · how is a house valued
- Assignment (new build)
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Selling your purchase contract to someone else before closing, rather than selling the finished home. Builders restrict it, and the tax treatment is not the same as an ordinary resale.
Also called: assignment sale · assign my contract · flipping a new build
- Assignment (tenancy)
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A tenant transfers the tenancy to someone else permanently and moves out for good. Different from a sublet, and it requires the landlord's involvement.
- Base price
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The advertised price for a base specification on an unspecified lot. Lot premium, upgrades, closing adjustments and how HST is treated all sit between it and what you actually pay.
Also called: starting from price
- Benchmark price
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A modelled price for a typical home of a given type in a given area. More stable than an average, because it is not distorted by a few unusual sales.
- Bridge financing
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Short-term borrowing that covers the gap when your purchase closes before your sale does, so you are not required to have the sale proceeds in hand on the earlier date.
Also called: bridge loan
- Buyer representation agreement
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The contract engaging a brokerage to act for you as a buyer — its length, its geographic scope, and how the brokerage is paid.
Also called: BRA · buyer agreement
- Buyer's market
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More supply than demand: listings accumulate, time on market lengthens, and buyers have room to negotiate and to keep conditions.
- Capital gains
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The taxable gain on a property that is not fully covered by the principal residence exemption — a rental, a second property, or a home that was not your residence throughout.
- Chattels
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Movable items — appliances, curtains, a shed that is not fixed down. They transfer only if listed in the agreement, which is why the included/excluded lines matter more than they look.
Also called: what stays with the house
- Clearance certificate
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The certificate a non-resident seller obtains in connection with a sale. Until it is issued, the buyer's side normally withholds part of the price at closing.
- Closing date
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The day title transfers and the money changes hands. On a new build this date can move, and the agreement — not the conversation — governs what happens when it does.
Also called: completion date
- CMHC
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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — a federal body, and one of the providers of mortgage default insurance. It is frequently assumed to protect homeowners; the insurance protects the lender.
Also called: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
- Commission
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The fee paid to the brokerage or brokerages on a sale, usually a percentage of the price plus tax. It is negotiable, and what it covers varies — ask what is included rather than only what the rate is.
Also called: real estate commission · agent fees · how much commission
- Common elements
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The parts of a condominium shared by all owners — lobbies, corridors, roof, grounds, mechanical systems. Maintained through the condo fees.
- Comparables
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Recent sales of genuinely similar properties, adjusted for their differences, used to estimate what a home is worth. The evidence behind a price — ask to see them rather than the conclusion drawn from them.
Also called: comps · comparable sales
- Conditional offer
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An offer that only becomes binding if stated conditions are satisfied within set times — commonly financing, a home inspection, or review of a status certificate. Until then either side's obligation is incomplete.
Also called: condition · subject to financing · subject to inspection
- Condo board
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The directors elected by owners to run the corporation — setting the budget, enforcing the rules and commissioning major work.
Also called: board of directors
- Condo fees
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The monthly charge covering a condominium's common expenses — building insurance, shared utilities, management, upkeep of common elements, and contributions to the reserve fund. A low fee is not automatically good news.
Also called: maintenance fees · what do condo fees cover
- Condominium
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A form of ownership, not a building type: you own your unit and share the common elements with the other owners through a corporation. Apartments, townhouses and even detached homes can all be condominium.
Also called: condo tenure · freehold vs condo
- Days on market
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How long a listing has been for sale. A useful signal, but it resets when a property is relisted, so a low number is not always a new listing.
Also called: DOM · time on market
- Delayed closing
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When a freehold new build's closing date moves. Ontario's new-home warranty sets out notice requirements and compensation in defined circumstances.
- Delayed occupancy
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The condominium equivalent of delayed closing — when the date you are due to take occupancy moves.
- Deposit
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Money paid shortly after an offer is accepted, held in trust, and credited towards the purchase price on closing. It signals commitment — and it is at risk if the buyer walks away without a condition to rely on.
- Deposit protection
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The coverage standing behind new-build deposits if a builder fails to complete. What protects the money differs between freehold and condominium purchases, and both are capped.
- Deposit vs down payment
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The deposit is paid soon after an offer is accepted and is held in trust; the down payment is your total contribution to the price. The deposit counts towards it — it is not an extra sum on top.
Also called: difference between deposit and down payment
- Design studio
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The appointment where you choose finishes room by room and sign a selections sheet. Structural decisions usually close before it, because framing has to be drawn before it can be built.
Also called: design appointment · design centre
- Development charges
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Municipal charges on new development. On a new build they are commonly passed to the buyer through closing adjustments — ask whether they are capped, and at what.
Also called: levies · development levies
- Discharge fee
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The lender's administrative charge for removing its mortgage from the title when the loan is paid out — usually on a sale.
- Down payment
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The share of the purchase price you pay yourself rather than borrow. Distinct from the deposit, which is one part of it paid much earlier.
- Easement
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A right for someone else to use part of your land for a defined purpose — a utility corridor, a shared driveway, a drainage route. It stays with the land when it changes hands.
- Exclusive listing
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A listing marketed within a brokerage rather than published broadly. It narrows who sees the property, so if it is proposed, ask specifically what it means for the pool of buyers.
- Exclusive-use common element
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A common element only one unit may use — typically a balcony, terrace, locker or parking space. You do not own it outright, and the corporation's rules still govern it.
Also called: exclusive use
- FHSA
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First Home Savings Account — a registered account intended for a first down payment. Eligibility, contribution room and deadlines all have conditions; check them against your own situation rather than a summary.
Also called: First Home Savings Account
- Firm offer
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An offer with no conditions attached. Once accepted it is binding immediately, with no inspection or financing escape — which is why waiving conditions transfers real risk onto the buyer.
Also called: unconditional offer · no conditions
- Fixtures
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Items attached to the property — light fittings, built-in shelving, a mounted television bracket. They generally transfer with the property unless specifically excluded.
- Freehold
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You own the land and the building on it outright, and you are responsible for all of it. No condo fees, and no corporation deciding when the roof gets replaced.
- FSBO
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For sale by owner — selling without a brokerage. It saves the commission and moves every task to you: pricing, marketing, showings, negotiation and paperwork.
Also called: for sale by owner · sell without an agent · private sale
- Gifted down payment
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Down-payment money from family. Lenders generally require the source to be documented and confirmed as a gift rather than a loan, which means the arrangement has to be stated plainly — worth agreeing in writing early.
Also called: gift letter · family help with down payment
- HCRA
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The Home Construction Regulatory Authority — licenses Ontario's new-home builders and runs the Ontario Builder Directory. Frequently confused with Tarion, which administers the warranty.
Also called: Home Construction Regulatory Authority · Ontario Builder Directory
- Holdback
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Money retained at closing, usually by a lawyer, until something is finished or corrected — landscaping not yet done, a repair outstanding. Released when the condition is met.
- Holdover clause
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A term meaning commission may still be payable after the listing ends, if the property sells to someone introduced during it. Check how long it runs and how "introduced" is defined.
- Home Buyers' Plan
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Withdrawing from an RRSP towards a first home. The withdrawal has to be repaid over time, which is the part most often forgotten when the money is treated as simply available.
Also called: HBP · RRSP withdrawal for a home
- Home inspection
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A visual, non-invasive assessment of a home's condition by an inspector you engage directly. One of the few people in a purchase paid whether or not you buy — which makes it worth hiring your own and attending.
Also called: inspector · what does an inspection cover
- HPI
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Home Price Index — the model the benchmark price comes from, designed to track change in a comparable home over time rather than change in what happened to sell.
Also called: Home Price Index
- Interim occupancy
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On a condominium, the period when you live in the unit before title transfers and before your mortgage begins. You pay an occupancy fee during it.
Also called: occupancy period
- Irrevocable
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The deadline until which an offer stays open for the other side to accept. After it passes the offer lapses and cannot be accepted.
Also called: irrevocable date · offer deadline
- Key deposit
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A refundable amount for keys or fobs, limited to the reasonable cost of replacing them. Anything beyond that is not a key deposit.
- Land transfer tax
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A tax calculated on the purchase price and payable at closing. First-time buyers may be eligible for a rebate.
Also called: LTT
- Landlord and Tenant Board
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The tribunal that decides disputes between landlords and tenants. Its forms are the N-series (landlord notices) and T-series (tenant applications).
Also called: LTB
- Legal unit
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A unit that meets the applicable zoning and building requirements for a separate dwelling. "It has always been rented" is not the same thing as permitted.
Also called: permitted unit · is the basement legal
- Listing agreement
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The contract engaging a brokerage to sell your property: how long it runs, what the fee is, how it can be ended, and what survives it. The document sellers read least and are bound by most.
- Months of inventory
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How long it would take to sell everything currently listed at the current pace of sales. The single most useful number for telling a buyer's market from a seller's one.
- Mortgage default insurance
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Required where the down payment is below the conventional threshold. It protects the lender, not you, if the borrower defaults — and the premium is normally added to the mortgage, so it is borrowed and carries interest.
Also called: mortgage insurance · CMHC insurance · high ratio mortgage
- Multiple representation
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One brokerage — sometimes one person — representing both buyer and seller. It must be disclosed and agreed in writing, and it restricts what can be told to each side, because the same firm cannot advance both positions at once.
Also called: dual agency · same brokerage both sides
- N1
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The notice a landlord uses to increase rent, with the required amount of advance notice.
Also called: notice of rent increase
- N12
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The notice used when the landlord, a purchaser, or a close family member intends to occupy the unit. It carries conditions and compensation requirements, and misuse has consequences.
Also called: landlord own use · buyer own use
- N4
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The notice given for non-payment of rent. Receiving one is not an eviction — it starts a process with defined steps and timelines.
Also called: notice for non-payment
- Net proceeds
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What actually reaches you after commission and its tax, legal fees, mortgage payout or penalty, and closing adjustments. The number worth working out before you list, not after.
Also called: what will I walk away with · what do I get after selling
- Newer building exception
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Units first occupied after a set date fall outside the rent increase guideline, meaning increases are not capped in the same way. Worth confirming which side of it a unit falls on before signing.
Also called: rent control exemption
- Non-resident seller
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A seller who is not a resident of Canada for tax purposes. Different withholding and reporting requirements apply, and they affect the closing itself — raise it with your lawyer early.
Also called: selling from abroad
- Notice of entry
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The written notice a landlord must give before entering a unit, stating the reason and time, except in defined situations such as an emergency.
- NRST
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Ontario's non-resident speculation tax, which applies on certain purchases where a buyer is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Separate from land transfer tax and from the federal purchase restrictions.
Also called: non-resident speculation tax · foreign buyer tax
- Occupancy fee
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The monthly amount paid during interim occupancy. It is not a mortgage payment and builds no equity — it covers interest, estimated taxes and common expenses.
- Outside date
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The last date by which the builder must close or give occupancy, as set out in the agreement. Ask what it is, and where it is written, before you sign.
Also called: final date · critical dates
- Phantom rent
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The everyday name for the occupancy fee, so called because the money goes out monthly and nothing is paid down.
- Porting a mortgage
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Moving an existing mortgage to a new property instead of breaking it, so the rate and terms carry over. Conditions and timing rules vary by lender.
Also called: port my mortgage
- Pre-approval
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A lender's conditional statement of how much it is willing to lend, usually holding a rate for a set period. It is a ceiling, not a promise — and not the final approval, which comes later and depends on the property as well as on you.
Also called: pre-approved · pre approval
- Pre-delivery inspection (PDI)
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The formal walkthrough with the builder before you take possession, where deficiencies are recorded on a form. Your one structured look at the house before it is yours.
Also called: PDI · pre delivery inspection
- Prepayment penalty
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A charge for paying a mortgage off or down ahead of schedule. It commonly applies when you sell part-way through a term, and it can be far larger than sellers expect — ask your lender for the figure before you list.
Also called: mortgage penalty · breaking your mortgage
- Principal residence exemption
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Relief from tax on the gain when you sell a home that qualifies as your principal residence. Conditions apply, and the sale still has to be reported.
Also called: PRE · tax when I sell
- Qualifying rate
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The higher rate used in the stress test to work out what you can borrow. It is not the rate you pay.
- Rent deposit
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The deposit a landlord may lawfully collect, applied to the final month of the tenancy. It is not a damage deposit — those are not permitted for residential tenancies in Ontario.
Also called: last month's rent · first and last
- Rent increase guideline
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The annual percentage cap that applies to most rent increases in Ontario. It is set each year, so check the current figure rather than relying on last year's.
Also called: guideline increase · rent control
- Rescission period
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A short window after signing a pre-construction condominium agreement in which the buyer may cancel. Freehold purchases carry no equivalent statutory cooling-off period — which is why a freehold agreement has to be reviewed *before* signing.
Also called: cooling off period · ten day rescission
- Reserve fund
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Savings held by the corporation for major repairs and replacements — roof, windows, elevators. A fund that is underfunded relative to its study is the usual precursor to a special assessment.
- Residential Tenancies Act
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The legislation governing most residential tenancies in Ontario — what may be charged, how rent rises, how a tenancy may lawfully end, and what each side owes the other.
Also called: RTA · tenancy law
- Secondary suite
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A self-contained second dwelling within a house. Whether it is a permitted unit affects safety requirements, insurance, financing and how secure a tenancy in it actually is.
Also called: basement apartment · in-law suite
- Selections
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The finish choices recorded at the design studio and written onto a selections sheet — the document that tells the site what to build, and the one you check the finished house against.
Also called: selections sheet · finishes · colour selections
- Seller's market
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More demand than supply: listings move quickly, competing offers are common, and pressure builds on buyers to waive conditions — which is where risk shifts.
- Semi-detached
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Two homes sharing one common wall, each normally on its own lot.
Also called: semi · what is a semi
- Severance
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Dividing one parcel of land into separate lots. It requires municipal approval and is not a formality — assume nothing about a lot being divisible.
Also called: splitting a lot
- Special assessment
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A one-off charge levied on owners when the reserve fund cannot cover necessary work. It can be substantial, and it is payable whether or not you were the owner when the problem arose.
- Stacked townhouse
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Townhouse-style units stacked so some sit above others, each with its own entrance. Common in newer Ottawa developments and usually condominium.
Also called: stacked town
- Staging
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Preparing and furnishing a home so it presents well in photographs and viewings. Sold alongside a listing, sometimes at cost and sometimes not — ask who is paid when you say yes.
Also called: home staging · stage an empty home
- Standard lease
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Ontario's prescribed residential lease form, required for most tenancies. Extra terms appended to it are not enforceable simply because they have been written in.
Also called: standard form of lease · Ontario standard lease
- Status certificate
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A package of documents on a condominium's finances, rules, insurance, reserve fund and any known issues or litigation. Obtained before buying, and normally reviewed by your lawyer under a condition.
Also called: estoppel certificate · status cert
- Stress test
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Qualifying you at a higher rate than the one you will actually pay, to check the payment would still be affordable if rates rose.
Also called: mortgage stress test
- Sublet
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A tenant lets someone else occupy the unit for a period, intending to return. The original tenant remains responsible to the landlord.
- T2
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A tenant application to the Board about a landlord interfering with their rights — illegal entry, harassment, or withheld services.
- T6
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A tenant application to the Board about maintenance — repairs not done, or conditions the landlord is obliged to remedy.
- Tarion
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Administers Ontario's new-home warranty — deposit protection, compensation where closing or occupancy is delayed, and defined coverage after possession. It is not the builder's licensing body.
Also called: new home warranty · tarion warranty
- Term (mortgage term)
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The length of your current contract with the lender — the rate and conditions you are locked into — after which you renew. Not the same thing as the amortisation.
Also called: five year term
- Title insurance
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A policy covering defects in title and certain related risks, usually arranged through your lawyer at closing. Commonly bought at the end of a long signing appointment — worth understanding before that meeting rather than in it.
- Townhouse
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A home in a row, sharing side walls with its neighbours. May be freehold or condominium — the tenure matters more than the shape.
Also called: row house · town home
- Upgrade
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Anything above the builder's base specification, priced separately. A model home is typically upgraded throughout, which is what makes the base specification feel like a downgrade when you see it.
Also called: builder upgrades · what upgrades are worth it
- Zoning
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The municipal rules setting what may be built on a piece of land and how it may be used. The City is the source for what can appear on the empty land near a new community — not the sales centre.
No term matches that. Try a shorter word, or search the whole site — the guides use plenty of words this list doesn't.
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