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JulHow Much Does Title Insurance Cost in Ontario? (2026 Guide)
If you’re buying a home in Ontario, title insurance is one of the line items you’ll spot on your statement of adjustments near closing — and one of the few that buyers rarely recognize. You know what a down payment is and what land transfer tax is, but “title insurance premium” tends to prompt the same two questions: what is this for, and why is the amount what it is? This guide answers the cost side of that question for 2026. For what the coverage actually includes and excludes, see our companion guide, Title Insurance in Ontario: What It Covers and What It Doesn’t.
In short: title insurance in Ontario is a one-time premium, paid once at closing, that scales with your property’s purchase price. For a typical resale home, an owner’s policy commonly runs about $250 to $350 on a $700,000 purchase, and the premium rises as the purchase price rises. There’s no annual fee and no renewal cost, and coverage lasts as long as you own the home. Because the insurer sets the exact premium from your specific purchase price and property, your real estate lawyer confirms the precise figure on your statement of adjustments before you close.
Figures reflect typical Ontario residential title-insurance rates; the premium is set by the insurer and varies by transaction. You can check an estimate with a title insurer’s rate calculator, such as FCT’s residential quote calculator, and Ontario’s regulator — the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) — publishes consumer guidance on title insurance.
What Determines the Cost of Title Insurance in Ontario?
Title insurance isn’t priced like most insurance you know. There’s no monthly premium and no annual renewal — you pay a single premium once, at closing, and the coverage stays in force without any further payments.
What that one-time premium works out to depends on a few things:
- Your purchase price. This is the main driver. Title insurers set residential premiums on a scale tied to the property’s value, so a higher-priced home carries a higher premium because the policy insures a larger interest. It’s not a percentage of your income and not a single flat fee for everyone — it steps up with price.
- Which policy (or policies) you buy. An owner’s policy and a lender’s policy are priced differently, and many buyers end up with both (more on that below).
- The property and transaction type. A residential resale, a new build, and a condominium can be underwritten slightly differently, and certain add-ons or higher-risk situations can affect the figure.
As a benchmark, an owner’s policy on a typical Ontario resale home is generally a few hundred dollars — commonly around $250 to $350 on a $700,000 purchase — and rises from there with the price. Because the premium is calculated by the title insurer for your specific file, the reliable way to “calculate” your exact cost isn’t a formula you run yourself — it’s the quote your real estate lawyer obtains from the insurer while preparing your closing, which then appears on your statement of adjustments.
Owner’s Policy vs. Lender’s Policy: Cost Breakdown
There are two kinds of residential title insurance policy, and they cost different amounts because they protect different things.
A lender’s policy protects your mortgage lender. It covers the lender’s interest — essentially the outstanding loan balance — and if you’re financing your purchase, your lender will require one. Because it insures only the loan amount rather than your full stake in the property, the lender’s policy is generally the cheaper of the two.
An owner’s policy protects you, the buyer. It covers your ownership interest up to the purchase price of the home — your full equity, not just the mortgage — which is why an owner’s policy generally costs more than a lender’s policy on the same property.
Here’s the part that saves most buyers money: when a lender’s policy is already being issued, adding the owner’s policy at the same time usually costs only a modest amount on top, rather than a second full premium. Much of the title work and underwriting is already being done for the lender’s policy, so the incremental cost to protect yourself as well is small relative to buying an owner’s policy on its own. For most buyers, that makes the owner’s policy an easy decision.
How Long Does Title Insurance Last in Ontario?
One reason title insurance is considered good value is that a single premium buys long-lasting protection.
An owner’s policy stays in force for as long as you own the property — and many policies continue to protect your heirs if the property passes to them. There’s no renewal, no expiry tied to a term, and no annual premium to keep it active. You pay once and stay covered for your entire period of ownership.
A lender’s policy lasts for the life of the mortgage it insures. Once that mortgage is discharged, the policy has done its job.
So unlike home insurance, which you renew every year, title insurance is bought once and doesn’t come back as a recurring cost.
How Do You Buy Title Insurance in Ontario?
Title insurance isn’t something you shop for on your own the way you’d compare home or auto insurance quotes. In Ontario, it’s arranged through your real estate lawyer as part of closing.
Here’s how it works in practice: once you have a firm deal, your lawyer runs the usual title searches, identifies any issues, and orders the title insurance policy from the insurer on your behalf. The premium is built into your closing costs and shown on your statement of adjustments, and it’s paid at closing along with your other closing funds. You don’t need to contact an insurer directly or fill out an application yourself — your lawyer handles the ordering, the underwriting questions, and the paperwork.
This is one reason it helps to have an experienced real estate lawyer on your file from the start. If you’re buying, selling, or refinancing in Brampton or across the GTA, our real estate law team handles title insurance as a routine part of every closing. Title insurance is also just one line among several in your total closing costs — our guide to closing costs for first-time home buyers in Ontario puts it in context.
Who Sells Title Insurance in Ontario?
Residential title insurance in Ontario comes from a small number of established insurers. The four you’re most likely to encounter are:
- FCT (First Canadian Title) — the largest title insurer in Canada by volume.
- Stewart Title — a major insurer with a strong Canadian presence.
- Chicago Title — part of the Fidelity National Financial group.
- TitlePlus — offered through LawPRO, the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company.
In practice, you don’t choose the insurer off a shelf — your real estate lawyer works with one or more of these providers and orders the policy that fits your transaction. Differences between providers tend to show up in coverage nuances and service rather than in dramatic price swings, since residential premiums across insurers are broadly comparable for a given purchase price.
Is Title Insurance Worth the Cost?
For a one-time premium, title insurance protects the single largest asset most people own against a category of risks that are otherwise very expensive to fix: title fraud, unknown liens or work orders, survey and boundary problems, and defects in prior ownership that a search might not catch. On many transactions it also removes the need for an up-to-date survey, which can offset part of its cost.
That combination — a modest, one-time premium set against your full ownership interest, protected for as long as you own the home — is why the large majority of Ontario buyers purchase an owner’s policy, and why lenders insist on a lender’s policy before advancing a mortgage. Whether you strictly need it, and which coverage makes sense for your situation, is worth a short conversation with your lawyer. For the full picture of what a policy does and doesn’t cover, read Title Insurance in Ontario: What It Covers and What It Doesn’t.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does title insurance cost in Ontario?
Title insurance in Ontario is a one-time premium paid at closing that scales with your property’s purchase price. For a typical resale home, an owner’s policy commonly costs about $250 to $350 on a $700,000 purchase, rising with the purchase price, with no annual or renewal cost. Those are typical Ontario insurer rates; your real estate lawyer confirms the exact figure on your statement of adjustments before you close, and you can also estimate it with a title insurer’s rate calculator such as FCT’s.
How is the cost of title insurance calculated?
Residential title insurance premiums are set by the title insurer on a scale tied to your property’s purchase price — not as a percentage of your income or a single flat fee. The policy type (owner’s, lender’s, or both) and the nature of the property also affect the figure. It’s calculated once and paid once, with no ongoing premium. Your lawyer obtains the exact quote from the insurer while preparing your closing.
Is an owner’s policy or a lender’s policy more expensive?
An owner’s policy generally costs more than a lender’s policy on the same property. A lender’s policy insures only the outstanding mortgage balance, while an owner’s policy protects your full ownership interest up to the purchase price. When both are issued together, adding the owner’s policy usually costs only a modest amount on top of the lender’s policy, because most of the underlying title work is already being done.
Do I need title insurance in Ontario, or can I decline it?
An owner’s title insurance policy isn’t legally mandatory, so a buyer can decline it — but it’s strongly recommended and, in practice, purchased on the large majority of Ontario transactions. If you’re financing your purchase, your lender will require a lender’s policy as a condition of the mortgage, so that policy is effectively mandatory whenever a loan is involved.
How long does a title insurance policy last in Ontario?
An owner’s policy lasts for as long as you own the property, and many policies extend protection to your heirs — all for the single premium you pay at closing, with no renewal. A lender’s policy lasts for the life of the mortgage it insures and ends when that mortgage is discharged. Title insurance is a one-time purchase, not a recurring annual cost.
Where do you buy title insurance in Ontario?
You buy title insurance through your real estate lawyer as part of closing, not directly from an insurer or off a comparison website. Your lawyer searches title, orders the policy from a title insurer such as FCT, Stewart Title, Chicago Title, or TitlePlus, and includes the premium in your closing costs. It appears on your statement of adjustments and is paid at closing.
The Bottom Line
Title insurance in Ontario is a one-time premium, paid at closing, that scales with your home’s purchase price — commonly around $250 to $350 for an owner’s policy on a $700,000 resale home, with no renewals and no annual fees, and coverage that lasts as long as you own the property. Because the insurer prices each policy to the specific transaction, the exact figure comes from the quote your real estate lawyer obtains for your file and shows on your statement of adjustments. If you’d like that number for your own purchase — and a lawyer who treats title insurance as a routine part of a clean closing — book a consultation with GS Arora Law.
This article is general legal information about Ontario real estate law in 2026 and is not legal advice. For advice on your specific transaction, speak with a lawyer.
GS Arora, Lawyer & Notary Public. Brampton, Ontario.