Real Estate Lawyers For Your Most Important Transaction
Buying or selling property in Ontario or Alberta is one of the largest financial decisions of your life. Our real estate lawyers ensure every detail is right before you sign anything.
Acts on residential and commercial real estate across Ontario and Alberta. Experience with complex transactions and investment portfolios.
Josephine Lam
Closing Manager
Manages the closing process from start to finish, title searches, documentation, funds coordination, and registration. Fluent in English and Cantonese.
Monique Chanderpaul
Closing Manager, Corporate
Manages corporate real estate closings, commercial transactions, and title documentation. Coordinates funds, registration, and compliance for business and investment properties.
We believe you deserve straight answers, not vague promises. Most matters qualify for a complimentary 15-minute initial assessment.
How much does a real estate lawyer cost in Ontario?
Standard residential closing fees range from $900 to $2,000 plus disbursements for most purchases and sales. Commercial real estate and complex transactions vary. We provide transparent quotes upfront with no hidden fees. Contact us at 416-333-6200 for a specific estimate based on your transaction.
Do I need a lawyer to close real estate in Ontario?
Yes, Ontario law requires a lawyer for all real estate closings. The lawyer reviews documents, conducts title and survey searches, ensures compliance with the Land Titles Act, arranges financing, verifies funds, conducts the closing, and registers your deed. Even if your lender didn't require legal representation, having a lawyer protects your interests.
What is title insurance and do I need it?
Title insurance protects you against financial loss from title defects that existed before you purchased the property. This includes fraud, forgery, undisclosed liens, missing wills, and boundary disputes. While it's not mandatory under Ontario law, it is strongly recommended, especially if the property has a complex ownership history or is older. We review title and advise whether title insurance is appropriate for your purchase.
What is a condo purchase agreement and what should I know?
Condominium purchases in Ontario are governed by the Condominium Act and require special review. We examine the declaration, bylaws, financial statements, reserve fund study, and status certificate. These documents reveal special assessments, upcoming repairs, and restrictions on your unit. Unlike houses governed by the Land Titles Act, condos have additional protections and obligations that must be understood before closing.
What happens during a real estate closing?
At closing, we coordinate the final steps: arranging mortgage funds, conducting the title search, confirming utility adjustments, preparing the deed transfer, and verifying all closing costs. We attend the closing meeting, transfer funds to the seller's lawyer, register your deed at the land titles office, and ensure you receive full documentation. The entire process typically takes 30 to 60 minutes, though logistics may extend over one business day.
What are the differences between freehold and leasehold properties?
A freehold property means you own the land and building indefinitely. A leasehold property means you own the structure for a set period (often 99 years) but not the land. As leases decline in remaining years, property value and mortgage availability decrease. Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act and the Land Titles Act govern these differently. We advise on the implications of leasehold terms, renewal rights, and long-term financial impact before you purchase.
Important Notice: Contacting us does not establish a solicitor-client relationship. Such a relationship is only formed when the firm has expressly confirmed in writing its agreement to act on your behalf.
Consultation Fees: The complimentary 15-minute initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation to understand your situation and explain how we may be able to help. It does not include a review of your documents, and no legal advice is given during it. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed to you in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain us. Your documents are reviewed and legal advice is given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises until confirmed in writing.
* Response times may be longer when our lawyers are in trial, on statutory holidays or weekends, or in the event of unforeseen circumstances. We will always reply within 48 hours. For urgent matters, call +1 416 333 6200 . Answered 24/7.
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Residential and commercial closings, refinancing and title insurance
Client Stories
Hear From Our Real Estate Clients
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4.8★★★★★
Based on 270+ Google Reviews
“I had the absolute pleasure of working with two lawyers from Lexaltico on different matters. The level of professionalism, expertise, and care was consistently exceptional. They take the time to thoroughly understand your situation and proactively problem-solve.”
“We had the pleasure of working with Josephine Lam and Jia Junaid as our closing real estate lawyers and we could not have asked for a better experience. Both Josephine and Jia are incredibly professional, knowledgeable and thorough. They took the time to explain everything clearly, assisted us through each step with patience and always made themselves available to answer our questions.”
Shabana Khan
★★★★★
“Jia and her team were extremely helpful, easy to work with and understand. They allowed the process of selling our house and purchasing a new one to be smooth and painless! The fact that we were able to meet virtually was very helpful. This team is wonderful and I would definitely recommend using their services!”
Penny-Lee Caruana
WHAT A REAL ESTATE LAWYER ACTUALLY DOES
The Work Happens Before Closing Day
Most people meet their real estate lawyer at the end of the process, sign a stack of documents in twenty minutes and conclude that the role is clerical. The visible part is clerical. The part that protects you happens in the weeks before, when title is searched, when the agreement is read against what the searches disclose, and when problems are found while there is still time to do something about them.
Ontario land is recorded under the Land Titles Act and, for older parcels, the Registry Act, and registration is electronic. A title search establishes who owns the property, what is registered against it, and whether anything encumbers it that the seller did not mention. Mortgages that were paid but never discharged. An easement running through the side yard. A lien registered by a contractor. A restriction on use that makes the buyer's plans impossible.
The single most valuable moment in a residential transaction is before the agreement of purchase and sale is signed, and it is the moment most often skipped. Once the agreement is firm your lawyer is working within terms someone else negotiated. Fifteen minutes of review beforehand costs very little and is the cheapest protection available in the entire transaction.
BUYING
Conditions, Searches and the Things That Go Wrong
A conditional agreement gives you a defined period to satisfy yourself on financing, inspection, or in the case of a condominium, review of the status certificate. Those conditions exist for your benefit and they are the only structured opportunity to walk away. Waiving them to make an offer more attractive is a commercial decision with legal consequences, and it should be made knowingly rather than in the momentum of a bidding process.
For a condominium the status certificate is the document that matters. It discloses the corporation's financial position, the state of the reserve fund, whether a special assessment is contemplated, whether there is litigation, and whether the unit is in arrears. A reserve fund that is thin today becomes a special assessment tomorrow, and that assessment lands on whoever owns the unit when it is levied. Reading it properly is not optional.
Pre construction purchases run on entirely different rules. There is a statutory cooling off period for new condominiums, deposits are protected in defined ways, occupancy and final closing are separate events months or years apart, and the builder's amendments are drafted for the builder. Assignments add another layer, since the right to assign is a contractual permission that the builder controls and frequently charges for.
Failed closings are the situation nobody plans for. A buyer whose financing collapses, a seller who cannot deliver clear title, a discharge that does not arrive from a lender in time. The consequences depend on the agreement and on who is in breach, and they can extend well beyond the lost deposit. The moment it becomes clear a closing is in doubt is the moment to call, not the day after.
SELLING AND REFINANCING
Getting Clear Title Out the Door
On a sale the lawyer's task is to deliver what the agreement promised, which means clearing everything registered against the property and satisfying the buyer's requisitions. Payout statements have to be obtained, discharges arranged, and adjustments calculated for taxes, utilities and condominium fees so that each party pays for the period they actually own.
Sellers are often surprised by what has to come off title. A line of credit secured against the home and long since forgotten. A support order registered by a former spouse. A judgment from a business dispute. Each takes time to clear, and the time is measured in the lender's or the creditor's schedule, not yours. Starting a week before closing is starting too late.
Refinancing looks simpler and is not always. Where an existing lender is being replaced, the timing of the discharge and the advance has to be coordinated, and where a private lender is involved the terms deserve reading rather than skimming. Private mortgage terms vary widely, and the cost of default under them can be substantially higher than under an institutional charge.
WHEN A MORTGAGE GOES WRONG
Power of Sale and the Clock It Starts
Ontario lenders overwhelmingly enforce by power of sale rather than by foreclosure, and the process is governed by the Mortgages Act. It begins with a notice of sale, and from that point a sequence of statutory periods runs. The borrower's right to redeem, meaning to pay what is owed and stop the process, exists but does not last indefinitely, and it narrows as costs are added.
Two things are true at once and both matter. Homeowners in default frequently have more options than they believe, including refinancing, a negotiated forbearance, or a controlled sale that preserves equity rather than surrendering it to enforcement costs. And those options close in order, so that a situation which is fixable in week one may not be in week eight. Avoidance is the most expensive response available.
Lenders have obligations too. A power of sale must be conducted properly, the property must be exposed to the market in a commercially reasonable way, and a borrower who has been improperly dealt with is not without recourse. Where a sale has already occurred, the accounting of proceeds is itself a subject that repays scrutiny.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
Leases, Due Diligence and Construction
Commercial transactions are longer, more negotiated and less standardised than residential ones. Due diligence extends past title into zoning and permitted use, environmental condition, existing leases and the income they actually produce, and any work orders outstanding against the building. A property that appears to generate a given return may do so on the strength of a tenant whose lease expires in eleven months.
Commercial leases deserve more attention than they usually receive from tenants. The rent is the number everyone negotiates. The provisions that decide the outcome are elsewhere: what additional rent covers and how it is calculated, who is responsible for the roof and the mechanical systems, what happens at renewal, whether the lease can be assigned if the business is sold, and what a landlord may do on default. A business that cannot assign its lease may find that it cannot sell itself.
Construction brings the lien regime into play. Ontario's Construction Act sets out the preservation and perfection periods within which a lien must be registered and an action commenced, and those periods are short and unforgiving. Holdback obligations apply throughout a project. For an owner, releasing holdback early creates exposure. For a contractor or supplier, missing a deadline extinguishes a valid claim entirely.
HOW WE WORK
What to Bring, and What to Expect
Bring the agreement of purchase and sale with every schedule and amendment, the mortgage commitment if you have one, and the status certificate if the property is a condominium. On a sale, bring your existing mortgage statements and anything you know is registered against the property, including matters you would rather were not there. On an enforcement file, bring the notice of sale and every letter from the lender, with envelopes if you have them, because dates matter.
Expect to be told the total cost, not just the fee. Land transfer tax, and in Toronto the additional municipal land transfer tax, registration charges, title insurance and disbursements make up a substantial part of what leaves your account on closing. A quote that omits them is not a quote. Our calculators give you an estimate before you speak to anyone, and we will confirm the figures against your actual transaction.
Expect to be told when the answer is straightforward. A clean purchase with institutional financing and no complications is a routine file, and it should be priced and handled as one. Where a transaction is not routine, you should know that early, while there is still time for it to matter.
THE SEQUENCE
What a Residential Closing Looks Like From Inside
Once an agreement is firm, the file moves through a predictable sequence. Your lawyer receives the agreement and opens the file. Title is searched and off title searches are ordered from the municipality and the relevant utilities. Requisitions, meaning formal objections to anything the searches disclose, are delivered to the other side by a date the agreement fixes. Missing that date can waive objections you would otherwise have been entitled to raise.
Meanwhile the lender's instructions arrive and impose their own requirements, which are not always identical to yours. Insurance must be arranged and confirmed to the lender. Identification is verified. The statement of adjustments is prepared, reconciling deposits, taxes and any prepaid items so that the balance due on closing is precise rather than approximate.
On the closing day itself, documents are signed, funds move, and registration is completed electronically. Keys follow registration rather than the signing. This is why closings can complete later in the day than anyone would prefer, and why a delay in one transaction propagates along a chain of others. If you are buying and selling on the same day, build the possibility of a late afternoon into your moving arrangements rather than hoping against it.
COSTS AND TAXES
What Actually Leaves Your Account on Closing
Buyers budget for the deposit and the down payment and are then surprised by everything else. Ontario charges land transfer tax on the purchase of land, calculated on the value of the consideration on a graduated scale. A property inside the City of Toronto attracts a second, municipal land transfer tax on top of the provincial one, which is why an identical price can cost materially more on one side of a boundary than the other.
Relief exists in defined circumstances. First time purchasers may claim a refund of part of the provincial tax, and Toronto offers a parallel municipal rebate. Eligibility has conditions attached, including that the purchaser has not previously owned a home anywhere and, where there is a spouse, that the spouse has not owned one during the marriage. These are the details that decide whether a rebate is available, and they are worth confirming before you rely on the number.
Beyond tax there are registration fees, title insurance, the search costs the lawyer incurs on your behalf, and adjustments for whatever the seller has prepaid. On a purchase with a high ratio mortgage, default insurance is a further cost, generally added to the mortgage rather than paid on closing. Our calculators produce an estimate from your own numbers, and we confirm the figures against the actual transaction rather than a general rule.
Speak to a lawyer about your situation.
Contacting us does not create a solicitor-client relationship.
Please do not send confidential information until we have confirmed we can act for you.
We aim to reply within one business day. Sending this form does not meet any court deadline
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Use of this website does not establish a solicitor-client relationship between you and Lexaltico LLP. Such a relationship is only formed when Lexaltico LLP has expressly confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act on your behalf. Until that confirmation is provided, no obligation of confidentiality exists.
Not Legal Advice
Information on this website is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Do not act on any information here without first consulting a qualified lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. Lexaltico LLP disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on this website's contents.
Confidentiality of Enquiries
Do not submit confidential information through this website or by email until a solicitor-client relationship has been confirmed in writing. Information submitted before that point will not be treated as confidential.
Law Society of Ontario Regulation
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers are members in good standing. Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with the Law Society of Alberta (LSA).
Law Society of Alberta
Our Alberta-licensed lawyers are members in good standing of the Law Society of Alberta (LSA).
Immigration Regulatory Body: CICC
Immigration consulting services are provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
Estimator & Calculator Tools
The Severance Estimator and Estate Dispute Evaluator are for informational purposes only. Results are estimates and do not account for specific contractual terms, statutory provisions, or judicial discretion. These tools do not create a solicitor-client relationship. Always seek independent legal advice before making any legal decision.
Privacy: PIPEDA and CASL
Your personal information is protected in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), S.C. 2000, c. 5 and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We do not sell your information. Withdraw consent at any time: hello@lexaltico.com.
Initial Assessment
The complimentary 15-minute initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute legal advice. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters; the firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the firm. Documents are reviewed and advice given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises, and no duty of confidentiality applies, until confirmed in writing.
Referral Fees: LexKonnect
All referral fee arrangements comply with Rule 3.6-6 of the LSO Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented to by the client. No arrangement impairs independent professional judgment.
Limitation Periods
Failure to commence proceedings within applicable limitation periods may permanently bar your claim. In Ontario, the general limitation period is two (2) years from discovery under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B. Seek legal advice promptly.
If You Are in Danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911. This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through this site are read during business hours and a reply may take up to one business day. Do not rely on this site, a form or an email if you need help now. The Assaulted Women’s Helpline (1-866-863-0511) and Talk4Healing (1-855-554-4325) operate around the clock.
Availability and Response Times
We aim to reply to enquiries within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any particular period, does not create any obligation on the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy any limitation period, filing date or court deadline that applies to your matter.
Our Telephone Line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same as giving legal advice: no advice is given on that call and no solicitor-client relationship arises from it. If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
Reviews and Testimonials
Reviews shown on this site are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a prediction or a guarantee about any other matter, and they should not be read as a statement about the quality of legal services generally. Every case turns on its own facts.
Links to Other Websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social platforms. Those sites are operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for their content or their accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement. Their privacy practices are their own, not ours.
Where Your Enquiry Information Goes
Information submitted through a form on this site is transmitted using third-party services in order to reach us by email, and may be processed or stored outside Canada, where it can be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction. By submitting a form you consent to that transfer. If you would rather not, telephone us on +1 416 333 6200 instead. We do not sell your information.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone +1 416 333 6200 or email hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information in another format. Tell us what would work for you and we will arrange it at no charge.
Lawyers, Paralegals and Consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer. Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope permitted by the Law Society of Ontario, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters. Immigration consulting may be provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants, who are not lawyers. Each page and each biography states which applies. Ask us at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in a number of languages. Every page of this site is written and published in English. Where a document, a summary or a conversation is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of any difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
Lexaltico LLP
Legal Notices
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
What we collect
What you give us
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send:
your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this
site requires you to give more than that.
What is collected automatically
We collect non identifying technical information when you browse: IP address, browser type, pages
viewed and time spent. It is used to understand how the site is used and to improve it. It is not
used to identify you.
What we do not collect here
We do not collect sensitive personal information through this website. Detailed personal and legal
information is collected only after a solicitor client relationship exists, through the channels
set up for that purpose.
How we use it
Purpose
What you send is used to reply to you, to run a conflict check, to assess whether the firm can
assist, and, if a retainer follows, to carry out the work.
Marketing
We do not use your personal information for marketing without your express consent, and we
do not sell, rent or trade it. If you consent to receive anything from us, every message
carries a way to stop, as required by Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation.
Sharing and disclosure
Privilege
Information given to us in the course of a legal matter is protected by solicitor client
privilege. We do not disclose privileged information without your consent, except where the law or
a court order requires it.
Service providers
Non privileged contact information may be shared with the providers who help us run the firm and
this website, and with people engaged on your matter such as translators, agents and court
reporters. All of them are under confidentiality obligations.
Processing outside Canada
Information submitted through a form travels through third party services in order to reach us by
email, and may be processed or stored outside Canada, where it can be subject to
the laws of that place. Submitting a form is your consent to that transfer. If you would rather
not, telephone us instead.
Cookies and measurement
What is set, and when
This site uses cookies to understand how it is used. Advertising cookies are set only if you press
Accept. If you press Decline, measurement is switched off for you entirely, nothing further
is sent, and anything already stored on your device is cleared. The site works either
way.
You can change your answer at any time by clearing this site’s cookies in your browser, which
brings the question back.
Your rights, and how long we keep things
Your rights under PIPEDA
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act,
S.C. 2000, c. 5 you may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct
anything inaccurate, and withdraw consent to our use of it, subject to legal and contractual
limits. We reply within thirty days or explain why we need longer.
Retention
Client files are kept for the period the law and the Law Society require, ordinarily
seven years after a matter closes, which reflects limitation periods and the
possibility of later proceedings. After that they are securely destroyed or anonymised. You may
ask for earlier deletion, subject to those obligations.
Enquiries that do not become files
If you contact us and no retainer follows, what you sent is retained only as long as our conflict
records require, then destroyed.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada.
Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
The four things that matter most
Nothing on this site is legal advice, however specific it looks.
Using the site or sending a form does not make us your lawyers.
Do not send confidential information before a retainer is signed.
Past results depend on their own facts and do not predict yours.
What this site is
Information, not advice
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite
statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your
matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is
usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be
wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have
forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may
not reflect an amendment made since, and a page about a subject currently before an appellate
court may be overtaken between your reading it and your acting on it.
When we become your lawyers
Three things must happen first
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and
businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one.
That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we
can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
A retainer agreement must be signed. It sets out what we are doing, what we are
not doing, who is responsible for what, and how fees work. Until it is signed no relationship
exists, whatever has been discussed.
Confidentiality before a retainer
Why you should not send us documents yet
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by
solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no
solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we
are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of
you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it
arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The
documents come after the retainer.
Results, testimonials and reviews
What they do and do not tell you
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are
specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of
that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your
matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for
a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published
formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
Copyright, links and governing law
Copyright
The content of this site belongs to Lexaltico LLP or its licensors. You are welcome to read it,
print it and quote it with attribution. You may not republish it as your own.
Links
We link to statutes, regulations, court decisions and government pages because a reader should be
able to check us. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them, and a link is
not an endorsement.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Lexaltico LLP is not liable for any loss arising from your
use of, or reliance on, anything published on this website.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of Ontario and the federal law of Canada that applies in
Ontario. Lawyers and licensed professionals at the firm are regulated by the Law Society of
Ontario, and marketing on this site is intended to comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct.
Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one
place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Before you rely on anything here
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
Not legal advice
Everything published on this website is general information. It is not legal
advice, it does not take account of the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not
create a solicitor client relationship. Do not act, or decide not to act, on anything here without
speaking to a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your own circumstances.
Jurisdiction
These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only
where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or
country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Currency of the law
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law
develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
Generality
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your
facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader
cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
If you contact us
If you are in danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through a form here are read during
business hours and a reply may take up to one business day.
Using this website, submitting a form, sending an email or speaking to us on the telephone does
not make us your lawyers. That relationship arises only when the firm has
confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act, a conflict search has been completed, and a
retainer has been signed.
Confidentiality of enquiries
Do not send confidential or sensitive information through this website or by email until we have
confirmed in writing that we can act for you. Information sent before that point is
not treated as confidential and may prevent us from acting for you, or for
someone else, in a connected matter.
Response times
We aim to reply within one business day. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any
particular period, does not oblige the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy
any limitation period, filing date or court deadline.
Our telephone line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken
by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during
the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same
as giving legal advice, and no relationship arises from that call.
Who we are and how we are regulated
Law Society of Ontario
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the
Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in
Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the
Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in
Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration regulation
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29,
s. 292.
Lawyers, paralegals and consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope the Law Society
permits, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters.
Immigration consultants are regulated by the College, not by a law society,
and are not lawyers.
Law clerks and managers support files but do not give legal advice.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and
under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in
English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English
version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when
you book and we will arrange one.
Fees
The initial assessment
The complimentary 15 minute initial assessment is a brief introductory
conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute
legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation,
criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion.
Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the
firm.
Referral fees
All referral fee arrangements, including through LexKonnect, comply with
Rule 3.6-6 of the Law Society of Ontario’s
Rules of Professional Conduct. Fees are disclosed to and consented
to by the client, and no arrangement impairs the independent professional judgment of any lawyer
at the firm.
What is published on this site
Calculators and estimators
They produce estimates from what you type and cannot know the rest. They do not
account for the terms of your contract, statutory exceptions, or the discretion a court will
apply. Do not make a decision on a number produced by a calculator.
Past results
Any outcome described happened on its own facts, before its own decision maker,
under the law as it stood at the time. Past results do not predict or guarantee the result of any
other case.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each
describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a
prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
Links to other websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social
platforms, all operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for
their content or accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement.
Other notices
Limitation periods
Failure to start a proceeding within the applicable limitation period may permanently bar
your claim. In Ontario the general period is two years from discovery
under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.
Shorter periods apply to many claims. Seek advice promptly. Nothing on this website extends a
limitation period.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone
+1 416 333 6200 or write to
hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information
in another format, at no charge.
