Property Title Search
Discover what a property title search is in Canadian real estate — how it protects buyers and ensures legal, lien-free ownership.
June 27, 2025
What is Property Title Search?
A property title search is a legal review of public records to verify ownership, liens, easements, and other encumbrances on a property.
Why Property Title Searches Matter in Real Estate
In Canadian real estate, a title search ensures that the seller has clear title and reveals any legal issues that could affect the transaction.
A title search typically checks for:
- Ownership records and chain of title
- Registered mortgages and liens
- Easements and rights-of-way
- Legal description and boundaries
Title searches are usually conducted by a lawyer or notary during the closing process.
Understanding title searches protects buyers from hidden claims and supports secure, legal property transfers.
Example of a Property Title Search in Action
The lawyer performed a property title search that uncovered an unpaid lien, which was resolved before closing.
Key Takeaways
- Confirms ownership and legal status of property
- Reveals liens, easements, and restrictions
- Essential for secure property transfer
- Performed during due diligence
- Supports clean title and insurability
Related Terms
- Title Insurance
- Deed
- Easement
- Property Disclosure Statement
- Legal Title
An overview of Hedge Road Landing. (Alliance Homes)
6525 Mississauga Road and its surrounding context. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
Property details for 6525 Mississauga Road. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
National average resale-price growth and housing-starts growth, smoothed over three months. The comparison illustrates the cycle; it does not establish how much a price change causes construction to change.
Trailing 12-month starts in centres of 50,000 or more remove the usual monthly seasonality. Ownership combines the homeowner and condominium categories; rental is shown separately.
Six-month averages of provincial starts, expressed at annual rates. The smoothing reduces the influence of individual apartment projects.
The same August benchmark compared with two different starting points. Three-month changes are not annualized.
Average sale prices show the difference in purchase costs across markets. They do not measure affordability relative to local incomes or construction costs.
Newfoundland and Labrador remains above its pre-pandemic sales pattern, but August activity was below last year. Historical lines retain their original release vintages.
Average and median describe different aspects of the same month’s transactions. Both are affected by the mix of homes sold.
Category averages compare different homes and locations; the gaps are not estimates of the cost to upgrade an otherwise identical property.
The five categories shown account for 5,000 of the board’s 5,057 sales. The remaining 57 transactions were in other housing categories.
Monthly observations are not seasonally adjusted. Active listings count properties available at month-end; they are not construction inventory.
Average and median prices share one dollar axis. These unadjusted transaction measures do not control for changes in the homes sold.
TRREB’s 416/905 categories compare the apartments sold in each area. The difference does not isolate a location premium for equivalent units.
Highlights from the Delta Golf & Country Club listing brochure. (Colliers)