160 Sample Birch Rd, Toronto, ON M4M 8M7 is yours on closing day. The conditions are gone, which means the deposit is committed and the deadlines from here are the kind that cost money rather than the kind that let you walk away. This is everything between now and a settled house, dated backwards from your closing rather than forwards from today.
Why this list is not the one your agent emailed you
Exactly 7 of these tasks can stop the closing. They are marked, and they are the only ones where being late means the transfer does not register and the lender does not advance.
The list is filtered to this house. A septic tank, a pool, an oil tank, a wood stove and a private well each add work that no generic checklist mentions, and a condo removes most of the outdoor half.
Around 70% of Ontario closings land on the last business day of a month, so movers, lawyers and utility appointments all bottleneck at once. A month-end closing needs the mover booked 35 days out rather than 18, and the plan says so when yours is one.
The cash calendar shows which week the money leaves. Down payment and land transfer tax are the two numbers every calculator gives you. The deposits, retainers and first-month charges that land in the same fortnight are the ones people borrow for.
Everything between here and settled
0 of 43 complete, 0% weighted
Weighted, not counted: a task that can stop your closing is worth 5 of the optional ones, so ticking off the doormat does not fill the bar.
43 outstanding, of which 0 are past a start date that has gone by and 19 are waiting on an earlier task. A date that has passed is usually a telephone call this afternoon. A task waiting on another one is not yours to start tonight.
Every date below is computed from this one. It is the only fixed point in a purchase, which is why the plan is scheduled backwards from it rather than forwards from today.
7 outstanding tasks can stop your closing
Not inconvenience. If any of these is not done, the transfer does not register, the lender does not advance, and your deposit is exposed.
Retain a real estate lawyer and send them the agreementby Sep 23, 2026
Sign the mortgage commitment and return every conditionby Sep 28, 2026
Bind a home insurance policy effective closing dayby Oct 2, 2026
Give your lawyer identification and the sworn declarationsby Oct 9, 2026
Confirm the lender has sent instructions to your lawyerby Oct 13, 2026
Decide on title insurance and tell your lawyerby Oct 13, 2026
Send certified funds or wire the balance to your lawyerby Oct 20, 2026
Firm to keys, in the order it happens
28 steps between now and Oct 23, 2026, by date rather than by category.
Why this list is ordered by date, not by categoryIn this stretch the only question is what is due next and whose job it is.
The sections further down carry the same steps with what each one costs and why this house calls for it.
Next outstanding: Retain a real estate lawyer and send them the agreement, yours to do, by Sep 23, 2026.
If it slips: Nobody else can register the transfer, and a firm taking the file two weeks out has to search title, raise requisitions and get lender instructions inside whatever days are left.
If it slips: A hold that expires before closing means the rate is whatever is current on the day funds are advanced. On a long closing that is the difference between the payment you qualified on and one you have not seen, and a large enough move fails the lender's own ratios and reopens the approval.
If it slips: An unsigned commitment or one outstanding condition means no instructions reach your lawyer, and no instructions means no money on closing day.
If it slips: An insurer that discovers knob-and-tube or a 60 amp panel after binding can cancel mid-term, and a cancelled policy is a mortgage default clause.
If it slips: No lender advances mortgage funds without a binder on file, so the closing does not complete on the day and you are in breach of your own agreement.
If it slips: The last business day of the month is the busiest moving day in Ontario, and what is left when the good companies are full is a truck with no insurance and a cash price.
If it slips: A lawyer cannot register a transfer for someone they have not identified. The file stops until you are in the office, whatever day that is.
If it slips: Funds in trust are what your lawyer registers against. Without them there is nothing to close with, and a late closing carries interest and the seller's costs.
If it slips: After the keys change hands a missing fridge or a flooded basement is your repair. Before them it is a holdback your lawyer can negotiate.
If it slips: Registration queues on the last business day of the month. A mover booked for the morning is a mover charging waiting time on the driveway.
If it slips: The first time you need the water main is at 2am with water coming through a ceiling, which is the worst possible time to be learning the basement.
3 dates that come from your agreement, not from your closing date
Everything above is counted back from the closing date. These are not, because the agreement of purchase and sale sets them and every deal sets them differently. They are here without dates rather than with guessed ones. Your lawyer has all three on file, and the agreement is where the days are written.
You, through your agentDate set by the agreement
The deposit, delivered to the listing brokerage in trust
Certified funds or a wire to the listing brokerage's real estate trust account, not to a person. It is held there until closing and then credited to you on the statement of adjustments, so it is part of your down payment rather than on top of it.
Where the date is: The deposit clause of your agreement. Commonly within 24 hours of acceptance, sometimes on waiver of conditions, occasionally in two instalments.
If it slips: Late delivery is a breach of the agreement on its own terms, and the seller can treat it as one while the market is still moving.
Your lender, through an appraiser you do not chooseDate set by the agreement
The lender's appraisal, ordered and returned
The lender lends against the lower of the purchase price and the appraised value. An appraisal below the price does not cancel the deal, it reduces the mortgage, and the difference becomes cash you owe on closing day.
Where the date is: Inside your financing condition period, or immediately after firm on a deal financed without one.
If it slips: An appraisal that comes back late is the most common reason a mortgage commitment arrives days before closing, and a shortfall found that late has to be funded from savings or a second loan.
Your lawyerDate set by the agreement
The title search, and the requisition date
Your lawyer searches title and raises anything found: an open building permit, a work order, an easement across the driveway, an unregistered survey line, a lien from a renovation. After the requisition date, objections to title are out of time and become yours to deal with as the owner.
Where the date is: The requisition date is a stated date in the agreement, usually a set number of days before closing.
If it slips: A defect found after that date is not a reason to refuse to close. It is a title insurance claim if the policy covers it, and an owner's problem if it does not.
What leaves your account, week by week
$6,160 to $44,970across the whole plan
These are not closing costs. They are the deposits, retainers, first-month charges and immediate repairs that land in the same few weeks, after the closing funds have already gone. Every figure is a range for the work, never a quote.
The heaviest week starts Oct 19, 2026 at $3,860 to $20,350.
Closing depends on it
3 weeks before
Week of Sep 28, 2026
$200 to $13,100
Book the elevator and pay the moving deposit
Book the internet installation
Order the appliances the seller is taking
Closing depends on it
2 weeks before
Week of Oct 5, 2026
$950 to $4,100
Book the mover
Open the hydro account effective closing day
Closing depends on it
1 week before
Week of Oct 12, 2026
$150 to $920
Buy the packing materials and budget the extras
Set up mail forwarding
Closing weekClosing depends on it
Closing week
Week of Oct 19, 2026
$3,860 to $20,350
Rekey or replace every exterior lock
Deep clean the empty house
Order window coverings
Replace the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Change the alarm codes and take over the monitoring
Paint before the furniture arrives
Refinish the floors while the house is empty
Clear out what the seller left behind
1 week after
Week of Oct 26, 2026
$650 to $5,500
Get a pest inspection before you unpack the kitchen
Do the repairs the inspection said could not wait
2 weeks after
Week of Nov 2, 2026
$150 to $400
Have the gas appliances checked by a licensed technician
3 weeks after
Week of Nov 9, 2026
$200 to $600
Have the fireplace and chimney serviced
Immediate priorities
0 of 14 complete (0% weighted)
Closing depends on these. Dates are computed from your closing date.
Closing depends on thisYou
By Sep 23, 2026 (30 days before closing)
A transfer in Ontario is registered by a lawyer, so this is the appointment the rest of the file hangs off. Get the retainer confirmed and the fee quote in writing, including the disbursements and the title insurance premium, and send the firm the signed agreement of purchase and sale the day you retain them.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Nobody else can register the transfer, and a firm taking the file two weeks out has to search title, raise requisitions and get lender instructions inside whatever days are left.
CriticalYour broker
By Sep 23, 2026 (30 days before closing)
A pre-approval or a commitment holds the rate for a fixed number of days from a date on the paperwork, commonly 90 or 120. We do not hold that date: it is on your commitment letter, and it is the one number in your financing that expires on its own. Read it, compare it with your closing date, and if the hold runs out first ask your broker in writing what happens to the rate and to the payment.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Sign the mortgage commitment and return every condition
A hold that expires before closing means the rate is whatever is current on the day funds are advanced. On a long closing that is the difference between the payment you qualified on and one you have not seen, and a large enough move fails the lender's own ratios and reopens the approval.
Closing depends on thisYou
By Sep 28, 2026 (25 days before closing)
Sign the commitment letter and clear the conditions attached to it: income confirmation, down payment source, appraisal, and anything the lender added after the fact.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
An unsigned commitment or one outstanding condition means no instructions reach your lawyer, and no instructions means no money on closing day.
CriticalYou
By Sep 28, 2026 (25 days before closing)
Roof age, electrical panel and wiring type, plumbing material, heating source, and whether anyone will be living there. Wrong answers here are what void a claim later.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
An insurer that discovers knob-and-tube or a 60 amp panel after binding can cancel mid-term, and a cancelled policy is a mortgage default clause.
Closing depends on thisYour insurer
By Oct 2, 2026 (21 days before closing)
Get a bound policy, not a quote, effective 12:01am on the closing date, and have the binder sent to your lawyer. A quote is a price; a binder is coverage. The date on this row is not the closing date and is not a preference: the lender's instructions require the binder in your lawyer's file before it will release funds, and an insurer that comes back asking for a roof age, an electrical panel photograph or a WETT report turns a one-afternoon task into a three-week one.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
No lender advances mortgage funds without a binder on file, so the closing does not complete on the day and you are in breach of your own agreement.
ImportantYour insurer
By Oct 5, 2026 (18 days before closing)
Corporations charge unit owners for the deductible on a claim that starts in their unit, and it is often five figures. Ask your insurer for deductible assessment coverage by name.
Why this house: It is a condominium, so the corporation owns the building envelope.
Do first: Bind a home insurance policy effective closing day
A dishwasher hose that floods two units below makes you liable for the corporation's deductible with nothing standing behind you.
Closing depends on thisYou
By Oct 9, 2026 (14 days before closing)
Two pieces of government identification per buyer, in person or through the firm's verification process, plus the declarations the lender requires.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Retain a real estate lawyer and send them the agreement
A lawyer cannot register a transfer for someone they have not identified. The file stops until you are in the office, whatever day that is.
Closing depends on thisYour broker
By Oct 13, 2026 (10 days before closing)
Ask your lawyer's office to confirm, by name, that mortgage instructions have arrived. This is the single check that catches a stalled file while there is still time.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Sign the mortgage commitment and return every condition
Instructions that arrive the afternoon before closing are the most common reason a closing moves, and the cost of moving it is yours.
Closing depends on thisYou
By Oct 13, 2026 (10 days before closing)
A one-off premium against title fraud, survey problems and unregistered work orders, or a solicitor's opinion instead. Your lawyer needs the answer before they close.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Most lenders require it. Leaving the decision to closing day means it is made for you, at whatever the premium is that morning.
CriticalYou
By Oct 19, 2026 (4 days before closing)
Call the firm on a number you looked up yourself and read the account details back. Never act on wiring instructions that arrive or change by email.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Redirected closing funds are the largest single fraud loss in Ontario real estate and they are almost never recovered.
Closing depends on thisYou
By Oct 20, 2026 (3 days before closing)
Your lawyer needs the balance of the down payment and closing costs as certified funds, a bank draft or a wire. A personal cheque or an e-transfer will not clear in time.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Funds in trust are what your lawyer registers against. Without them there is nothing to close with, and a late closing carries interest and the seller's costs.
ImportantYou
By Oct 21, 2026 (2 days before closing)
Check the property tax adjustment, the utility and fuel proration, the deposit credit and the land transfer tax against your own figures. Ask about any line you cannot explain.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
An adjustment in the seller's favour is money you hand over on closing day and cannot get back afterwards.
CriticalYou
By Oct 22, 2026 (1 day before closing)
Walk the house with the agreement in hand: chattels present, fixtures still attached, appliances running, no new damage, and the place empty of what was not included. Access is not automatic. It comes from a visit clause in your agreement or from the seller's consent through the two agents, so ask for the appointment as soon as you are firm rather than the night before, and check your own agreement for which of the two you are relying on.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
After the keys change hands a missing fridge or a flooded basement is your repair. Before them it is a holdback your lawyer can negotiate.
CriticalYour lawyer
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Keys come from your lawyer or the listing brokerage once the transfer registers and the money moves, which is typically mid to late afternoon rather than at nine.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Send certified funds or wire the balance to your lawyer, Confirm the lender has sent instructions to your lawyer
Registration queues on the last business day of the month. A mover booked for the morning is a mover charging waiting time on the driveway.
Prepare the home
0 of 16 complete (0% weighted)
Your responsibility stops at the unit boundary, and so does the corporation's insurance. Everything here is inside that line.
ImportantYou
By Oct 2, 2026 (21 days before closing)
Check the agreement for what is actually included. Anything missing has a delivery lead time measured in weeks, and a kitchen with no fridge is not a kitchen.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$0 to $12,000before closing day
Appliance delivery dates are set by stock, not by your closing. Ordering after you have the keys means weeks of eating out.
CriticalYou
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Locate the main water shutoff, the electrical panel and its labelling, the gas shutoff and the furnace switch, and photograph all of them. Twenty minutes, once.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
The first time you need the water main is at 2am with water coming through a ceiling, which is the worst possible time to be learning the basement.
CriticalA tradesperson
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Assume copies exist. Sellers, their agent, contractors, tenants, cleaners and a neighbour have all had a key at some point, and none of them are on a list.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$250 to $900after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
Every day the old keys work is a day your insurer would call unforced entry, which is the category that gets a contents claim reduced.
Ask for the work in the week the keys change hands. Nothing is sent from this page.
ImportantYou
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Count what you receive against what the agreement said: unit keys, mail key, locker key, garage remote and every fob. Replacements are charged per item.
Why this house: It is a condominium, so the corporation owns the building envelope.
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
A missing fob is a fee and a wait, and an unregistered owner cannot book the elevator, receive a parcel or let a tradesperson in.
ImportantA tradesperson
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Inside cupboards, behind appliances, ducts vents, bathrooms and every window. An empty house is the only time this is a half-day job instead of a fortnight of weekends.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$350 to $1,200after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
Once the furniture is in, the same clean costs more and misses the parts that mattered.
Ask for the work in the week the keys change hands. Nothing is sent from this page.
ImportantYou
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Measure on the first day and order immediately. Custom blinds run three to six weeks, and the front of the house has no privacy until they arrive.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$400 to $6,000after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
No listing photograph ever shows a window without a covering, which is why this is the cost buyers are most reliably surprised by.
CriticalYou
By Oct 24, 2026 (1 day after closing)
Ontario requires working smoke alarms on every storey and outside sleeping areas, and carbon monoxide alarms next to sleeping areas in any home with a fuel burning appliance.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$60 to $250after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
Alarms are the owner's legal responsibility from the moment you own the house, and units older than their stamped expiry do not count as working.
ImportantA tradesperson
By Oct 24, 2026 (1 day after closing)
Reset every user code, delete the seller's, and either take over the monitoring contract or cancel it and start your own. Garage keypads and smart locks count.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$150 to $700after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
An inherited alarm account can keep sending the seller the notifications and keep billing them, which ends with the monitoring switched off.
Ask for the work in the week the keys change hands. Nothing is sent from this page.
Worth doingA tradesperson
By Oct 24, 2026 (1 day after closing)
Painting an empty room is faster, cheaper and better than painting around a sofa, and it is the last chance to do it without moving everything you own twice.
Ask for the work in the week the keys change hands. Nothing is sent from this page.
Worth doingA tradesperson
By Oct 24, 2026 (1 day after closing)
Sanding and refinishing needs an empty house and several days of curing. It is the one job that becomes almost impossible the moment you have moved in.
Ask for the work in the week the keys change hands. Nothing is sent from this page.
Worth doingA tradesperson
By Oct 25, 2026 (2 days after closing)
Paint tins, a freezer in the basement, tyres, and the shelving that was described as included. Book one load rather than making six trips to the transfer station.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$250 to $800after you have the keys
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
Ask for the work in the first month. Nothing is sent from this page.
ImportantA tradesperson
By Nov 6, 2026 (14 days after closing)
On a house built before 1980, get the wiring type, the panel capacity and the supply plumbing material named in writing by a licensed electrician and plumber.
Why this house: Built in 1947, before 1980.
Knob-and-tube wiring and galvanised supply lines are both insurance questions and both are cheaper to find now than during a claim.
Ask for the work in the first month. Nothing is sent from this page.
Move and settle
0 of 13 complete (0% weighted)
A condo move is booked rather than planned: an elevator slot, a loading dock, and a certificate of insurance from your mover before the building will confirm either.
CriticalYou
By Oct 2, 2026 (21 days before closing)
Buildings allow one move per time slot, take a refundable deposit, and require a certificate of insurance from your mover before they will confirm it.
Why this house: It is a condominium, so the corporation owns the building envelope.
$200 to $800before closing day
Do first: Book the mover
Without a booked slot the building will not let the truck in, and a mover turned away at the loading dock still charges for the day.
ImportantYou
By Oct 2, 2026 (21 days before closing)
The longest lead time in the whole move and the one nobody plans for. Book the appointment for the first days after closing, before you need it for work.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$0 to $300before closing day
Installation appointments run two to four weeks out in the GTA, and a technician visit cannot be brought forward because you have moved.
CriticalYou
By Oct 5, 2026 (18 days before closing)
Get two or three written quotes with the crew size, the truck size and the hourly minimum on them, then book. Confirm the insurance the mover carries on your contents.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$800 to $3,500on closing
The last business day of the month is the busiest moving day in Ontario, and what is left when the good companies are full is a truck with no insurance and a cash price.
Ask for the work before closing, and expect about 14 days between the call and the appointment. Nothing is sent from this page.
CriticalYou
By Oct 9, 2026 (14 days before closing)
Same call, same date, separate utility. Ask whether the meter needs to be read or accessed, because a locked side gate can stop a transfer.
Why this house: The house is on metered natural gas, so there is an account to open.
A house with the gas shut off in February is a frozen pipe claim on day one, and the reconnection is not a same day appointment.
CriticalYou
By Oct 9, 2026 (14 days before closing)
Call or apply online with the closing date as the start date. Transfers are scheduled, not immediate, and a deposit is common where there is no credit history with the utility.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$150 to $600before closing day
The seller closes their account on the closing date. With nothing behind it the power goes off, and reconnection is a fee and a visit.
Worth doingYou
By Oct 13, 2026 (10 days before closing)
Boxes, tape, blankets, the tips, and the second trip for the things that did not fit. It is small money in a large week, which is why it is never in the budget.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$150 to $800before closing day
Do first: Book the mover
ImportantYou
By Oct 16, 2026 (7 days before closing)
Canada Post forwarding for a fixed term, so the things you forgot to update reach you once and tell you what still has the old address.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
$0 to $120before closing day
ImportantYou
Closing day, Oct 23, 2026 (the day the keys change hands)
Hydro, gas, water and the oil or propane level, photographed with the date. Five minutes that settles any billing argument about the day you took over.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Do first: Collect the keys after funds are released
Without a reading of your own you are arguing against the utility's estimate, and the estimate covers a period when the house was not yours.
CriticalYou
By Oct 26, 2026 (3 days after closing)
Give the management company void cheques or the pre-authorised debit form for the common expenses, effective the first of the month after closing.
Why this house: It is a condominium, so the corporation owns the building envelope.
Unpaid common expenses become a lien against the unit quickly, and a condominium lien has priority over almost everything else registered on title.
ImportantYou
By Oct 30, 2026 (7 days after closing)
Driver's licence and vehicle registration, health card, the CRA, your bank, every insurer, your employer and the school board. The first three have statutory deadlines.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
An out of date licence address is a provincial offence, and an insurer holding the wrong address is a coverage argument at the worst moment.
CriticalYou
By Nov 6, 2026 (14 days after closing)
Register as the new owner with the municipality and enrol in pre-authorised instalments, unless your lender is collecting taxes with the mortgage payment. Confirm which it is.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Municipal tax arrears carry interest monthly and attach to the property rather than to you, and neither the lawyer nor the lender chases them on your behalf.
ImportantYou
By Nov 22, 2026 (30 days after closing)
Filters, gutters, the furnace service, the pool, the septic, the smoke alarms. Written down once, it stops being a series of emergencies.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Worth doingYou
By Dec 7, 2026 (45 days after closing)
Compare the first real hydro, gas and water bills with the figures you budgeted. This is the month the carrying cost stops being an estimate.
Why this house: Every buyer has to do this one.
Exterior and property
None of it is yours to arrange. The corporation holds the roof, the grounds, the parking structure and the snow clearing, and bills you for them through the common expenses instead of asking you to book them. The part that is yours is its insurance deductible, which your own policy has to cover and which is in the immediate group.
The corporation owns the roof, the grounds and the parking structure, so most of this group is not yours to arrange. What remains is anything attached to your own unit.
Every trade on this list, with what the record says about its licence
A directory is only worth having if it answers three things: whether this person is allowed to do the work, whether they are insured if they wreck your house, and what the job costs. Ours answers all three per business, and says plainly that nothing on it was checked against a register.
What a credential state means here, exactly.
One credential at a time rather than one badge per business, with the issuer, the number and the date the record carries on the business's own page, so the register is yours to put the number to.
A date on a record older than 120 days reads as unchecked rather than as passed.
An expiry in the past overrides the state stored beside it, so a licence a record marks verified that ran out last month shows as lapsed.
Where a trade has no register to check against, the page says that instead of implying one.
Reading this over a homeowner's shoulder because you are the one doing the work? Join the provider network. A request for licensed work reaches at most 3 businesses whose records list the certificate that trade requires, you read the whole job before you commit to it, and what a lead costs is printed on that page rather than quoted on a call.
After the boxes are unpacked
This plan stops a few weeks after closing, which is where a house's ordinary maintenance starts. What it needs from then on, by season and by system, is on one page.