What's Your Unit Worth Right Now?
Get a free AI-powered price range for your condo in under 90 seconds — floor, exposure, view, parking and locker included. No name or address required.
Get My Free Estimate →No. A survey and title insurance do different jobs, and Ontario’s surveyors’ regulator says they are “mutually exclusive products” where “neither can provide nor replace the benefits of the other”. Title insurance is a capped sum of money — section 139(1) of the Insurance Act requires every policy to “expressly limit the liability of the insurer to a sum stated in the contract”. It cannot, in AOLS’s words, “create or move boundaries nor remove legal encumbrances such as easements”. A Surveyor’s Real Property Report, defined in section 28 of O. Reg. 216/10, locates your buildings relative to the boundaries and must show encroachments in either direction. Only two things fix a boundary in law: a Boundaries Act confirmation ($410 plus $1 per adjoining parcel) and a section 150(4) severance reference plan.
Somewhere in the week before closing, a buyer asks whether they should get a survey, and someone tells them not to bother because they are buying title insurance. That answer is so common it has stopped sounding like advice. It is worth knowing what the two things actually are, because they are not substitutes and the body that regulates Ontario land surveyors says so in writing.
Ontario law contains exactly two instruments that fix where a boundary is: a confirmation under the Boundaries Act, and a reference plan creating new boundaries on a severance under section 150(4) of the Land Titles Act. Title insurance is neither. And section 140(2) of the Land Titles Act says it plainly: “The description of registered land is not conclusive as to the boundaries or extent of the land.”
What an SRPR actually is
A Surveyor’s Real Property Report is defined in regulation, not in marketing. Section 28 of O. Reg. 216/10 under the Surveyors Act defines it as “a survey that locates a building or structure in relation to the boundaries of a unit of land which is not occupied by apartment or condominium buildings, townhouses or industrial or commercial buildings.”
Read that exclusion again. By its own legal definition an SRPR does not apply to apartment or condominium buildings, townhouses, or industrial or commercial buildings. If you are buying a freehold townhouse in Etobicoke, the thing your lawyer calls “the SRPR” falls outside the regulation’s definition. Ask your surveyor what they are actually producing.
Section 29 requires the deliverable to be two documents — a plan and a written report. If they are separate, the plan must carry a note saying the written report is to be read with it, and must name the client it was prepared for. Section 30 requires it to show:
- all buildings and structures, and the foundations of any under construction, and their distances from the boundaries;
- the number of storeys of all buildings and their external construction materials; and
- the municipal address, if any.
Section 24(1) is the provision that makes an SRPR worth paying for. A plan must show topographic information that forms, controls or marks the position of a boundary, that may indicate an interest in the title, or that “indicates an encroachment from the surveyed parcel onto the adjacent lands or from the adjacent lands onto the surveyed parcel”.
Why the reference plan on title is not the same thing
Section 24(2) of the same regulation says a plan prepared for registration or deposit in a land registry office shall not show topographic information beyond what paragraph (1)(a) requires. That is the whole difference in one sentence.
| Reference plan (R-plan) | Surveyor’s Real Property Report | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Land Titles Act s. 150; Registry Act ss. 80–81; O. Reg. 43/96 | O. Reg. 216/10 ss. 28–30 |
| Deposited at the land registry office | Yes — numbered <office number>R<number> (Toronto is office 80) |
No. O. Reg. 216/10 s. 17.2 governs plans that will not be registered or deposited |
| Shows your deck, fence, shed | Generally not, unless used to position the boundary or it encroaches | Yes — that is its purpose |
| Can you buy a copy online | Yes — OnLand, $16.30 | No. It is not in the registry system |
| Effect on title | Section 150(4): new severance boundaries are deemed true and unalterable | None. It is professional evidence, not a registration |
The Association of Ontario Land Surveyors describes reference plans the same way: they “show the surveyed boundary and dimensions as well as any physical or documentary evidence that could affect the title to the property… Buildings or other improvements on the property are generally not shown unless they were used to position the boundary or they encroach on the property.”
The regulator’s position on title insurance, in its own words
AOLS is the body that licenses Ontario land surveyors. Its public page on title insurance says a buyer must understand “above all, a realization that they are mutually exclusive products. Neither can provide nor replace the benefits of the other.” And on what a policy can and cannot do:
“The defect may involve the buildings, structures, quality or extent of title but the insurance cannot create or move boundaries nor remove legal encumbrances such as easements. In addition, it may not compensate for future actions of the property owner such as having to remove a fence wrongly placed by the owner subsequent to the purchase and due to the lack of proper boundary information.”
What the insurance regulator says — and where its own page contradicts itself
Title insurance in Ontario is regulated under the Insurance Act. Section 40(1) requires every insurer undertaking insurance in Ontario to be licensed, and section 139(1) says every contract of title insurance “shall expressly limit the liability of the insurer to a sum stated in the contract.” That is the structural point: a policy is a capped sum of money, not a line on the ground.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario publishes a consumer page listing what title insurance may and may not cover. I am setting both of its lists out side by side because, read together, they are in tension — and no amount of summarising resolves it.
| FSRA lists as possibly covered | FSRA lists as possibly not covered |
|---|---|
| Unknown title defects that impact your ownership | Known title defects (known to you before you purchased) |
| Encroachment issues, e.g. a structure on your property that encroaches on your neighbour’s | Problems only discovered by a new survey or inspection of your property |
| Errors in surveys and public records | Issues that were not listed in public records, such as unrecorded liens and encroachments |
| Existing liens against the title; title fraud | Zoning by-law violations from changes, renovations or additions |
Flagging this honestly. The same FSRA page lists encroachments and survey errors as things a policy may cover, and lists problems only discoverable by a new survey, and unrecorded encroachments, as things it may not. It also says survey coverage “may eliminate the need for a new up-to-date survey of your property.” Those statements sit on one page and pull in different directions. The reconciliation is in the schedule and exclusions of whatever policy you are actually buying — there is no standard-form title insurance policy prescribed by regulation in Ontario, so nobody can honestly tell you what “title insurance in Ontario covers” as a general proposition.
What your lawyer is supposed to tell you
The Law Society of Ontario’s residential real estate practice guidelines are explicit. Guideline 1: “If the client selects title insurance, the lawyer should advise the client about the searches that the lawyer will not be performing and the type of information that these searches would reveal about the property such as zoning, encroachments or survey issues.” The same guideline says the lawyer “should make an early determination whether to advise the client to obtain a survey”, and that a reporting letter may record “instructions on not obtaining an up to date survey of the property” as a waiver given by the client.
Guideline 2 adds the point buyers miss: “Since only the lands described are insured”, off-site lands may need to be added to the description so that easements benefiting your property, and encroachments from your property onto other lands, are covered.
Free tool — AI condo value estimator
Condo Valuation
What’s your condo
worth today?
Three quick steps. Condos don’t price like houses — your floor, your view, and whether you own parking move the number more than anything else. This weighs all of them.
Reading recent condo sales…
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely $0 · about $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from what comparable units in your area sell for, here’s what your specifics added or subtracted.
Market context
—
—
Two units, same floor plan,
$90,000 apart.
That happens constantly in condos — one has the parking, the right exposure, or a board that keeps the reserve fund healthy. A model can’t see your status certificate. I can.
The Etobicoke problem: LTCQ
Most Toronto properties were moved from the old Registry system into Land Titles administratively, in bulk. Ontario’s own client guide describes what that process did not involve:
“This administrative process does not involve owner applications, current surveys, service on adjoining or interested parties or a hearing process that would identify and resolve title disputes or adverse claims.”
The result is a parcel register whose Estate/Qualifier field reads LTCQ — Land Titles Conversion Qualified. The standard qualifier printed on it preserves, in so many words:
“The rights of any person who would, but for the Land Titles Act, be entitled to the land or any part of it through length of adverse possession, prescription, misdescription or boundaries settled by convention.”
And the register then tells you what to do about it: “Adjoining properties should be investigated to detect descriptive inconsistencies, if any, with description represented for this property.” That is not my advice. That is a note on the title document itself.
Section 51(1) of the Land Titles Act stops new possessory claims from maturing against Land Titles land. But section 44(1) preserves, unless the contrary is expressed on the register, “any right of way, watercourse, and right of water, and other easements” and “any title or lien that, by possession or improvements, the owner or person interested in any adjoining land has acquired to or in respect of the land.” On an LTCQ parcel, whatever had already matured before conversion is still live. Whether your particular property is LTCQ, LT+, absolute, or still Registry is a fact printed on your own parcel register — go and look.
How old is too old for a survey?
There is no statutory expiry. I searched the current consolidated text of the Surveyors Act, O. Reg. 216/10, the Land Titles Act and the Registry Act: none of them attaches a validity period or maximum age to a Surveyor’s Real Property Report. Anyone who tells you a survey “expires” after a set number of years is describing a lender’s or an insurer’s internal practice, not a rule of law — and I could not find any published rule of that kind from a primary source, so I am not stating one.
What is published is the practical reason old plans mislead. AOLS: “a one-year-old survey for new construction is usually completed before the building is completed or the site graded. As such, it may not illustrate many important aspects of the improvements to the property such as building overhangs, fences, driveways, overhead utility lines.”
Currency is required in two places: section 19(1) of O. Reg. 43/96 says a reference plan “shall be prepared from a current survey”, and Ontario’s LTCQ guide answers the question “Do I need a new survey, if there is one deposited on title?” with “Yes”.
Where to find a survey that already exists
| Source | What it holds | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| OnLand (onland.ca) | Parcel registers, instruments, deposited reference plans, registered plans of subdivision. Not SRPRs — those are never deposited. | Reference Plan Index search: free. The plan itself: $16.30. Parcel register first page: $36.50 |
| Toronto Building records | Drawings from prior permit applications. The City states that site plans, surveys and drain plans “shall be provided without the consent of the property owner” | $76.98 per record disclosure, effective 1 January 2026. Processed within about 30 business days |
| City survey plans and notes | Survey plans and field notes of City-owned records | Not published. The City says staff will advise on payment |
| The surveyor who did the original | Their own file | AOLS notes surveyors are not obliged to release old plans and some will only do so against a release of liability |
| Provincial Survey Records Index | The province-wide index of survey records, under O. Reg. 216/10 s. 35.1 | Not public. AOLS: “to use the PSRI you require credentials.” Your surveyor can search it — you cannot |
One more from AOLS worth knowing before you rely on a photocopy: “This plan is not valid unless it is an embossed original copy issued by the surveyor.” Copies without an impressed seal “may have had pertinent information deleted or incorrect information added without the knowledge of the issuing surveyor.”
The one procedure that actually settles a boundary
If the line is genuinely in doubt, the Boundaries Act is the mechanism. Section 3(1): where doubt exists as to the true location on the ground of any boundary, an application may be made to the Director of Titles to confirm it.
| Step | Provision | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | s. 3(3) | The owner of an interest in the parcel, the municipality, a minister of the Crown, the Surveyor General of Ontario or of Canada, or a surveyor with the owner’s consent |
| What goes in | s. 4(1) | An up-to-date plan of survey signed by a surveyor, and a copy of the field notes. Ontario’s guide is explicit that an existing survey will not do — the survey must be prepared for the Boundaries Act application |
| Fee | Reg. 60, s. 13(1) | $410, plus $1 for each lot or parcel adjoining the boundary to be confirmed. Payable to the Minister of Finance |
| Notice | s. 7 / guide | Notice goes to everyone with an interest in adjoining land. The 2022 guide says “generally, 30 days is allowed in the Notice for the receipt of objections” |
| No objection | s. 8(3) | The Director may confirm without a hearing |
| Objection | s. 8(2), 9 | A hearing. The 2022 guide says a reserved decision is “usually finalized within five months of the hearing” |
| Costs | s. 11(1) | The applicant pays all costs of the application unless the Director orders otherwise; at a hearing costs may be ordered against any party |
| Appeal | s. 12 | To the Divisional Court, within thirty days after the Director’s order is mailed |
| Registration | Tariff | $0. Registration of a Boundaries Act plan carries no statutory fee |
And then the payoff, section 15(1): “The boundaries confirmed and certified by the Director and defined by the monuments shown on the plan under this Act shall, despite any other Act, be deemed to be the true boundaries of the parcel.” Section 16(3) adds that the registered plan “supersedes all corresponding portions of all former registered plans and descriptions”, and section 17 lets it be registered without any Planning Act approval.
What I cannot tell you: what a Boundaries Act survey costs, as distinct from the $410 application fee. It is not published anywhere. Neither is the cost of an SRPR — AOLS answers its own “how much does it cost” question without a figure, because survey fees are negotiated, not tariffed. Nor is there any published end-to-end service standard for an uncontested Boundaries Act application. I would rather leave those blank than invent a range.
Who is allowed to do this work
Section 11(1) of the Surveyors Act: no individual may engage in the practice of cadastral surveying, or hold themselves out as doing so, without a licence. Section 11(4): no individual, corporation or partnership may operate a business offering those services without a certificate of authorization. Section 11(5) is unusually blunt — “proof of the performance of one act in the practice of cadastral surveying on one occasion is sufficient” to establish the offence.
Penalties under section 39: up to $15,000 for a first offence and $30,000 for each subsequent one; up to $5,000 and $15,000 for misusing the title “Ontario land surveyor” or the initials O.L.S.; and up to $30,000 for a director or officer who authorises, permits or acquiesces in a corporation’s offence.
A terminology change most people have not caught up with. As of 1 January 2026, the Surveyors Act no longer uses the phrase “practice of professional land surveying”. The 2025 amendments replaced it with “practice of cadastral surveying”. The phrase appears zero times in the current Act and zero times in the body of O. Reg. 216/10 — but the regulation is still titled “Performance Standards for the Practice of Professional Land Surveying”. If you see both phrases in the same document, that is why.
What to do, in order
- Pull your parcel register and read the Estate/Qualifier field. LTCQ means the possession-based qualifier is on your title.
- Search the Reference Plan Index on OnLand. It is free. Pull the plan for $16.30 if one exists.
- Ask Toronto Building for the permit file if the house has ever been permitted. A survey in that file is disclosable without the owner’s consent, for $76.98.
- Ask a surveyor to search the PSRI — you cannot, but they can, and an existing plan is far cheaper than a new one.
- Get a current SRPR before you build anything near a line. A fence, a deck, an addition, a pool. That is the moment where the absence of a survey turns into a cost.
- If the line is actually disputed, ask your lawyer about a Boundaries Act application. It is the only route that ends the argument permanently.
Buying a freehold house and wondering whether to spend the money on a survey?
The honest answer depends on what you plan to do with the property, and on what the parcel register already says. If you are buying and holding a house exactly as it stands, the calculus is different from buying something you intend to add on to, fence, or sever. Send me the address and what you are planning and I will tell you which of the two questions you are actually facing — and what your lawyer should be asked before you waive anything.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Buying a freehold house and wondering whether to spend the money on a survey?
The honest answer depends on what you plan to do with the property. Send me the address and your plans and I will tell you which question you are actually facing.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Free tool — AI condo value estimator
Condo Valuation
What’s your condo
worth today?
Three quick steps. Condos don’t price like houses — your floor, your view, and whether you own parking move the number more than anything else. This weighs all of them.
Reading recent condo sales…
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely $0 · about $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from what comparable units in your area sell for, here’s what your specifics added or subtracted.
Market context
—
—
Two units, same floor plan,
$90,000 apart.
That happens constantly in condos — one has the parking, the right exposure, or a board that keeps the reserve fund healthy. A model can’t see your status certificate. I can.
Frequently asked questions
Does title insurance replace a survey in Ontario?
The Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, which licenses Ontario land surveyors, states that a Surveyor’s Real Property Report and title insurance “are mutually exclusive products. Neither can provide nor replace the benefits of the other”, and that title insurance “cannot create or move boundaries nor remove legal encumbrances such as easements”. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, which regulates insurers, states on its consumer page that survey coverage “may eliminate the need for a new up-to-date survey of your property” — while the same page lists “problems only discovered by a new survey or inspection of your property” among the things a policy may not cover. There is no standard-form title insurance policy prescribed by regulation in Ontario, so what any individual policy covers is in that policy’s schedule and exclusions.
What is a Surveyor’s Real Property Report?
Section 28 of O. Reg. 216/10 under the Surveyors Act defines it as “a survey that locates a building or structure in relation to the boundaries of a unit of land which is not occupied by apartment or condominium buildings, townhouses or industrial or commercial buildings.” Section 29 requires two deliverables, a plan and a written report. Section 30 requires it to show all buildings and structures and their distances from the boundaries, the number of storeys and external construction materials, and the municipal address. Note the exclusion in section 28: by definition an SRPR does not apply to condominiums, townhouses or commercial and industrial buildings.
Do surveys expire in Ontario?
There is no statutory or regulatory expiry. The current consolidated text of the Surveyors Act, O. Reg. 216/10, the Land Titles Act and the Registry Act contains no validity period or maximum age for a Surveyor’s Real Property Report, and I could not find any published lender, insurer or municipal rule setting one. What is published is the practical problem: AOLS notes that even a one-year-old survey done for new construction is usually completed before the building is finished or the site graded, so it may not show overhangs, fences, driveways or overhead utility lines. Currency is separately required where a plan is deposited: section 19(1) of O. Reg. 43/96 requires a reference plan to be prepared from a current survey.
What does LTCQ mean on my Toronto property title?
Land Titles Conversion Qualified. Ontario’s own client guide explains that most Registry properties were moved into Land Titles administratively and that “this administrative process does not involve owner applications, current surveys, service on adjoining or interested parties or a hearing process that would identify and resolve title disputes or adverse claims.” The standard qualifier printed on an LTCQ parcel register preserves “the rights of any person who would, but for the Land Titles Act, be entitled to the land or any part of it through length of adverse possession, prescription, misdescription or boundaries settled by convention”, and the register carries a universal note that “adjoining properties should be investigated to detect descriptive inconsistencies”.
How much does it cost to get a copy of a reference plan in Ontario?
$16.30 for the plan itself, under the statutory tariff effective 3 November 2025 and on OnLand. Searching the Reference Plan Index and the Subdivision Plan Index on OnLand is shown at no charge. A parcel register is $36.50 for the first page and $2.56 for each additional page. A Surveyor’s Real Property Report is not available at any price through the land registry system, because it is never registered or deposited there.
How do you legally settle a boundary dispute in Ontario?
Through an application to the Director of Titles under the Boundaries Act. Section 3(1) applies where doubt exists as to the true location on the ground of a boundary. The application fee under R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 60, section 13(1) is $410 plus $1 for each lot or parcel adjoining the boundary. It must be accompanied by an up-to-date plan of survey prepared for the purpose and the field notes; Ontario’s guide states an existing survey cannot be used. Section 15(1) then provides that the confirmed boundaries “shall, despite any other Act, be deemed to be the true boundaries of the parcel”, and section 16(3) that the registered plan supersedes all corresponding portions of former plans and descriptions. Appeal is to the Divisional Court within thirty days.
Related reading
- Easements and rights of way in Ontario
- Mutual driveways in Etobicoke and Toronto
- Encroachments and possessory claims under Land Titles
- Heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these, and each was read on 1 September 2026. Primary sources only — statute, regulation, and the government or agency that administers the rule. Where I could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing.
- Surveyors Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.29 — Ontario e-Laws. Sections 1(1) definitions of “practice of cadastral surveying” and “practice of professional surveying”, 11 prohibitions, 39 penalties, 47. Consolidation in force from 1 January 2026; the 2025 amendments (2025, c. 17, Sched. 4) replaced “practice of professional land surveying” with “practice of cadastral surveying” throughout. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- O. Reg. 216/10, Performance Standards for the Practice of Professional Land Surveying — Ontario e-Laws. Sections 28 to 30 define the Surveyor’s Real Property Report and its required contents; section 4 and Form 1 set the surveyor’s certificate; sections 16 to 27 govern plan contents; section 17.2 covers plans that will not be registered or deposited; section 35.4 sets the “not a plan of survey” caution. Consolidation period from 1 January 2026, last amendment O. Reg. 310/25. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Boundaries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. B.10 — Ontario e-Laws. Sections 3 and 4 (application to the Director of Titles), 7 and 8 (notice and objections), 9 (hearing), 12 (appeal to the Divisional Court within thirty days), 15(1) (confirmed boundaries deemed the true boundaries), 16(3) (a registered plan supersedes former plans and descriptions), 11 (costs). Consolidation from 31 December 2022. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 60 (General) under the Boundaries Act — Ontario e-Laws. Section 13(1): the fee for an application for boundary confirmation is $410 plus $1 for each lot or parcel adjoining the boundary to be confirmed. Section 13(2): $25 plus $25 an hour for a copy of the recording of evidence. Section 4 lists the required accompanying material. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Boundaries Act client guide — ServiceOntario. Ontario’s own guide to a Boundaries Act application. States the $410 plus $1 fee, that notice generally allows thirty days for objections, that a reserved decision is usually finalised within five months of a hearing, that an existing survey cannot be used, and that “the Boundaries Act application deals solely with the position of boundaries while the CTA/LTA application deals with title to the land”. Page states Updated: March 02, 2022. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Land Titles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.5 — Ontario e-Laws. Section 44(1) paragraphs 2 and 3 (registered land remains subject to rights of way and other easements, and to any title or lien acquired by possession or improvements by an adjoining owner, unless the contrary is expressed on the register); section 44(3); section 51 (no title by adverse possession or prescription against land registered under the Act); section 140(2) (the description of registered land is not conclusive as to boundaries or extent); sections 32(3), 36, 39, 40, 47, 54 to 59 (Land Titles Assurance Fund), 150. Consolidation in force from 17 August 2026. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Registry Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. R.20 — Ontario e-Laws. Sections 80 and 81 govern when a reference plan must be deposited before an instrument can be registered. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- O. Reg. 43/96, Surveys, Plans and Descriptions of Land — Ontario e-Laws. Section 1 defines “reference plan”; section 19(1) requires a reference plan to be prepared from a current survey; section 20(1) sets the numbered PARTS and the schedule; section 21(3) requires the plan number to carry the land registry office number as a prefix followed by “R”. Consolidation period 27 July 2026, last amendment O. Reg. 254/26; contains provisions not in force until 1 January 2027. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Land Titles Conversion Qualified (LTCQ) and Land Titles Plus client guide — ServiceOntario. Explains that administrative conversion from Registry to Land Titles “does not involve owner applications, current surveys, service on adjoining or interested parties or a hearing process”, that LTCQ titles remain subject to paragraph 44(1)3 of the Land Titles Act, and sets out the standard parcel register qualifiers in Appendix N. Page states Updated: June 03, 2026. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8 — Ontario e-Laws. Section 40(1) and (2) require every insurer undertaking insurance in Ontario to hold a licence. Section 139(1): “Every contract of title insurance shall be in writing, and, in addition to the other requirements prescribed by this Act, shall expressly limit the liability of the insurer to a sum stated in the contract.” Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Understanding title insurance — Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. The regulator’s consumer page. Lists encroachment issues and errors in surveys and public records among the things a title insurance policy may protect against, and lists “problems only discovered by a new survey or inspection of your property” and “issues that were not listed in public records, such as unrecorded liens and encroachments” among the things it may not cover. States that survey coverage “may eliminate the need for a new up-to-date survey of your property”. The page carries no publication or update date and the site blocks automated retrieval, so it was read through a rendering fetch. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Title insurance — Association of Ontario Land Surveyors. The surveyors’ regulator’s position: a Surveyor’s Real Property Report and title insurance “are mutually exclusive products. Neither can provide nor replace the benefits of the other”, and title insurance “cannot create or move boundaries nor remove legal encumbrances such as easements”. No date on page; site footer 2025. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Survey plans — Association of Ontario Land Surveyors. Defines reference plans (deposited in the local Land Registry Office, numbered with the office number), plans of survey, and the Surveyor’s Real Property Report. Notes that on a reference plan “buildings or other improvements on the property are generally not shown unless they were used to position the boundary or they encroach on the property”, and warns that “this plan is not valid unless it is an embossed original copy issued by the surveyor”. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Frequently asked questions — Association of Ontario Land Surveyors. Explains why an old survey plan may be misleading, that some surveyors will release old plans only against a release of liability, and that the cost of a survey varies with lot size and shape, number of buildings, natural features and the age of the property. AOLS publishes no fee schedule or tariff for survey work. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Provincial Survey Records Index — Association of Ontario Land Surveyors. The index of survey records established under section 35.1 of O. Reg. 216/10. States that “to use the PSRI you require credentials (i.e. user ID and password)” and that it is paid for by AOLS members. It is a member tool, not a public search. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 2025-07, Land services fee changes effective November 3, 2025 — Ontario Land Registration. The current statutory tariff. Plans viewing and copying $16.30; email copies of plans $16.30 each; copy of parcel register including first page $36.50; registration or deposit of an instrument or plan in electronic format $85.00; registration of a plan under the Boundaries Act $0. Signed by Dan Petoran, Director of Land Registration. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Payment and pricing — OnLand help centre. OnLand is operated by Teranet Property and Registration Services. Plans $16.30; parcel register first page $36.50; additional page $2.56; retrieve map $5.65; documents $3.39. The Reference Plan Index and the Subdivision Plan Index are shown at no charge. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- ServiceOntario prefixes and cross-references — OnLand help centre. Land registry office numbers, including Toronto as office 80, Peel as 43 and York as 65. Reference plans carry the office number as a prefix followed by R. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Request building records — City of Toronto. States that “disclosure of site plans, surveys and drain plans of any building and all building plans related to signs shall be provided without the consent of the property owner or property manager”. Record disclosure fee $76.98 for each disclosure, effective 1 January 2026. Toronto Building will endeavour to process requests within 30 business days. Page states Date modified: January 8, 2026. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Survey plans and notes information request — City of Toronto. Request form for survey plans and field notes of City-owned records in PDF or TIFF. The page states that staff will advise on payment instructions and that service fees are as of 1 January 2025; no dollar amount is published. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Office of the Surveyor General glossary — Government of Ontario. Government definitions, including: “A survey plan is a graphic representation showing the true (accurate and precise) location of legal boundaries. It is created from actual field measurements and can be used to accurately locate boundaries on the ground.” Page states Updated: October 08, 2025. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Residential real estate transactions practice guidelines — Law Society of Ontario. Guideline 1 states that if the client selects title insurance, “the lawyer should advise the client about the searches that the lawyer will not be performing and the type of information that these searches would reveal about the property such as zoning, encroachments or survey issues”, and that the lawyer should make an early determination whether to advise the client to obtain a survey. Guideline 2 requires review of the policy’s exclusions and notes that only the lands described are insured. No date on page. Read 2 September 2026. Accessed 1 September 2026.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Broker of Record
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke, and I work with buyers and sellers across the west GTA. Boundaries, easements and the paper record behind a lot are the part of a deal that almost nobody looks at until it is a problem — and by then the fence is built, the addition is framed, or the closing is a week away.
I am not a lawyer and I do not read title. What I can do is quote the statute, the regulation and the municipality accurately, with the section number and the date the source carries, so you know what question to put to your lawyer or your surveyor. Where a figure is simply not published anywhere, this page says so rather than inventing one. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.