Owning a Home
in Toronto

Closing day is the finish line of the purchase and the starting line of ownership. Once the keys are in your hand, the priority list shifts fast. The first 30 days are about securing the property, setting up the essentials, and taking care of the administrative work that most people let slide until it becomes a problem.

The most common mistakes new homeowners make are assuming things are set up that aren't (utilities, property tax, address changes) and skipping the obvious first step that everyone forgets: changing the locks.

• Change the locks immediately You have no way of knowing how many key copies exist. Rekeying costs $100 to $200 and should happen before you unpack a single box.
• Set up utilities in your name Toronto Hydro or Hydro One for electricity, Enbridge for gas. Confirm accounts are active on closing day. Do not assume the previous owner's accounts transfer to you automatically.
• Locate all shutoff valves and your electrical panel Know where your main water shutoff, gas shutoff, and circuit breakers are before you need them in an emergency.
• Update your address with CRA and Service Ontario CRA affects your tax return, benefits, and RRSP Home Buyers' Plan notices. Ontario law requires updating your driver's licence within 6 days of moving.
• Register for property tax with the City of Toronto Set up your account at toronto.ca/taxes. You are responsible for property tax from your closing date, even if a bill has not arrived yet.
• Know your RRSP Home Buyers' Plan repayment schedule If you withdrew RRSP funds for the purchase, repayments begin in the second year after the year of withdrawal, at one-fifteenth per year over 15 years.

Toronto's climate is genuinely demanding on a home. Freeze-thaw cycles crack foundations and driveways. Humid summers invite mold. Ice dams in gutters cause roof and water damage that costs far more to fix than to prevent. The homeowners who avoid large unexpected repair bills are almost always the ones who treat maintenance as a regular habit rather than a crisis response.

A useful rule of thumb: budget 1 to 2 percent of your home's value per year for maintenance and repairs. On a $1 million property, that is $10,000 to $20,000 annually. Some years you spend much less. Some years the furnace or the roof reminds you the number is real.

Most homeowners will renovate their property at some point. Done right, a renovation improves how you live in the space and protects or enhances resale value. Done wrong, it creates a paper trail of problems that surfaces at the worst possible time: when you are trying to sell.

Two decisions determine whether a renovation goes well or badly. The first is whether you pull the required permits. The second is who you hire to do the work.

The most common work that requires a permit in Toronto includes: structural changes (adding or removing walls), basement finishing, electrical upgrades, plumbing changes, HVAC work, decks over 600mm above grade, and any secondary suite creation. Cosmetic work like painting, flooring, and cabinet replacement in the same footprint generally does not.

On the contractor side, the vetting process matters as much as the quote. Before anyone starts work: confirm WSIB clearance, request proof of liability insurance, verify their HST number, call references from comparable recent jobs, and make sure every detail of the scope, payment schedule, timeline, and warranty is in a written contract.

Toronto homeownership has historically been one of the most reliable paths to building wealth in this city. But equity does not build itself. The homeowners who come out ahead are the ones who maintain the property, improve it strategically, and understand how to access and deploy equity without overextending.

There are three levers Toronto homeowners typically use to build and access value over time.