Tax, Legal & TRESA

You Rented Out Your Basement. Will You Owe Capital Gains Tax When You Sell?

Thinking of claiming CCA on your rented basement to shave a little tax off this year's return? It can retroactively tax years of gain you would otherwise have kept tax-free. Broker Arthur Zhao unpacks CRA Folio S1-F3-C2 on renting out part of an Ontario home: the outcome hinges on structural change and CCA, not square footage — renting a room usually preserves your full principal residence exemption, while walling off a self-contained suite can trigger a partial deemed disposition. Covers the CRA-practice-vs-statute line, the 2019 partial-change 45(2) election, principal-residence reporting since 2016, and why Ontario stacks on no separate rule. Confirm your own facts with a licensed accountant.

Buying Again After a Divorce: The HBP Has a Marriage-Breakdown Rule, the FHSA Does Not

After a separation you may fund one down payment from two pots — an RRSP through the Home Buyers’ Plan, and an FHSA — yet each account applies a completely different eligibility test, and a divorce moves only one of them. The HBP was written with a relationship breakdown in mind: Income Tax Act s.146.01(2.1) can deem you not to have owned a home. The FHSA (s.146.6) has no such clause — a separation only drops your ex’s property from its test, never a home you owned yourself. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao maps which clause moves which clock, and where the two do not line up. General information, not tax advice.

Died Without a Will in Ontario: Who Inherits the House, and Who Can Actually Sell It

The house is registered in one person’s name, they have died, and there is no will — so who inherits it, in what shares, and who is legally allowed to sell it? Toronto broker Arthur Zhao walks through Ontario’s intestacy rules under the Succession Law Reform Act: the spouse takes a $350,000 preferential share first, then the remainder splits by number of children (one child, spouse takes half; two or more, a third). It clears up the two figures people get wrong — the share is pegged to the date of death, not the filing date, and the split is on the estate’s net value, not the home’s market price — and two things secondary sources miss: only a married spouse inherits on intestacy (a common-law partner’s route is dependant support, not inheritance), and a separated spouse no longer inherits since 2021. General legal information, not legal advice — consult an Ontario estates lawyer for your own situation.

Which School Board Does Your Property Support by Default? Ontario School Support Designation, Explained for Owners and Renters

That school board printed on your Ontario property tax bill or your municipal voter card? If you never picked one, it was chosen for you — the default is English-Public. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao breaks down your School Support Designation: it steers your vote (which voters list you land on, which school-board trustee election you can cast a ballot in), not your tax total (education rates are set province-wide by the Minister of Finance under Ontario Regulation 400/98). Heads up on timing: the June 1, 2026 update deadline is already behind us, so a change now is logged by MPAC but skips the Preliminary List of Electors unless you forward MPAC’s confirmation email to your municipality. Vote day: October 26, 2026. Verified 2026-08-12 against MPAC and ontario.ca.

Your Condo Manager Mishandled Money or Ignored Your Repairs: Where a CMRAO Complaint Fits (and Where It Doesn’t)

Complaining about a condo manager in Ontario starts with knowing which body owns the problem. The CMRAO licenses and disciplines condo managers and management companies; the Condominium Authority Tribunal handles disputes with the corporation itself (records, pets, parking, nuisances); budget and common-expense fights belong to neither. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao maps the three doors, walks through the CMRAO’s three complaint stages, shows how to verify a licence on the public registry, and explains why even a maximum $25,000 discipline fine — which the Condominium Management Services Act (2015) directs to the regulator — never lands in your pocket. General information, not legal advice.

Parent on Title to Help You Qualify: Do You Have to File CRA’s T3 and Schedule 15?

Adding a parent to title so a child can qualify for a mortgage does not automatically mean filing a CRA T3 return or Schedule 15. A co-signer who is not on title creates no trust at all; bare-trust reporting did not apply for the 2024 and 2025 tax years; and from 2026 the typical case — related owners, child living there as a principal residence — usually falls within the exception in Income Tax Act s.150(1.31)(b). Here is where the line actually sits, and which families do get pulled in.

Landlord Won’t Repair or Keeps Barging In? Filing a T2 or T6 With Ontario’s LTB

Landlord will not repair, or keeps entering without notice? Ontario tenants have two LTB forms — a T6 for maintenance and a T2 for tenant rights, both filed under Residential Tenancies Act s.29 — but both are won or lost on evidence, not anger. This guide is built around proof: the one-year limit in s.29(2), what documents actually prove a T2 versus a T6, why s.30(2) makes notifying the landlord first count, filing and fees ($48 via the Tribunals Ontario Portal, $53 otherwise), the video hearing, and the remedies the Board can order.

Putting Your Spouse on Title in Ontario: What the Land Transfer Tax Exemption Actually Covers (and What It Doesn’t)

Adding your spouse to title in Ontario — does the Land Transfer Tax spousal exemption really apply? The provincial exemption sits in R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 696 (not O. Reg 70/91) and even forgives an assumed mortgage — but only when, apart from natural love and affection, that mortgage is the sole consideration; cash or another benefit on top can make LTT payable. Toronto's MLTT runs a parallel exemption you must claim within roughly ten business days of registration, and the federal side (Income Tax Act s.73(1) with s.73(1.01)(a)) only defers capital gains through a default spousal rollover. Here is what the exemption covers, what it does not, and when to call a real estate lawyer. Verified 2026-08-05.