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Received a Notice of Sale in Ontario? What You Can Do Before Power of Sale
Rates and cost ranges below were verified on 10 August 2026 against Bank of Canada and CMHC sources. Rates move — everything here is a range, not a quote.
It arrives in a plain envelope, reads like a form letter, and lands like anything but. Whatever you felt reading it is fair, and it settles once the document stops being a threat and becomes a set of dates.
Because that is what it is. A Notice of Sale is a formal step your lender must take under the Mortgages Act before it can sell. No sale has happened and the house has not changed hands.
This article covers the mortgage-financing side only. The enforcement action itself is legal work and belongs with a lawyer.
A Notice of Sale tells you your lender intends to sell if the mortgage is not brought up to date or paid out. It is the beginning of power of sale, not the end. The property is still yours, and a full payout stops the process. Start with the dates, then get a lawyer and a payout figure.
- Copy out every date on the notice before you do anything else. They govern what is still possible.
- It is a required step, not a completed sale. The house is still yours.
- Ontario runs at a solicitor’s pace, so the window is measured in weeks.
- Doing nothing is not free, and on Ontario balances the costs bite fast.
- Whether financing helps comes down to value, total payout and time left.
- A lawyer runs the legal side; a broker runs the money side.
- CreditReboot works Ontario power of sale files weekly. A same-week answer beats a perfect one next month.
First job: read the dates and write them down
Sit down with the notice and a blank page, and copy out every date printed on it before you telephone anybody. Every deadline determines which options remain open, and the files that end badly almost always started with dates nobody wrote down.
Write out the date on the notice, the date you received it, any date by which a figure must be paid, and the exact amount stated. Add your lender’s solicitor and your mortgage account number. Then photograph every page and email it to yourself.
The reason is practical. Financing takes days to arrange, an appraisal takes days, selling takes weeks; the dates tell you which still fit. Your lawyer confirms what each one requires — that is legal advice, and no broker can give it.
What the notice is, and four things it is not
Your lender is exercising a right contained in your mortgage, within the framework the Mortgages Act sets out. Unlike the Prairie provinces, where enforcement runs through the courts, this proceeds through your lender’s solicitor. That is why it moves quickly.
Now the four things it is not. Not an eviction notice. Not a court order. Not a sale — nothing has been listed or transferred. And not a statement that you are out of options. What has changed is that a clock is running and somebody is billing against your file.
Your first three days, in order
- Record the dates and the amount stated. Everything else depends on it.
- Retain a lawyer. Whether the notice is valid and what it requires are legal questions.
- Request a written payout statement from your lender’s solicitor, with a firm date. Ask in writing.
- Order an appraisal. $300–$500 and a few days. Every option is priced off this figure.
- Have the numbers reviewed by a broker who handles enforcement files, so you know within a day or two whether financing works.
- Bring your spouse or co-owner in now. Anyone on title will need to sign.
Waiting is not free
Nobody blames a household for wanting a quiet fortnight after that envelope, but the arithmetic does not pause with you. Interest accrues daily, your lender’s legal costs are added at each step and are recoverable from you, and unpaid taxes or condominium arrears climb behind them.
Ontario balances make this bite harder: the same percentage on a $700,000 mortgage costs more than twice what it does on a $300,000 one, so costs eat visibly into equity. CMHC’s Spring 2026 report put national 90-plus-day delinquency at 0.24% in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 0.21%, with Ontario up 35% year over year and the Toronto area up 45%.
Three numbers decide whether financing is realistic
Once a notice is issued, lenders largely stop looking at credit scores and start looking at the property. Three figures settle it: the appraised value, the total payout — balance, arrears, interest, legal costs, any second mortgage and everything registered on title — and the time remaining.
The test is short: 80% of appraised value must exceed the payout plus the cost of the new loan, typically another 5% to 7%. Where it does not, shopping around will not change it. The full breakdown is in our guide to refinancing during power of sale in Ontario, and the mortgage arrears calculator is worth an hour while you wait.
| Nail down this week | Where it comes from | Cost and timing |
|---|---|---|
| Appraised value | A current appraisal; on a condominium, the status certificate | $300–$500, a few days |
| Total payout | Written statement from your lender’s solicitor, plus title search | Free to ask; allow days |
| Time remaining | The dates on the notice, confirmed by your lawyer | Today — it is in front of you |
| Rate, if financing proceeds | Equity tier, priced on the property | Roughly 8%–15%, commonly interest-only |
| Fees and legal | Lender fee, broker fee and your own solicitor | 1%–3% each, legal $1,500–$3,000, from the advance |
| Time to fund | Once appraisal and payout figure are in hand | Days at the equity tier; 2–4 weeks at other tiers |
Indicative market ranges as at August 2026, not offers. No lender and no approval can be promised in advance.
A worked example in Brampton
Illustrative only
Appraised value: $920,000 — 80% ceiling: $736,000
First mortgage balance: $588,000
Arrears and accrued interest: $19,600
Lender’s legal costs so far: $9,800
Second mortgage behind it: $42,000
Property tax arrears: $4,600
Total to clear title: $664,000
Allow roughly $42,000 for fees, legal work and interest to closing, and the loan required is about $706,000 — 77% of value, inside the ceiling with some $30,000 of headroom, leaving about $214,000 of equity with the household.
Notice how thin that headroom is. Two more months of interest and legal costs push the loan required past the ceiling — same house, different calendar.
Five things not to do this week
- Do not go quiet on your lender. Staying in contact commits you to nothing, and they hold the only current figure.
- Do not put mortgage arrears on credit cards or a high-interest unsecured loan. It turns a secured shortfall that might be refinanced into unsecured debt that cannot be.
- Do not sign anything that transfers title or a share of it. If someone offers to rescue the home by taking ownership, or by having you sign now and rent it back, take the paperwork to your lawyer first. Equity disappears this way, and these approaches arrive within days of a notice.
- Do not skip the appraisal question. A portal estimate is not a value, and on a condominium a special assessment moves the number materially.
- Do not assume time will be extended. Ontario does not run to a court calendar, and nobody is obliged to grant you longer.
Why Ontario moves fast, and what that means for your week
Because power of sale is driven by a solicitor rather than supervised by a court, it is quicker than the procedures used in provinces such as Alberta. Your planning horizon is weeks, and the gap between “we will look at it next month” and “we looked at it this week” is the difference between having choices and being told what happens next.
The stage-by-stage sequence is in our Ontario power of sale timeline. Earlier than a notice, mortgage arrears options in Ontario and our mortgage arrears help page cover what is open. Deadlines, notice validity and any right to reinstate are legal questions for your lawyer — we handle the money.
Financing is one good answer; a sale you control is the other
This does not always end with a new mortgage, and you should hear that from a broker rather than discover it after a month of applications. Where the equity clearly exceeds the payout and the household can carry the payment, financing works — the private mortgage page sets out how the equity tier is structured. CRA debt registered against the property must clear at the same time; see home equity against CRA tax debt and property tax arrears.
Where the payout has absorbed most of the equity, or the payment is beyond what the household can service, borrowing moves the problem into next year and spends equity doing it. Listing the property yourself — your price, your timing — preserves more than a sale run by your lender. Our stop power of sale page covers both routes. Either can be right; the costly outcome is arriving at one by default.
Notice in hand? Get the three numbers checked this week.
Send us the address and whatever figures you have, even approximate ones. We will tell you whether the equity supports financing, what it would cost, and if it does not work we will say so.
Notice of Sale in Ontario: FAQ
Does a Notice of Sale mean my house has been sold?
No. It is a required step your lender takes before it can sell, not evidence of a sale. The property has not been listed or transferred, and paying the mortgage out before a sale closes ends the process.
What should I do in the first 72 hours after receiving one?
Write down every date and figure on the notice, retain a lawyer, request a written payout statement from your lender’s solicitor, and order an appraisal. Those four steps produce the information a decision needs.
Can I still refinance after a Notice of Sale has been issued?
Frequently, yes. What decides it is whether the equity covers the whole payout plus the cost of the financing, and whether time remains to close.
Should I keep talking to my lender after the notice?
Yes. Staying in contact costs nothing and commits you to nothing, while silence changes only how much you know. Costs accrue either way.
How long do I have before the property can be sold?
That depends on the dates on your own notice and how your lender proceeds, which is why writing them down comes first. Ontario moves faster than the court-driven provinces, so plan in weeks and ask your lawyer.
Is selling the house myself better than borrowing at these rates?
It depends on the three numbers, and both answers are legitimate. Where equity remains and there is a credible exit from the new loan, financing keeps more of it with you. Where the payout has consumed most of it, a sale on your own timeline preserves more.
This article is general information, not mortgage advice, and it is not legal advice about a power of sale proceeding. Rates, lender guidelines and fee ranges were verified on 10 August 2026 and change frequently. Speak with a licensed mortgage broker about your own file, and with a lawyer about the enforcement action itself.
