The moment every condition on a deal is fulfilled or waived in writing, the agreement becomes firm and binding — and a short list of things need to happen quickly, not eventually. Deposit funds, FINTRAC obligations, the file going to the lawyer, and how the property can now be advertised all shift the moment the deal firms. Treating firm as a finish line rather than the start of a new set of obligations is where files start slipping.
Key takeaways
An agreement of purchase and sale becomes firm and binding once every condition it contains has been either fulfilled or waived, in writing, before its deadline. Per Treadstone Law's guidance on conditions, a condition “is not a waiver and not a notice of fulfilment” until the relevant document is actually signed and delivered — an informal verbal understanding that financing came through, or that an inspection turned up nothing serious, does not make a deal firm on its own. The written record of exactly when and how each condition cleared is also what the lawyer needs to be able to certify the deal firm at all; see handing a file to a lawyer cleanly for what that record actually needs to look like.
The title search, requisitions, and mortgage instructions all need real working time before closing, and that time is measured from when the lawyer receives a complete file — not from the closing date backward. There is no regulator-published rule fixing exactly how many days a lawyer needs once a file arrives; what does exist is the requisition date already built into the agreement, which sets the buyer's lawyer's deadline for raising title objections. Sending the file the day the deal firms, rather than once the agent has a quieter moment, is what keeps that internal deadline realistic instead of compressed.
The point a deal firms is very often also the point where FINTRAC's identification obligations become live, if they were not already. Per FINTRAC's guidance, real estate brokers and sales representatives “enter into a business relationship with a client the first time they are required to verify the identity of that client” — and once that relationship exists, ongoing monitoring and record-keeping obligations follow. A deposit collected around the time the deal firms also triggers its own receipt-of-funds record regardless of amount. See keeping a transaction file that defends you for what those specific records need to contain.
Per Treadstone Law's deposit guidance, most Ontario offers structure deposit timing either with the offer itself or, more commonly, within a set window after acceptance, and “missing a deposit deadline is itself a potential breach” of the agreement. Once a deal firms, confirm the deposit has actually landed in the brokerage's or lawyer's trust account — a wire that was initiated is not the same thing as a deposit that has been received, and a deadline in the agreement is measured against actual receipt, not against when the buyer's bank says the transfer went out.
A property that has gone firm but has not yet closed is still, from a marketing-rules perspective, a live question of consent, not a settled fact you can post freely. Per RECO's bulletin on advertising sold property, “if the seller's brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold… the seller's consent is required” before the transaction is completed, and “if… the buyer's brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold… the seller's consent is required” as well. Including price or other terms of the deal raises the bar further: the same bulletin states that doing so “requires” both the seller's and the buyer's consent, regardless of which brokerage is posting it. A quick "sold" graphic posted the afternoon a deal firms, without having actually asked, is a compliance gap waiting to be noticed.
Once the deposit is in trust, it stays there under RECO's own rules until the deal closes or the parties agree otherwise; per RECO's bulletin on unclaimed trust money, “all unclaimed money held in trust for more than two years must be paid to RECO” if a deal never resolves — a rare situation, but one that shows how seriously the trust obligation is treated. Consumers are also protected if something goes wrong with the brokerage itself: RECO's consumer deposit insurance “provides up to a maximum of $200,000 per claim and up to a maximum of $4 million for all claims related to a single event.” None of this changes what an agent needs to do in the week a deal firms, but it is worth knowing the backstop exists if a client asks.
A firm deal, handled two different ways
Handled loosely: the buyer sends an informal text saying financing came through on a Friday afternoon. The agent tells the seller’s agent verbally the deal is firm and posts a “sold” graphic that evening without asking. The file sits until Monday before going to the lawyer. Ten days later, the buyer’s lender flags a documentation gap the written mortgage commitment would have caught immediately — and the seller is upset about a social post they never consented to.
Handled properly: the buyer’s written waiver of the financing condition is collected the same day, the file goes to both lawyers within hours, the deposit is confirmed received in trust, and the seller is asked in writing for consent before anything is advertised as sold. Nothing here takes materially longer — it just happens in the right order, on the day the deal actually firms rather than whenever it becomes convenient.
The brokerage’s own deadline for banking that deposit is fixed by regulation, not convention: O. Reg. 567/05 requires that once trust money “comes into a brokerage’s hands,” the brokerage “shall deposit the amount in the trust account… within five business days” — a Saturday or statutory holiday does not count toward that window.
No. A condition is only fulfilled or waived once that is confirmed in writing and delivered before its deadline. A verbal understanding does not make an agreement firm.
Only with the seller's written consent, per RECO's advertising bulletin — and both the seller's and buyer's consent if price or other deal terms are included.
Send it the day the deal firms. The title search, requisitions and mortgage instructions all need real lead time, and that time only starts once the lawyer actually has a complete file.
A short list of what should already be in motion is worth checking against, the same week it firms.
