What an Ontario cohabitation agreement is for
Ontario treats unmarried couples very differently from married ones. If you are married and separate, the Family Law Act equalizes the growth in your net worth during the marriage and gives both of you an equal right to live in the matrimonial home. If you live together without marrying, none of that applies. Each partner keeps what is in their own name, and the partner who helped pay down the other's mortgage or renovated their house has to prove a claim in unjust enrichment, which can take years. Support is different again: after three years together, or sooner with a child, either partner can claim spousal support as if married.
A cohabitation agreement under section 53 lets you choose the rules yourselves. This template records each partner's property and debts, protects separate property, businesses and pensions, sets out three ways to handle the home, offers four spousal support options, deals with household expenses, death and life insurance, and includes full disclosure schedules, legal advice certificates, a contribution acknowledgment and a review checklist. If you later marry each other, it becomes your marriage contract without anything more being signed.
When to sign it
The best time is before moving in, especially when one partner owns the home, has significantly more assets or income, owns a business, has children from a previous relationship, or expects an inheritance. It is just as valid if you have already been living together for years; the disclosure and legal advice steps simply matter more, because there is more history to account for.
Sign it well before any deadline. An agreement signed the week before the move or the wedding, with no time to get advice, is much easier to challenge. Revisit it when you marry, have a child, buy a home or when one of you leaves work to care for family.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Parties and background
- Partners
- Date cohabitation began
- Children
- Marital status
- Purpose
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Legal effect and definitions
- Section 53 agreement
- Becomes a marriage contract
- Replaces equalization if married
- Separate Property
- Joint Property
- Separation
-
Separate property and debts
- Release of trust and unjust enrichment claims
- Contributions only by written acknowledgment
- Debts
- Businesses
- Pensions and registered plans
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The family residence
- Owned by one
- Owned by one with a contribution
- Owned by both
- Buyout or sale
- Occupation after separation
- Expenses
- Death
- Matrimonial home if married
-
Household expenses and accounts
- Sharing formula
- Joint account
- Gifts and contents
- Vehicles
-
Spousal support
- Mutual release
- Qualifying period
- Fixed formula
- Governed by law
- Court override
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Children and death
- Child support preserved
- Parenting decided at the time
- Stepchildren
- Estate release
- Life insurance
- Wills
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Disclosure, advice and separation
- Financial disclosure
- Independent legal advice
- Voluntary signing
- Settling affairs
- Mediation
-
General and signatures
- Changes in writing and witnessed
- Reconciliation
- Governing law
- Signatures with witnesses
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Schedules A to E
- Assets and debts
- Income disclosure
- Legal advice certificates and waiver
- Review checklist
- Acknowledgment of contribution
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to complete the agreement
- Fill in the background. When cohabitation began, any children, and each partner's marital status.
- Complete the disclosure first. Each partner lists assets, debts and income in Schedules A and B, with documents to back them up.
- Decide what stays separate. Review the Separate Property definition, name any businesses, and decide on pensions.
- Choose the home option. Owned by one partner, owned by one with a recorded contribution, or owned together, then set the buyout, occupation and expense terms.
- Set household expenses and accounts. The sharing formula and whether there is a joint account.
- Choose the spousal support option. Mutual release, a qualifying period, a fixed formula, or leave it to the law.
- Deal with death. Estate releases, life insurance and new wills.
- Get independent legal advice. Each partner sees their own lawyer, who signs a certificate in Schedule C.
- Sign with witnesses. Each partner signs in front of a witness who is not the other partner, then updates their will.
Example: a home owned by one partner
Fictional couple Daniel Okafor and Mei Lin move into Daniel's Hamilton townhouse, bought in 2021 for $640,000, on September 1, 2026. Mei puts $40,000 of her savings toward a kitchen and basement renovation in October 2026.
Section 5.1: owned by Daniel alone, with a contribution by Mei. On Separation, Daniel repays Mei $40,000 plus 25% of the increase in the property's value from October 1, 2026 to Separation, within six months. Section 6.1: household expenses shared in proportion to income, 60% Daniel and 40% Mei. Section 7: Option B, no spousal support claim if they separate within five years of September 1, 2026. Schedule E: signed for the $40,000 renovation contribution.
If they separate in 2031 and the townhouse has gone from $760,000 to $880,000 since October 2026, Mei receives $40,000 plus 25% of $120,000, or $70,000 in total. Without the agreement she would have had to prove an unjust enrichment claim to recover anything.
Ontario rules to know
- Cohabitation agreements (Family Law Act section 53). May cover property, support, children's education and moral training, and other matters, but not parenting arrangements.
- Becomes a marriage contract (section 53(2)). Automatically, if the partners marry each other.
- Formalities (section 55(1)). In writing, signed by both parties and witnessed.
- Setting aside (section 56(4)). For failure to disclose significant assets or debts, failure to understand the agreement, or other contract grounds such as duress.
- Support for unmarried partners (section 29). Three years' continuous cohabitation, or a relationship of some permanence with a child; a court can override a support waiver in limited cases (section 33(4)).
- Child support (section 56(1.1)). A court may disregard terms that are unreasonable under the Child Support Guidelines.
- Matrimonial home (section 52(2) and Part II). If you marry, a contract cannot limit a spouse's right to possession of the home.
- Death. No automatic inheritance for an unmarried partner without a will; a dependant's support claim is possible under the Succession Law Reform Act.
Why cohabitation agreements get set aside
Ontario courts set aside cohabitation and marriage contracts for a few repeat reasons. One partner left out a significant asset, such as a pension, a business or an expected inheritance, or put a low value on it. The other partner signed without seeing their own lawyer, or saw a lawyer chosen and paid by their partner. The agreement was presented days before moving in or the wedding with no room to negotiate. Or a support waiver left one partner, who had given up work to raise children, with nothing after twenty years. Complete disclosure schedules, two separate lawyers' certificates, time to consider, and a support option that matches the couple's real plans are the best protection.
Frequently asked questions
Do common law partners split property in Ontario?
Not automatically. Ontario's equalization of net family property applies only to married spouses. When unmarried partners separate, each keeps what is in their own name, and a partner who contributed to the other's property must prove a claim such as unjust enrichment. A cohabitation agreement replaces that uncertainty with agreed rules.
Is a cohabitation agreement legally binding in Ontario?
Yes, if it is in writing, signed by both partners and witnessed, as section 55 of the Family Law Act requires. A court can set it aside if a partner did not disclose significant assets or debts, did not understand it, or signed under pressure, which is why disclosure schedules and independent legal advice matter.
What happens to a cohabitation agreement if we get married?
Under section 53(2) of the Family Law Act, it becomes your marriage contract automatically. It will then govern property division instead of equalization, but it cannot take away either spouse's right to live in the matrimonial home. Review it with your lawyers before the wedding.
When does a common law partner become entitled to spousal support in Ontario?
After living together continuously for three years, or sooner if you are in a relationship of some permanence and have a child together (section 29). A cohabitation agreement can waive or limit support, but a court may override a waiver that produces an unconscionable result.
Can a cohabitation agreement decide custody or child support?
No, not in a binding way. Parenting arrangements are decided in the child's best interests at the time of separation, and a court can disregard any child support term that is unreasonable under the Child Support Guidelines.
