Life Lease and 55+ Communities in Markham: What You Are Actually Buying

The short answer

Life lease housing in Markham and across Ontario works differently from buying a condo. You pay a lump sum for the right to occupy a unit, usually for the rest of your life, but you do not buy the unit itself. The organisation that runs the building, called the sponsor, normally keeps ownership of the property and sets the rules on who can live there and how a unit is resold.

That difference shapes almost everything else: how you finance it, what you pay each month, what your estate inherits and which laws protect you. This post explains each one using the Province of Ontario’s life lease housing guide, which was last updated January 7, 2026. It also covers age-restricted and so-called 55+ or adult lifestyle condos and how all of these compare with a regular condo or a bungalow. For the wider picture of costs, timing and areas, start with our Markham downsizing guide.

What life lease housing is in Ontario

Ontario’s guide defines it simply. The buyer purchases an interest in a property, which gives them the right to occupy a unit for a long period of time, often for their lifetime. The glossary is blunter: when you buy a life lease interest, you do not buy property.

A few terms come up in every life lease agreement:

• Sponsor: the organisation that develops or operates the project and typically holds title to the property.
• Life lease holder: the person who buys the right to occupy a unit.
• Life lease unit: the home itself, which can be a detached house, a row house or a suite in an apartment-style building.
• Life lease agreement: the contract that gives the holder the right to occupy.

According to the province, most Ontario life lease projects are run by non-profit and charitable organisations, including faith-based groups, cultural associations, service clubs and seniors’ organisations. Many of them also operate long-term care or retirement homes. The guide says life lease housing is aimed at seniors and older adults but that each sponsor defines that age group differently. Sponsors also generally require residents to be able to live independently.

In Markham, one example is Bethany Courts in Unionville, which its operator Bethany Lodge lists on its website as life-lease suites. Other projects exist across York Region and each has its own agreement, so the details below are general and every project has to be read on its own terms.

How a life lease differs from owning a condo

Ontario’s guide includes a comparison of rental, condo ownership and a market value life lease. The core differences are below.

Feature	Condo ownership	Market value life lease
You own the property	Yes	No
You can build equity	Yes	Yes
Your interest is registered on title	Yes	Rarely
Monthly fees	Yes	Yes
Residents take part in management	Yes	Sometimes, through a residents’ council that advises the board

The legal framework is the bigger difference. The province states that there is no legislation in Ontario that specifically regulates life lease housing. The Condominium Act, 1998 does not apply and neither does the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 where the lease holder deals directly with the sponsor. Your rights come from the life lease agreement, which the guide describes as a binding contract that can be enforced in court. General laws such as the Building Code, the Fire Code and the Ontario Human Rights Code still apply.

In practice that means some protections condo buyers rely on are not built in. Condos must carry out reserve fund studies by law, while the guide notes that life lease sponsors are not required to, though many do. A condo buyer can request a status certificate, which the Condominium Authority of Ontario describes as including the declaration, by-laws, rules, budget and reserve fund information. There is no equivalent statutory document for a life lease, so you have to ask the sponsor for those records directly. If you are weighing both, our post on reading a condo status certificate shows what a condo buyer receives for comparison.

How resale and the sponsor’s role work

How you get your money out depends on the model in your agreement. Ontario’s guide lists five.

Model	How the exit works
Market value	You or your estate sell the interest at market value. You can gain or lose. The sponsor usually helps with the sale and keeps an administrative fee.
Price index	The sponsor buys the interest back at the original price adjusted each year, usually by the Consumer Price Index, less an administrative fee.
Fixed value	The sponsor buys it back at the original price, keeping a percentage as an administrative and refurbishing fee.
Declining balance	The upfront amount is based on the unit’s value and your life expectancy and declines each year toward zero.
Zero balance	The lowest upfront cost. It works as prepaid rent with no value left for the estate.

The province describes market value as a popular model in Ontario. Under it, most agreements let you transfer the interest to your estate. Heirs can inherit and sell it but cannot move in unless they apply to the sponsor and meet its eligibility rules. The guide also points out that an estate has to keep paying monthly fees until the sale is complete. If you are the executor for a parent’s life lease, our guide to selling an estate home in Markham covers the estate side of that process.

When a holder dies, the lease generally continues for a surviving spouse for their lifetime, provided the spouse meets the sponsor’s eligibility rules. A transfer fee may apply.

Fees, financing and land transfer tax

Monthly fees

Sponsors may call it a maintenance fee, common fee or occupancy fee. According to the province it typically covers reserve fund contributions, property management, cleaning and upkeep of common areas, insurance on common elements and recreation programs. Property taxes are not included, nor are utilities in your unit, contents insurance or repairs to your own appliances.

The guide is clear that there is no law in Ontario limiting how much a life lease project can charge in monthly fees. Ask for the fee history and the policy on increases.

Financing

Ontario’s guide says loans may be available but they differ from a regular mortgage because the life lease holder does not own the property. Some lenders require the life lease interest to be registered on title. Speak to your own lender early, because a lender that finances condos may not finance life leases.

Land transfer tax

Under Ontario Regulation 88/04, buying a life lease interest is exempt from land transfer tax when the owner of the development is a non-profit organisation or a registered charity and each buyer is acquiring it as their principal residence or that of their parent or spouse. Transactions outside those conditions can be taxable. A condo purchase pays the regular Ontario land transfer tax. Confirm your own case with your lawyer.

What to have a lawyer check before you sign

Ontario’s guide recommends consulting a lawyer familiar with life lease housing before you commit any money and not signing on the spot if the sponsor does not offer a cooling-off period. Drawing on the guide’s own checklist, ask your lawyer to review:

• which of the five resale models the agreement uses and exactly what you or your estate receive on exit
• the percentage of the resale price the sponsor keeps as a transfer or administrative fee
• the current monthly fee, how increases are decided and the recent history
• whether a reserve fund study exists and what the latest financial statements show
• what the sponsor’s insurance covers and what you must insure yourself
• which repairs are the sponsor’s responsibility and which are yours
• the eligibility rules, including what happens if you can no longer live independently
• how disputes are handled, since the guide notes there is no formal process to dispute a termination unless the agreement sets one out
• for a project still being built, the construction timeline and whether your deposit is fully refundable if building does not start

The province’s guide lists the Law Society Referral Service as one way to find a lawyer.

What age-restricted and adult lifestyle condos are

Outside life lease, you will see condos and communities marketed as 55+ or adult lifestyle. These are usually ordinary condominiums or freehold developments. The difference is a requirement set by the community about the age of residents, typically written into the condo’s declaration or rules.

How far such a requirement reaches is a legal question under the Ontario Human Rights Code. The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on age says section 15 of the Code protects housing limited to people 65 and over from challenge by those too young to qualify. The same policy states that there is no defence for adult lifestyle housing that results in the exclusion of children or persons under a certain age. It cites a case where condo by-laws excluding families with young children were found to breach the Code. Other provisions, such as special programs under section 14, can apply in narrower circumstances.

We describe a community’s age requirement as a fact set by that community, nothing more. Before you buy, have your lawyer read the declaration and rules in the status certificate and tell you what the requirement says and how it applies to you.

Life lease, condo or bungalow: comparing them for downsizing

	Life lease	Regular or age-restricted condo	Bungalow
What you own	A right to occupy	Your unit plus a share of the common elements	The house and the land
Main governing document	The life lease agreement	Condominium Act, declaration, by-laws and rules	Municipal by-laws and your title
Who controls resale	Often the sponsor	You	You
Monthly fees	Yes, plus property tax	Yes, plus property tax	None, but you pay all maintenance
Typical financing	Specialized, lender by lender	Conventional mortgage	Conventional mortgage

A life lease trades some control and some equity potential for services, a defined community and, in some models, protection from price swings. A condo keeps full ownership with shared maintenance. A bungalow keeps everything on one floor and keeps all decisions with you, along with all the upkeep. Our post on choosing between a bungalow, condo or townhouse goes deeper on that choice.

Next steps

1. Decide whether equity and control matter more to you than services and a sponsor that handles resale.
2. If life lease appeals, ask each sponsor for the agreement, fee history and financial statements before you visit twice.
3. Look at what is available in Markham now: current condos for sale and bungalows for sale and the areas covered in where to downsize in Markham.
4. Have a lawyer review any agreement or status certificate before your offer or deposit becomes firm.
5. Find out what your current home is worth, since the sale usually funds the next move.

If you would like to talk through how a life lease or a condo fits with selling your current home, contact us.