Power of Attorney in Ontario: Property and Personal Care Rules

Ontario's Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 creates two separate power of attorney documents, a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property and a Power of Attorney for Personal Care, each with its own capacity test and both requiring two witnesses to sign.

Information last verified on 2026-08-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

The two POA instruments under Ontario's Substitute Decisions Act

Ontario power of attorney law comes from the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 30 (SDA). The Act is split into two parts that create two legally distinct documents:

• Part I, "Property" (section 7): creates the Continuing Power of Attorney for Property, covering bank accounts, bill payment, selling or managing real estate, and investments.
• Part II, "The Person" (section 46): creates the Power of Attorney for Personal Care, covering health treatment consent, housing, and day-to-day personal care decisions.

Most people who want both kinds of protection execute two separate documents. The minimum age to make a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property is 18 (sections 4 and 5); for a Power of Attorney for Personal Care it is 16 (sections 43 and 44). For the concepts that work the same way in every province, see our national power of attorney guide.

Capacity to make each document

The SDA sets a different, and more detailed, capacity test for the property document than for the personal care one.

Property (section 8(1)) is a seven-part test. The grantor must:

• Know generally what property they own and roughly what it is worth.
• Be aware of the people who depend on them financially.
• Know that the attorney will be able to do essentially anything with that property that the grantor could do, except make a will.
• Understand that the attorney has to account for how they manage the property.
• Know the power of attorney can be revoked while the grantor remains capable.
• Appreciate that the property's value may decline if it is not managed prudently.
• Appreciate that the attorney's authority could be misused.

Personal care (section 47(1)) sets a lower bar: the grantor only needs to be able to understand whether the proposed attorney has a genuine concern for their welfare, and to appreciate that they may need someone else to make personal care decisions for them. Because the tests differ, it is possible for someone to have the capacity to name a personal care attorney while lacking the capacity to execute a property document, or the reverse.

Execution: witnesses, no notarization, and remote signing

Both instruments require the same execution formalities.

Witnesses. Both a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property (section 10(1)) and a Power of Attorney for Personal Care (section 48(1), which incorporates the same bar list) must be signed in front of two witnesses.

Who cannot witness (section 10(2), applies to both documents):

• The named attorney, or the attorney's spouse or partner.
• The grantor's spouse or partner.
• A child of the grantor, or someone the grantor has treated as their own child.
• A person under property or personal guardianship.
• Anyone under the age of 18.

No notarization. Ontario's Act does not require a notary or commissioner of oaths for either document; witness-only execution is sufficient.

Remote witnessing. Section 3.1, made permanent in 2021 (in force May 20, 2021, with one component applied retroactively to April 7, 2020), allows execution over real-time audio-visual technology. At least one of the two witnesses must be a Law Society of Ontario licensee, a lawyer or paralegal, at the time of signing, the signatures must happen contemporaneously, and the parties can sign identical counterparts rather than the same physical page. The same remote-signing option applies to a written revocation (section 3.1(5)).

When each Ontario POA takes effect

Property. A Continuing Power of Attorney for Property can specify a start date or a condition, including a springing condition tied to incapacity (section 7(7)). Once validly executed while the grantor is capable, it remains valid after incapacity (section 9(1)-(2)). If the document conditions the attorney's authority on incapacity but does not say how that is to be determined, the default rule (section 9(3)) is that the POA takes effect once the attorney receives either a prescribed-form notice of incapacity from a qualified assessor, or a Mental Health Act certificate of incapacity.

Personal care. Under section 49, the personal care attorney's authority takes effect once the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 applies and authorizes the attorney to act, or, where that Act does not apply, once the attorney has reasonable grounds to believe the grantor is incapable of the decision in question, subject to any condition in the document requiring confirmation first. Where the document requires confirmation, the default method is again a prescribed-form notice from an assessor (section 49(2)).

Attorney duties, records, gifts, and compensation

Ontario attorneys, whether acting under a property or a personal care document, owe fiduciary duties under section 32 (extended to attorneys by section 38): act diligently, honestly, and in good faith for the incapable person's benefit; consider the effect of decisions on the person's comfort and well-being; explain their own powers and duties to the person where possible; encourage the person's participation in decisions; foster contact with supportive family and friends; and consult regularly with them and with care providers.

The standard of care differs by whether the attorney is paid: an unpaid attorney or guardian is held to the standard of "a person of ordinary prudence" managing their own affairs, while a compensated attorney or guardian is held to the higher standard of "a person in the business of managing the property of others" (section 32(7)-(8)).

Record-keeping. Section 32(6), applied to attorneys by section 38(1), requires accounts of all property transactions. Anyone with standing, including the attorney, the grantor, a personal care attorney or guardian, a dependant, the OPGT, the Children's Lawyer, or a judgment creditor, can apply to court to force a formal passing of accounts (section 42).

Gifts and loans. Under section 37 (extended via section 38), an attorney may only make gifts or loans if enough property remains for the grantor's own support. Gifts or loans to friends or relatives require evidence the grantor would have made them while capable, and charitable gifts need either express authorization in the document or evidence of a similar giving pattern, capped at the lesser of 20 percent of that year's property income or any ceiling stated in the document.

Compensation. Section 40(1) lets a property attorney or guardian take annual compensation under a prescribed fee scale, set out in O. Reg. 26/95: 3 percent of capital and income receipts, 3 percent of capital and income disbursements, and three-fifths of one percent (0.6 percent) of the average annual value of the assets as a care and management fee. That scale applies to property attorneys and guardians only. The Act allows a regulation to set compensation for personal care attorneys too (section 90(1)(c.1)), but no matching fee schedule for personal care attorneys turned up in O. Reg. 26/95. Whether and how a personal care attorney can be paid is not something this article can confirm. A POA document's own compensation terms override the default scale (section 40(4)), and compensation above the scale needs the OPGT's consent, plus the personal care attorney or guardian's consent, or court approval if the OPGT itself holds the role (section 40(3)).

Ending or revoking an Ontario power of attorney

Property (section 12(1)). A Continuing Power of Attorney for Property ends when the attorney dies, becomes incapable, or resigns (unless a successor was named), when a court appoints a property guardian, when the grantor executes a new continuing POA (unless the document allows multiples), on revocation, or on the grantor's death.

Personal care (section 53(1)). The list is similar, covering the attorney's death, incapacity, or resignation (unless a successor was named), a court-appointed personal guardian, a new personal care POA, or revocation, but it does not include an express "grantor dies" clause the way the property section does. In practice a personal care attorney's authority is moot once the grantor has died, but Ontario's statute does not spell that out for this document the way it does for the property one.

Revocation. A revocation must be in writing and executed with the same formalities as the original document, including the two-witness requirement, or the section 3.1 remote-signing option (sections 12(2) and 53(2)).

Separation or divorce. Ontario's Act has no automatic-revocation rule tied to separation or divorce for either document. The only related language (sections 11(1.1) and 52(1.1)) simply excuses an attorney from having to deliver their own resignation notice to a former spouse or in-law after a relationship ends; it does not cancel the appointment itself. (See our guide to common-law relationships in Ontario for how the province defines a spouse or partner outside marriage.)

The free OPGT power of attorney kit

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) publishes a free downloadable Powers of Attorney kit with instructions and forms for both the Continuing Power of Attorney for Property and the Power of Attorney for Personal Care, listed at $0.00 through Publications Ontario. The OPGT no longer mails printed paper forms; the kit is a downloadable, fillable PDF. Ontario's government also publishes a separate, narrower Form 94001 for registering a power of attorney against land in the Land Titles system; that is a land-registration form, not a substitute for the general OPGT kit.

Reporting suspected abuse

The OPGT is Ontario's substitute decision-maker of last resort and also investigates reports that an attorney is misusing their authority. Anyone who suspects an incapable person is at risk of harm, abuse, or neglect can call the OPGT's Investigations line, toll-free, at 1-800-891-0504.

On the property side (section 27), the OPGT must investigate any allegation that a person is both incapable and suffering a serious adverse effect, defined to include loss of a significant part of their property or failure to receive the necessities of life. The OPGT can apply for temporary guardianship for up to 90 days, which can suspend an existing attorney's powers during that period. If the OPGT investigates and does not apply for guardianship, it must destroy the information it collected and notify the person within three years.

On the personal care side (section 62), the same mandatory-investigation structure applies, triggered by allegations of incapacity plus serious illness or injury, or deprivation of liberty or personal security.

A Continuing Power of Attorney for Property stops governing an estate once the grantor has died, and the executor named in the will takes over from there. See our guides to making a will in Canada, executor duties in Canada, and Ontario probate fees for what happens next.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. It does not cover every scenario, and Ontario's forms and requirements can change. Two points in this article could not be fully confirmed from the current text of the Substitute Decisions Act and its regulations: whether a personal care attorney can be paid under any regulation, and whether the Power of Attorney for Personal Care has any statutory rule for what happens to it on the grantor's death. Confirm current requirements with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee or a licensed Ontario lawyer before signing or relying on any power of attorney document.