From a lawyer's perspective, commercial real estate transactions are about managing risk. Through due diligence, lawyers craft title opinions that outline the risks. These title opinions however are not guarantees; they are simply one way of addressing the risks in a real estate transaction.

With the introduction of title insurance into Canada, many risks in a commercial transaction can be shifted to a title insurer. Title insurance provides a much different approach to managing the risks to that of a lawyer's opinion.

For a one-time premium, the insured lender or owner has a direct contract of insurance with an insurer rather than having to look to the lawyer's E & O insurance for compensation in the event of a loss or an error. In addition, title insurance is able to cover matters over which a lawyer cannot give an absolute opinion including certain known defects.

In Canada commercial title insurance is often used in multi-property, multi-jurisdiction and known defect transactions. Within these transactions, title insurance can be crafted to provide protection against loss from survey issues, zoning and use issues, work orders and many others issues.

Gap coverage allows multi-jurisdictional transactions to close simultaneously allowing funds to be released prior to registration.