A holdover period is the stretch of days after your listing expires when your brokerage can still collect commission, but only if you sell to a buyer who was introduced to or shown your home while the listing was active. It exists so an agent who did the work of finding a buyer does not lose the commission because the paperwork happens to close a week after the listing ends.
In Ontario the clause lives in the standard OREA Form 200, the Seller Representation Agreement most brokerages use. The length is written into the contract as a specific number of days. There is no legal minimum and no fixed standard, so the number gets negotiated before you sign. Sixty to ninety days is common across the province, and ninety shows up most often on Toronto listings.
The trigger is narrow. Your old brokerage can only claim commission during the holdover if the buyer had a real connection to the property while it was listed, meaning they were introduced to it or walked through it. A brand new buyer who never saw the home during the listing period does not count. Because that line can get blurry, it is worth asking your agent how they would document who actually qualifies.
There is also a built-in protection against paying twice. If your listing expires and you sign with a different brokerage, then sell through that new agreement, your obligation to the first brokerage drops by whatever commission you pay the second one. The Form 200 language is meant to keep you off the hook for two full commissions on a single sale.
The holdover sits inside the larger listing agreement, and it is one of the terms sellers skim past most often. Read it before you sign, since it shapes what you owe and for how long. It tends to matter most when a home does not sell during its term and the seller wants to switch agents or wait out the market. Reading it early also makes it clearer how real estate agents get paid. TRESA governs these agreements, OREA drafts the forms, and RECO enforces the rules.
Related reading: What Is a Listing Agreement in Ontario?, What Happens If Your Home Doesn't Sell in Toronto?, and How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid in Ontario?
