Financing a car in Ontario: reading the contract.
What must be disclosed in writing before you pay, what APR actually tells you, and the protections you get once you've signed, including one that stops repossession.
What must be in writing
Under the Consumer Protection Act, a lease must disclose in writing: the lease term length, the payment amount/timing/number, a fair description of the vehicle, the implicit finance charge, the total lease cost, and the APR. If any of this isn't disclosed, you don't have to pay the implicit finance charge. That's a statutory right, not something negotiable. This covers leases of 4 months or longer, indefinite or auto-renewing leases, and residual obligation leases. Note: a "lease to own" or "rent to own" arrangement is still legally a lease.
Why APR matters
A monthly payment can look small simply because the term has been stretched out. APR is the number that lets you compare a lease against a loan on equal footing, so read it alongside the total lease cost.
End-of-lease questions to ask
What are the return terms? What counts as wear-and-tear, and who decides what's "reasonable"? How much extra might you owe? Residual obligation leases have Act-defined rules capping the maximum end-of-lease charge.
The two-thirds rule
Once you've paid off two-thirds or more of your payment obligation (whether to a dealer or a third-party financer), nobody can seize and resell the vehicle without an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Consumer Protection Act, 2002, subsection 25(1)).
What this guide deliberately doesn't cover
The credit score you'll need (lenders set their own thresholds), who's currently offering 0% financing (it changes constantly), and actual monthly payment estimates (these depend entirely on your individual rate). If you're newcomer to Canada, a lack of Canadian credit history is a distinct situation with its own guide.
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