Although Ontario’s Statute of Frauds generally bars the enforcement of an oral agreement for the purchase of land, Canadian law recognizes an exception to the rule: the equitable doctrine of part performance.
You’ll need more than a simple handshake to prove the existence of an oral agreement, but convincing a judge to apply the doctrine of part performance is possible in the right circumstances, as the recent Court of Appeal decision in 2730453 Ontario Inc. v. 2380673 Ontario Inc. demonstrates.