Quick answer
In Canada in 2026, land transfer tax is a one-time charge paid around closing and worked out from the purchase price; Ontario's marginal brackets put it at $14,475.00 on a $900,000 home, about 1.61% of the price. Four of the thirteen provinces and territories offer first-time buyer relief on the tax: Ontario, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec, where Revenu Québec pays a credit back afterwards.
How this calculator works
Every Canadian province and territory charges a one-time amount when a property changes hands, calculated on the purchase price and paid around closing (in Quebec the municipality sends the bill afterwards, and it falls due from the thirty-first day after it is sent) — it's one of several closing costs, not the whole bill (legal fees, title insurance and a home inspection all come on top). Four of the thirteen — Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec — use a marginal, bracketed tax, the same shape as income tax: different portions of the price are taxed at different rates, with the rate stepping up only for the slice of price that falls in each higher bracket. Three charge a single flat percentage of the price instead: New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island at 1%, and Nova Scotia at whatever rate each municipality sets. The remaining six — Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut — don't levy a "land transfer tax" as such; they charge a registration fee to record the transfer document, worked out from the property's value on each registry's own schedule, and the schedules take different shapes (see "Six jurisdictions charge a fee, not a tax" below). Pick your province, a municipality where one changes the math, and your purchase price, and the calculator applies the right formula.
Land transfer tax payable = provincial tax
− first-time buyer rebate or exemption (where one exists)
+ municipal tax (Toronto only) + Manitoba's separate flat registration fee + Yukon's Assurance Fund fee
Quebec: the homeownership credit is refunded by Revenu Québec afterwards, so it is shown below the amount payable, not taken off it
Marginal brackets: why the whole price isn't taxed at one rate
A bracketed land transfer tax works exactly like income tax brackets: crossing into a higher bracket doesn't raise the rate on the money you already had in the lower brackets — it only taxes the additional slice at the new rate. Take Ontario's own schedule on a $900,000 purchase: the first $55,000 is taxed at 0.5% ($275.00), the next $195,000 (from $55,000 to $250,000) at 1.0% ($1,950.00), the next $150,000 (to $400,000) at 1.5% ($2,250.00), and the remaining $500,000 (from $400,000 to $900,000) at 2.0% ($10,000.00) — for a total of $14,475.00, an effective rate of about 1.61% on the full price, well under the 2.0% top bracket it landed in. The per-bracket breakdown table above shows exactly this split for whichever jurisdiction you've selected.
First-time home buyer rules, by province
Four of the thirteen jurisdictions on this page offer first-time buyer relief on the tax — Ontario, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec — and none of their programs work quite the same way; a Toronto buyer also gets a fifth, separate municipal rebate on top of Ontario's. Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of provincial tax; Toronto refunds up to a further $4,475 of its own municipal tax, on top of Ontario's — a Toronto buyer can claim both. British Columbia fully exempts the tax on the first $500,000 of a home's value when its total fair market value is $835,000 or less, phasing that exemption out to zero by $860,000. Prince Edward Island waives its entire 1% tax for a qualifying first-time home buyer at any price: the Real Property Transfer Tax Act sets no dollar limit. Under the Act the buyer must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, must have kept their principal residence in the province for at least the six months before the deed is registered or have been subject to Prince Edward Island income tax and filed a return in at least two of the six preceding tax years, must never have held a registered interest in real property that was their principal residence and must not have had the exemption before; they file a declaration when the deed is registered, and must intend to live in the home as their principal residence (the tax becomes payable if they do not live there for at least 183 consecutive days). The province's 2025 budget proposed, from 28 April 2025, a 2% rate at $1,000,000 and above, for first-time buyers too. The Act as consolidated to 29 May 2026 contains neither change, so this calculator applies the Act: 1%, and nothing for a first-time buyer. If the proposal applies to your purchase, the tax could be as much as 2% of the price ($24,000 on $1,200,000). At $1,000,000 or more, ask the Registry of Deeds or your lawyer which rate applies, and whether the first-time buyer exemption does, before closing. Quebec does not reduce the welcome tax: the buyer pays the municipality in full, and Revenu Québec then pays back a refundable credit of 100% of the first $5,000 of the tax plus 25% of the next $3,500 (so at most $5,875), reduced by 2.35% of the basis of imposition above $750,000 (this calculator uses the price) and nil from $1,000,000. It is for a first housing unit acquired in 2026 that the buyer intends to make their principal residence within a year, and the buyer must be resident in Quebec at the end of the year. It was announced in Information Bulletin 2026-2 and is administered by Revenu Québec; this calculator shows it as its own line beneath the total, with the net cost after it. Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the six registration-fee jurisdictions offer no first-time buyer relief from this tax or fee — the checkbox above has no effect for those, and the note beneath it says so (Saskatchewan's First-time Homebuyers' Tax Credit is an income tax credit, not relief from the registration fee, so it is not modelled). Ontario, Toronto and British Columbia scale their relief to the eligible buyer's share of the property, and the checkbox assumes every buyer on the deed qualifies.
British Columbia's two home-buyer exemptions
BC runs two separate, non-stacking exemptions from its Property Transfer Tax. The first-time home buyers' exemption covers the tax on only the first $500,000 of a property's value, and only when the total value is $835,000 or less (phasing out to $860,000). The newly built home exemption is more generous where it applies: it waives the entire tax, not just the first $500,000, for a home that has never been occupied, when its value is $1,100,000 or less (phasing out to $1,150,000), but only for a buyer who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, on the first registration of the home since it was completed, who moves in within 92 days and keeps it as a principal residence until the first anniversary of registration. A first-time buyer purchasing a newly built home under $1,100,000 typically comes out ahead using the newly-built exemption rather than the first-time-buyer one — this calculator checks both boxes' thresholds and applies whichever produces the larger exemption, so ticking both is safe. The phase-outs are not approximations: they are the formulas in the Property Transfer Tax Act itself (s. 5(1.1) and s. 12.02(2)), and this calculator applies them exactly.
Quebec's "welcome tax", and why Montréal is different
Quebec's droits de mutation immobilière is universally nicknamed the "welcome tax" (taxe de bienvenue). The duty comes from a 1976 statute, now the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables, which sets a mandatory minimum three-bracket schedule (0.5% / 1.0% / 1.5%) that every municipality must charge at least. It is calculated on the greatest of the consideration furnished, the consideration stipulated and the market value (the assessed value times that year's comparative factor); this calculator uses the price you enter. Any municipality may set a higher rate on the portion of a price above $500,000, generally capped at 3% — except the City of Montréal, which the province lets exceed that cap. Outside Montréal this calculator shows the provincial minimum only, so above $500,000 your own bill can be higher: Québec City charges 2.5% from $500,000 to $750,000 and 3.0% above $750,000, and Laval charges 3% above $500,000. On a $900,000 price that is $16,360.50 in Québec City and $17,610.50 in Laval, against $11,610.50 at the provincial minimum; only these two cities were checked, so ask your own municipality. Montréal has used that power to build a full seven-bracket schedule running up to 4% on the portion of a price over roughly $3.1 million; selecting Montréal above replaces the provincial minimum brackets with Montréal's own, since it's one municipal tax, not two stacked ones. The municipality bills the tax after the transfer is registered, and it falls due from the thirty-first day after the bill is sent.
Nova Scotia has no provincial rate for resident buyers — every municipality sets its own
Every other jurisdiction on this page sets one rate schedule, provincially or (for Toronto and Montréal) by a single named city. Nova Scotia is structurally different: its Municipal Government Act gives every one of the province's 49 municipalities the power to set its own Deed Transfer Tax rate, and for a resident buyer there is no provincial default to fall back on. Published rates currently range from about 1.0% to 1.5%, with Halifax Regional Municipality — this calculator's default — at the top of that range, and 1.5% is also the legal ceiling: the Municipal Government Act says a council's rate shall not exceed one and one half per cent of the value of the property transferred, so the rate field accepts nothing higher. If you're buying anywhere else in the province, edit the rate field to your own municipality's published figure before trusting the result. Non-residents are the exception to "no provincial rate": they also pay a separate provincial deed transfer tax, 10% since 1 April 2025, on residential property of three dwelling units or less. This calculator does not model it.
Six jurisdictions charge a fee, not a tax
Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut don't have a land transfer tax at all — instead, each charges a registration fee to record the sale at the land registry, worked out from the property's value on that registry's own schedule, and the schedules take different shapes: Alberta charges a "transfer levy" of $50 plus $5.00 per $5,000 of value (or part) under its Land Titles Act; Newfoundland and Labrador charges a flat $100 covering the first $500 of value, plus $0.40 per additional $100; Saskatchewan is free up to $500, a flat $25 up to $6,300, then 0.4% of the property's value; Yukon charges a transfer registration fee set by value band ($50 under $100,000, rising to $750 at $10,000,000 and over) plus an Assurance Fund fee that the law charges only on the increase in declared value since the last transfer, which this calculator cannot know, so it shows that fee at its maximum, on the whole price, and states the lowest total; the Northwest Territories and Nunavut charge a minimum flat fee, then a set amount per $1,000 of value, dropping to a lower per-$1,000 rate once value passes $1,000,000. Manitoba is a hybrid: it has a real bracketed land transfer tax and a separate flat Land Titles registration fee ($137 for electronic registration) to process the transfer document — both appear as separate lines in the breakdown table above.
Worked examples
A $900,000 house in Toronto, first-time buyer: Ontario's provincial tax comes to $14,475.00, reduced by its $4,000 rebate to a net $10,475.00. Toronto's municipal tax on the same price is also $14,475.00 (its brackets match Ontario's up to $3,000,000), reduced by its own $4,475 rebate to a net $10,000.00. Total: $20,475.00 — versus $28,950.00 with neither rebate applied.
A $1,000,000 condo in Vancouver, not a first-time buyer: BC's Property Transfer Tax is 1% on the first $200,000 ($2,000.00) plus 2% on the remaining $800,000 ($16,000.00), for a total of $18,000.00 — the value stays under $2,000,000, so the 3% bracket and the additional 2% residential surtax above $3,000,000 never engage.
A $500,000 condo in Montréal: the welcome tax runs 0.5% on the first $62,900 ($314.50), 1.0% on the next $252,100 ($2,521.00), and 1.5% on the remaining $185,000 ($2,775.00) — the price stays inside Montréal's third bracket — for a total of $5,610.50. A qualifying first-time buyer pays the same $5,610.50 to the city and then receives a Revenu Québec credit of $5,152.63 (100% of the first $5,000 plus 25% of the remaining $610.50), a net cost of $457.87.
FAQ
Is land transfer tax the same thing as annual property tax?
No — they're entirely separate. Land transfer tax (or, in some provinces, a registration fee) is a one-time charge paid when a property changes hands, calculated on the purchase price and paid around closing (in Quebec the municipality sends the bill afterwards). Annual property tax is a recurring bill your municipality charges every year based on your property's assessed value, funding local services like schools, roads and emergency services, and it keeps being charged for as long as you own the home. This calculator only covers the one-time transfer charge.
How do I know if I qualify as a first-time home buyer for these rebates?
Each program sets its own test, but the core requirements repeat across Ontario, Toronto and British Columbia: you must never have owned an eligible home anywhere in the world (British Columbia words this as never having held a registered interest in land that was your principal residence), you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and you generally have to move in within a matter of months and stay there as your principal residence. In Ontario and Toronto your spouse must also not have owned an eligible home anywhere in the world while they were your spouse. British Columbia has a residency test of its own: you must have kept your principal residence in the province for at least the year before registration, or have filed British Columbia income tax returns in at least two of the six preceding tax years. Prince Edward Island also requires Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, and has a residency test of its own: you must have kept your principal residence in the province continuously for at least the six months before the deed is registered, or have been subject to PEI income tax and filed a return in at least two of the six preceding tax years. You must never have held a registered interest in real property that was your principal residence, and the property being transferred must contain a residence. Quebec's credit has a shorter memory: its test of a first housing unit looks back only to the start of the fourth calendar year before the purchase, and asks that since then you have not owned a home you lived in and your spouse has not owned one you lived in during your marriage or union; you must also intend to make the home your principal residence within a year and be resident in Quebec at the end of the year. The other programs look at your whole history, so none of them lets you qualify a second time. Ontario, Toronto and British Columbia scale their relief to the eligible buyer's share of the property, and this calculator's checkbox assumes every buyer on the deed qualifies; it is also a simplification of each program's own detailed eligibility rules — check the province's own page, linked in the comparison table above, before relying on the exemption for a real purchase.
Why does buying a house in Toronto cost more in land transfer tax than elsewhere in Ontario?
Because you're paying two separate taxes to two separate governments on the same purchase. Every Ontario buyer pays the province's own land transfer tax, calculated on a bracket schedule from 0.5% to 2.5% (the 2.5% tier applies only to land with one or two single family residences). Toronto is the only municipality in Ontario allowed to charge its own additional Municipal Land Transfer Tax, using the same brackets as Ontario up to $3,000,000 and five further luxury tiers running from 4.40% up to 8.60% above that, which likewise apply only to land with one or two single family residences — so a Toronto purchase effectively doubles the provincial tax up to $3,000,000, then climbs faster above it. Toronto also runs its own separate first-time buyer rebate, on top of Ontario's, so a first-time buyer can claim both.
What is Quebec's "welcome tax", and why is it called that?
"Welcome tax" (taxe de bienvenue) is the informal nickname for Quebec's droits de mutation immobilière, or land transfer duty, which comes from a 1976 statute, now the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables. Quebec sets a mandatory minimum three-bracket schedule that every municipality must charge at least, but lets municipalities set higher rates on the portion of a price above $500,000, generally capped at 3% — except the City of Montréal, which the province allows to exceed that cap. Outside Montréal this calculator shows only the provincial minimum, so above $500,000 your own bill can be higher. Montréal's own schedule runs in seven brackets up to 4% on the portion of a price over roughly $3.1 million. The municipality bills the tax after the transfer is registered. Since 2026 Quebec also refunds some or all of it to qualifying first-time buyers: Revenu Québec pays back a credit of up to $5,875 once the tax has been paid in full.
Is Nova Scotia's deed transfer tax rate the same everywhere in the province?
No — and this is different from every other jurisdiction on this page. Nova Scotia sets no provincial rate for resident buyers; its Municipal Government Act instead lets each of the province's 49 municipalities set its own Deed Transfer Tax rate. Rates currently run from about 1.0% to 1.5% depending on where you buy, with Halifax Regional Municipality — the default this calculator uses — charging the top rate of 1.5%, which is also the most any municipality may charge: the Municipal Government Act caps the rate at one and one half per cent of the value of the property, so the rate field stops there. If you're buying outside Halifax, edit the rate field to your own municipality's published rate before trusting the result. Non-residents also pay a separate provincial deed transfer tax, 10% since 1 April 2025, which this calculator does not model.
Is land transfer tax the only cost I'll pay when a home purchase closes?
No — it's one of several closing costs, typically among the largest, but real estate lawyers, title insurers and lenders all charge their own fees on top of it: legal fees, title insurance, a home inspection, a property appraisal, adjustments for prepaid property tax or utilities, and, if you're financing, mortgage-related charges. Budget for land transfer tax as one line in a larger closing-cost total, not the whole bill.
Which provinces and cities does this land transfer tax calculator cover?
Every province and territory: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon, plus the two cities with a schedule of their own: Toronto's municipal land transfer tax, charged on top of Ontario's, and Montréal's welcome tax, charged in place of Quebec's provincial minimum. Pick the jurisdiction from the list and the calculator applies its own brackets and, where one exists, its first-time buyer rebate or credit.
This page is general information based on published 2026 provincial, territorial and municipal land transfer tax and registration fee rules, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your own municipality's rate, an assessed value above your purchase price, or a rule change since this page was verified could change your actual bill — check the sources above or consult a licensed professional for a real transaction.