Use our land transfer tax calculator to estimate land transfer taxes based on your province and city. First-time home buyers may be eligible for rebates.
The land transfer tax can be a confusing part of buying a home. It's calculated as a percentage of the purchase price, and the exact amount varies based on location. Use our land transfer tax calculator to see exactly how much you can expect to pay when moving into a new home.
If you're a first time homebuyer, you are entitled to rebates of the land transfer tax.
Land transfer tax (LTT) is a tax you have to pay when you transfer ownership of a property to yourself. This is not to be confused with GST, which is tax on the sale of a newly constructed or substantially renovated home. The LTT applies to any home sale, either new or previously owned. It’s possible to owe both GST and LTT on one home purchase.
Every province has the LTT except for Alberta and Saskatchewan, which instead of a smaller land transfer fee. Despite not technically being a land transfer tax, we included these provinces in our land transfer tax calculator.
Three provinces – Ontario, British Columbia, and P.E.I – have LTT rebate programs which reimburse first-time homebuyers for all or part of the tax. Toronto has an additional municipal land transfer tax and its own rebate for first-time homebuyers, and Montreal has its own LTT as well. These city-specific taxes are also included in our land transfer tax calculator.
Each province calculates LTT (or in Alberta and Saskatchewan, land transfer fees) differently. In every case, it’s calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of the home, but the exact percentages vary. Give our land transfer tax calculator a try and see for yourself!
Alberta does not have a land transfer tax, but you are required to pay title registration and mortgage registration fees.
The fee is calculated like this:
$50.00 + $1 for every $5,000 of the value of the land
So a house valued at $500,000 would cost
$50.00 + ($1 × ($500,000/$5,000)) = $150
The mortgage registration fee is similar, except that it’s only charged on the mortgage amount, not the land value amount. So, if we were to put a 20% down payment on a $500,000 property, the remaining mortgage would be $400,000. The mortgage registration fee would then be this:
$50.00 + ($1 × ($400,000/$5,000)) = $130
That brings the total cost to registering your property to $280.
If you were to buy a house in cash (without a mortgage) then you would avoid the mortgage registration fee, but be required to pay the title registration fee.
Tax on the portion of the purchase… | Property Transfer Tax |
… up to $200,000 |
1% |
… between $200,001 and $2 million |
2% |
… over $2 million but less than $3 million |
3% |
… over $3 million |
2% |
The property transfer tax in British Columbia is bracketed. If you purchase a home worth $300,000, you don’t pay a flat 2%. Instead, you pay 1% on $200,000 and 2% on $100,000, for a total of $4,000.
If you bought a home worth $3 million, you would pay:
Value of the Property | Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $200,000 |
1.0% |
$2,000 |
Next $1.8 million |
2.0% |
$36,000 |
Last $1 million |
3.0% |
$30,000 |
Total tax owed |
$68,000 |
Finally, if you were to buy the most expensive home in Vancouver, worth $75.8 million, you would pay:
Value of the Property | Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $200,000 |
1.0% |
$2,000 |
Next $1.8 million |
2.0% |
$36,000 |
Next $1 million |
3.0% |
$30,000 |
Last $72.8 million |
2.0% |
$1,456,000 |
Total tax owed |
$1,524,000 |
If the property you’re buying is a farm or mixed commercial-residential, then that extra 2% over $3 million is only applicable to the residential portion of the property.
Tax on the portion of the purchase… | Rate |
… up to the first $30,000 |
0% |
… between $30,001 and $90,000 |
0.50% |
… between $90,001 and $150,000 |
1.00% |
… between $150,001 and $200,000 |
1.50% |
… over $200,000 |
2.0% |
The land transfer tax is calculated as a percentage of the home value, but there is an additional $70 (flat fee) that you have to pay as well.
If you bought a home worth $350,000, you would owe 0% on the first $30,000, 0.5% on the amount up to $90,000, 1% on the amount up to $150,000, 1.5% on the amount up for $200,000, and 2% on the remaining $100,000 for a total of $3,870.
City | Tax Rate |
Halifax |
1.5% |
Cape Breton |
1.5% |
Truro |
1.0% |
Amherst |
1.25% |
New Glasgow |
1.0% |
Bridgewater |
1.5% |
Yarmouth |
1.0% |
Kentville |
0.0% |
On the Service Nova Scotia website, they post the disclaimer that “rate changes are at the discretion of the municipalities and may not be reported to SNS.” Check with your realtor or real estate lawyer.
Tax on the portion of the purchase … | Rate |
… up to $55,000 |
0.5% |
… between $55,001 and $250,000 |
1.0% |
… between $250,001 and $400,000 |
1.5% |
… between $400,001 and $2 million |
2.0% |
… over $2 million |
2.5% |
In Ontario, there is a bracketed land transfer tax system. You only pay the corresponding land transfer tax that falls within the ranges in the table. If you bought a house worth $500,000, the land transfer tax would be broken down like this:
Value of the Property | Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $55,000 |
0.5% |
$275 |
Next $195,000 |
1.0% |
$1,950 |
Next $150,000 |
1.5% |
$2,250 |
Last $100,000 |
2.0% |
$2000 |
Total tax owed |
$6,475 |
Tax on the portion of the purchase … | Rate |
… up to $55,000 |
0.5% |
… between $55,001 and $250,000 |
1.0% |
… between $250,001 and $400,000 |
1.5% |
… between $400,001 and $2 million |
2.0% |
… over $2 million |
2.5% |
In Toronto, there is an additional land transfer tax. The tax rates are exactly the same as their provincial counterpart, so calculating it is easy – simply double the tax owed. The Toronto land transfer tax will always be double that of any other city in Ontario.
On that same $500,000 home, you would owe $6,475 × 2, or $12,950.
Tax on the portion of the purchase … | Rate |
… up to $30,000 |
0.0% |
… over $30,000 |
1.0% |
If you bought a house worth $200,000 for that amount, you would owe tax thusly:
Value | Tax Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $30,000 |
0.0% |
$0 |
Last $170,000 |
1.0% |
$1,700 |
Tax on the portion of the purchase … | Rate |
… up to $50,000 |
0.5% |
… between $50,001 and $250,000 |
1.0% |
… over $250,000 |
1.5% |
In Quebec, there is a bracketed land transfer tax system. You only pay the corresponding land transfer tax that falls within the ranges in the table. If you bought a house worth $500,000, the land transfer tax would be broken down like this:
Value | Tax Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $50,000 |
0.5% |
$250 |
Next $200,000 |
1.0% |
$2,000 |
Last $250,000 |
1.5% |
$3,750 |
Total tax owed |
$6,000 |
Tax on the portion of the purchase … | Rate |
… up to $50,000 |
0.5% |
… between $50,001 and $250,000 |
1.0% |
… between $250,001 and $500,000 |
1.5% |
… between $500,001 and $1 million |
2.0% |
… over $1 million |
2.5% |
Because the brackets are the same up until $500,000, you only notice a difference with houses valued at more than half a million dollars.
That same $500,000 house would owe taxes like this:
Value | Tax Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $50,000 |
0.5% |
$250 |
Next $200,000 |
1.0% |
$2,000 |
Next $250,000 |
1.5% |
$3,750 |
Total tax owed |
$6,000 |
However, a Montreal home worth $1 million would owe this tax:
Value | Tax Rate |
Tax Owed |
First $50,000 |
0.5% |
$250 |
Next $200,000 |
1.0% |
$2,000 |
Next $250,000 |
1.5% |
$3,750 |
Next $500,000 |
2.0% |
$10,000 |
Total tax owed |
$16,000 |
If that house were in Gatineau, the tax would only be $13,500.
Saskatchewan, like Alberta, doesn’t have a land transfer tax. Instead, there is a land title transfer fee, which is a flat 0.3% of the home’s value.
There are only three provinces that offer land transfer tax rebates: Ontario, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island.
A first-time homebuyer, for the purposes of the Ontario Land Transfer Tax Refund, is defined as someone who:
You are not eligible for this refund even if the house you owned was a gift or inheritance. There is also no way for you to ever qualify as a “first-time” homebuyer again.
This rule is a lot more stringent than the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit or Home Buyers’ Plan, which only require you to not have owned a house in the past four years.
The refund is the exact amount of the land transfer tax owed, up to a maximum of $4,000.
The rebate is the exact amount of the municipal land transfer tax paid, up to a max of $4,475.
Purchasing a property in Toronto as a first-time homebuyer can mean a rebate of up to $8,475.
There is the possibility of a partial rebate if the home is valued between $500,000 and $525,000, but it is cut off completely after $525,000.
Fair Market Value | Exemption Amount |
Tax Payable |
Under $500,000.00 |
Full amount |
$0 |
$500,000.00 |
$8,000.00 |
$0.00 |
$501,000.00 |
$7,699.20 |
$320.80 |
$502,000.00 |
$7,396.80 |
$643.20 |
$503,000.00 |
$7,092.80 |
$967.20 |
$504,000.00 |
$6,787.20 |
$1,292.80 |
$505,000.00 |
$6,480.00 |
$1,620.00 |
$506,000.00 |
$6,171.20 |
$1,948.80 |
$507,000.00 |
$5,860.80 |
$2,279.20 |
$508,000.00 |
$5,548.80 |
$2,611.20 |
$509,000.00 |
$5,235.20 |
$2,944.80 |
$510,000.00 |
$4,920.00 |
$3,280.00 |
$511,000.00 |
$4,603.20 |
$3,616.80 |
$512,000.00 |
$4,284.80 |
$3,955.20 |
$513,000.00 |
$3,964.80 |
$4,295.20 |
$514,000.00 |
$3,643.20 |
$4,636.80 |
$515,000.00 |
$3,320.00 |
$4,980.00 |
$516,000.00 |
$2,995.20 |
$5,324.80 |
$517,000.00 |
$2,668.80 |
$5,671.20 |
$518,000.00 |
$2,340.80 |
$6,019.20 |
$519,000.00 |
$2,011.20 |
$6,368.80 |
$520,000.00 |
$1,680.00 |
$6,720.00 |
$521,000.00 |
$1,347.20 |
$7,072.80 |
$522,000.00 |
$1,012.80 |
$7,427.20 |
$523,000.00 |
$676.80 |
$7,783.20 |
$524,000.00 |
$339.20 |
$8,140.80 |
$525,000.00 |
$0 |
$8,500.00 |
If one of the purchasers doesn’t qualify for the First Time Home Buyers’ Program (for example, if they had owned a home before), you are still eligible to receive 50% of the rebate.
In order to qualify for the program, on the date the property is registeredyou must:
If you haven’t lived in P.E.I for six months before purchasing a home, you can still qualify after having lived in the property for six consecutive months after purchase.
If you don’t immediately occupy the property for six consecutive months following the purchase, you must forfeit the exemption.