Land Transfer Tax in Every Canadian Province, Ranked Cheapest to Most Painful
By Jordan Ellis · Published · Reviewed
Quick Answer
On a $650,000 home, land transfer tax ranges from about $1,300 in Alberta (title and mortgage registration fees only) to $18,950 in Toronto (provincial + municipal). Ontario outside Toronto: $9,475. BC: $11,000. Manitoba: ~$10,650. Montreal: ~$8,350. First-time buyers get rebates in Ontario ($4,000), Toronto ($4,475), BC (no tax on the first $500,000 for homes up to $835,000), and PEI.
It’s the closing cost that blindsides Canadian buyers — a five-figure cheque due on closing day that can’t go into the mortgage. Here’s what it costs everywhere, and who gets out of it.
The full ranking on a $650,000 home
| Market | Tax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $18,950 | Provincial + municipal tiers stack — Canada’s worst |
| Manitoba | ~$10,650 | 2% top rate kicks in above just $200k |
| British Columbia | ~$11,000 | 1% to $200k, 2% to $2M, 3% to $3M, 5% above $3M (residential) |
| Ontario (outside Toronto) | $9,475 | 0.5%–2.5% marginal tiers |
| Montreal | ~$8,350 | Brackets indexed annually; extra tiers above $552,300 |
| Quebec (outside Montreal) | ~$7,860 | The “welcome tax” — droits de mutation (base scale) |
| Nova Scotia | ~$9,750 | Municipal deed transfer, up to 1.5% |
| New Brunswick | ~$6,500 | Flat 1% |
| PEI | ~$6,500 | 1% — first-time buyers usually exempt |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | ~$2,700 | Registration-based formula |
| Saskatchewan | ~$1,950 | 0.3% title fee |
| Alberta | ~$1,300 | Title + mortgage registration fees only |
| Territories | <$500 | Small flat fees |
Your exact number for any price: the land transfer tax calculator.
Toronto: the double hit
Toronto buyers pay the Ontario tax and an identical municipal tax on top — the only city in Canada that does this. It adds $9,475 to a $650,000 purchase and nearly $33,000 to a $1 million one. When people say “Toronto is expensive,” this is part of what they mean. (First-time buyers get rebates from both layers — see below.)
First-time buyer relief, ranked
- BC — up to $8,000. No tax on the first $500,000 for qualifying homes up to $835,000, phasing out by $860,000. A first-time buyer at $650,000 pays about $3,000 instead of $11,000.
- PEI — full exemption for most first-time buyers.
- Toronto — up to $4,475 municipal, stacked on Ontario’s rebate.
- Ontario — up to $4,000, fully covering homes up to $368,333.
“First-time” is defined strictly: generally neither you nor your spouse/common-law partner can have ever owned a home anywhere. Your lawyer confirms eligibility and files the rebate at closing.
Where it fits in the closing budget
Transfer tax is the biggest closing cost but not the only one: legal fees and disbursements ($1,500–$2,500), title insurance ($300–$500), home inspection (~$500), plus adjustments for prepaid property taxes and utilities. Budget 1.5–2.5% of the purchase price all-in — more in Toronto. The full walkthrough is in our closing costs guide.
Bottom line
The province you buy in changes your closing costs by $18,000 on the same house. Price it before you offer: land transfer tax calculator, then sanity-check the monthly payment in the mortgage calculator.
Official sources
Rules and dollar limits change. Confirm current amounts with the official pages below before you act · Last reviewed .
- Land transfer tax (Government of Ontario)
- Property transfer tax (Government of British Columbia)