When buying a home in a major Canadian city, you will often have to pay a tax called the Land Transfer Tax, or sometimes referred to as Property Purchase Tax. The tax is usually calculated as a percentage of the purchase price, and the formula varies from province to province.
Since I get this question asked often:
Alberta DOES NOT have a Land Transfer Tax
(that was easy!)
However, some other provinces do (see list below). For instance, if you were buying property in Toronto, you would have to pay a Provincial AND Municipal Land Transfer tax. The calculations can get a little complicated because they are taxed on a tiered level.
Example:
Ontario Land Transfer Tax (residential property)
- 0.5% of the first $55,000
- plus 1.0% of the amount from $55,001 to $250,000
- plus 1.5% of the amount in excess of $250,001 to $400,000
- plus 2.0% of the amount in excess of $400,000
Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax
Land Transfer Tax by Province
- $0 to $200,000: 1% of total property value
- Over $200,000: 2% of total property value
- $0 to $30,000: N/A
- $30,001 to $90,000: 0.5% of total property value
- $90,001 to $150,000: 1% of total property value
- Over $150,000: 2% of total property value
- $0 to $55,000: 0.5% of total property value
- $55,001 to $250,000: 1% of total property value
- $250,001 to $400,000: 1.5% of total property value
- Over $400,001: 2% of total property value
Quebec
- $0 to $50,000: 0.5% of total property value
- $50,001 to $250,000: 1% of total property value
- over $250,001: 1.5% of total property value
Nova Scotia
- Halifax Metro: 0% to 1.5% on total property value
(outside Halifax, check with the local municipality)
At least when considering a purchase in Alberta, you don’t have to add a Land Transfer Tax to the list of your closing costs 
