Closing Costs When Buying a Home in Ontario

What Closing Costs Are on an Ontario Purchase

When you buy a home in Ontario, the down payment is not the whole cash picture. Closing costs sit beside it: land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, registration, and adjustments. They are paid around the closing process, usually through your lawyer’s trust account.

Buyers are often surprised by the range. On many resale files, a rough planning figure is about 1.5% to 2% of the price outside Toronto, and closer to 3% to 3.5% inside the City of Toronto because of municipal land transfer tax. Those percentages are planning math, not a quote.

A Toronto real estate lawyer calculates the numbers from your Agreement of Purchase and Sale, collects the funds, and remits tax and registrations on closing day.

Common Buyer Closing Costs

Land Transfer Tax

Ontario charges provincial land transfer tax on property purchases. If the home is in the City of Toronto, you also pay municipal land transfer tax. Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham, Brampton, and most of the 905 do not.

First-time buyers may qualify for provincial and, in Toronto, municipal rebates. The tests are strict—see first-time land transfer tax rebates. Land transfer tax is usually the largest closing cost after the down payment.

Legal Fees and Disbursements

For a standard residential purchase in Ontario, all-inclusive real estate legal fees start at $2,299 + HST. That figure is the legal bill: the lawyer’s fee plus ordinary office disbursements on the file.

It is not land transfer tax, not title insurance, and not the lender’s own fees. “Plus disbursements” quotes can look cheaper until the invoice lands. Ask what is included before you compare two numbers.

Title Insurance

Title insurance protects owners (and usually lenders) against covered title defects, fraud, and certain survey or underwriting gaps that surface after closing. Most lenders require a lender policy when there is a mortgage.

The premium is a one-time amount set by the insurer from the purchase price and property type. It is paid on closing and is separate from the legal fee.

Registration Fees

Teraview registration is $85 per document as of 2026. A typical financed purchase registers the Transfer/Deed and the Charge/Mortgage—two registrations—unless the file structure differs.

First-time buyers who already know LTT and the legal fee still need the rest of the cheque lined up — mortgage default insurance, lender fees, condo extras, and interest adjustment. Deeper stack: first-time buyer closing costs in Ontario.

These fees are standardized across Ontario and paid electronically through your lawyer with the registration package.

Adjustments on Closing

The standard Ontario APS requires the buyer and seller to adjust prepaid or outstanding amounts to the closing date. Common lines include property taxes, condo common expenses, unmetered utilities or fuel, and rent on a tenanted property.

Adjustments can credit either side. They show up on the Statement of Adjustments and change how much cash you need on closing even when they are not a “new” third-party fee.

Planning Numbers (Not a Quote)

For a typical Ontario resale purchase, many buyers start with about 2% of the price for closing costs outside Toronto, and about 3.5% inside Toronto once municipal land transfer tax is in the mix. New construction, status-certificate issues, private mortgages, and title problems move the number.

Run the tax and fee lines on the legal fee calculator before you remove conditions. Budget cash for land transfer tax—lenders do not advance it as part of the mortgage.

Practical Tips

• Compare all-inclusive legal quotes, not headline fees that exclude disbursements.
• Read real estate legal fees so you know what sits on the legal bill versus what sits beside it.
• Confirm first-time rebate eligibility early if you are counting on it.
• Keep a cash buffer for adjustments and last-minute lender requirements.

Closing costs are part of every Ontario purchase. Get the large lines—especially land transfer tax—right before the deal goes firm, then let the lawyer run the closing process against the agreement you actually signed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)