New Build Closing Cost Calculator (Ontario)

Land transfer tax is the biggest item, then the agreement-specific charges. For a $900,000 HST-included condo in Toronto with 20% down, land transfer tax is about $25,700 and typical legal, Tarion, title insurance and reserve-fund items add about $5,600, so roughly $31,000. An investor in the same unit also repays about $24,000 of HST rebate, for roughly $55,000.

New homes add items a resale doesn't have: development charges or levies above any cap in your agreement, the Tarion warranty enrolment fee, utility and meter connection charges on freehold homes, the reserve-fund contribution on new condos, and, for investors, repaying the HST rebate the builder's price assumed. There's no home inspection or status certificate, and land transfer tax is charged on the price before HST.

Development charges, education levies and similar municipal fees are normally included in the price, but most agreements let the builder pass on increases or new levies that come after you sign, often up to a cap stated in the agreement. Read the levies clause and the schedule of adjustments before signing, and ask your lawyer to estimate them; on some freehold homes they reach several thousand dollars.

You move in at interim occupancy and pay a monthly occupancy fee (estimated mortgage interest, common expenses and property taxes on the unpaid balance), but land transfer tax, the mortgage and most adjustments wait for final closing, after the building is registered. The balance of your down payment is also due at final closing.

Builder prices usually assume the buyer will live in the home and assign the HST new housing rebates to the builder (up to $24,000 Ontario plus up to $6,300 federal). An investor isn't eligible, so the agreement typically adds that amount on closing. If the home is then rented for at least a year, the new residential rental property rebate can recover it.

No. Lenders expect closing costs in cash, on top of the down payment, and in Ontario the 8% sales tax on a mortgage insurance premium must also be paid in cash on closing even though the premium itself is added to the mortgage. Deposits you paid during construction count toward the down payment, not toward closing costs.