The questions Ontario buyers and sellers actually ask me, answered directly. 42 of them, across 6 areas. Every figure on this page is checked against the government source it comes from, and those sources are listed at the bottom so you can verify any of it yourself.
42Questions answered
28Primary sources cited
2026Figures current to
Showing all 42 questions
How much land transfer tax will I pay buying in Etobicoke?
Two of them, because Etobicoke is part of the City of Toronto. You pay the Ontario land transfer tax and the Toronto municipal land transfer tax on the same purchase. Ontario runs 0.5% on the first $55,000, 1% to $250,000, 1.5% to $400,000, 2% above that, and 2.5% above $2 million where the land holds one or two single-family residences. Toronto mirrors those brackets to $2 million, then charges 2.5% to $3 million and steeply higher rates above that. Run your own figure with the land transfer tax calculator.
Taxes & closing costs
Did Toronto’s land transfer tax change recently?
Yes, and it matters if you are buying above $3 million. New high-value tiers took effect 1 April 2026: 4.40% between $3M and $4M, 5.45% to $5M, 6.50% to $10M, 7.55% to $20M, and 8.60% above $20M. Anything written before April 2026 understates the tax on those purchases. Ontario’s separate 2.5% tier over $2 million is a different thing and has not changed.
Taxes & closing costs
What is the maximum first-time buyer land transfer tax rebate in Toronto?
$8,475 combined — up to $4,000 from Ontario and up to $4,475 from Toronto. Both are maximums, not guarantees. For each you must be at least 18, never have owned a home anywhere in the world, have a spouse who did not own one while you were spouses, and occupy the home as your principal residence within nine months. The provincial rebate must be claimed within 18 months.
Taxes & closing costs
Can I get the first-time buyer rebate if my spouse owned a home before?
It depends on when. The disqualifier is your spouse having owned a home while they were your spouse. If your spouse owned and sold a property before you became spouses, you can still qualify on your own. If they owned it during the marriage or common-law relationship, you cannot. This one catches people out often enough to be worth checking with your lawyer before you count on the money.
Taxes & closing costs
Is there a GST rebate for first-time buyers on a new home?
Yes, and it is new. The federal First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate gives up to $50,000 — the full federal GST — on a new home priced at $1,000,000 or less, phasing down to nil at $1,500,000. Your agreement of purchase and sale must be dated on or after 20 March 2025. It is once per lifetime, and it covers the federal 5% only, not Ontario’s 8%. It became law in March 2026.
Taxes & closing costs
Is there an Ontario rebate on HST for a new home?
Two, and one of them is time-limited. The long-standing Ontario New Housing Rebate returns 75% of the provincial 8% portion, capped at $24,000, with no price ceiling. On top of that, the Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate gives up to $80,000 — but only where the agreement with the builder is signed between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. You do not have to be a first-time buyer for the enhanced one. If you are buying pre-construction, that window is worth knowing about.
Taxes & closing costs
Does the old federal GST new housing rebate still help in Toronto?
Realistically, no. It caps out at $6,300 and disappears entirely once the home’s fair market value reaches $450,000. Those thresholds have never been indexed, so at Etobicoke prices the rebate is effectively unavailable. The newer first-time buyer rebate is the one that matters here.
Taxes & closing costs
What is the Non-Resident Speculation Tax and does it apply in Etobicoke?
It applies across all of Ontario, Etobicoke included, at 25% of the purchase price. It hits foreign nationals, foreign corporations and taxable trustees buying residential property, on top of both land transfer taxes. Toronto adds its own 10% municipal non-resident tax as well. There are exemptions for provincial nominees, protected persons, and foreign nationals buying with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse, plus a rebate if you become a permanent resident within four years.
Taxes & closing costs
What is Toronto’s property tax rate?
For 2026 the total residential rate is 0.767311% of your MPAC assessed value — made up of 0.605295% city, 0.153000% education and 0.009016% City Building Fund. There is a quirk worth knowing for pre-construction: a condo is taxed at the higher multi-residential rate while it is under construction or unoccupied, and drops to the residential rate once occupied.
Taxes & closing costs
What closing costs should I budget for beyond the purchase price?
Land transfer tax is usually the largest. Then legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, the status certificate if it is a condo, a home inspection, and adjustments for property tax or utilities the seller has prepaid. If you are putting down less than 20%, the mortgage insurance premium is added to your loan — but in Ontario the provincial sales tax on that premium cannot be rolled in and must be paid at closing. Ask me for a written estimate for a specific property; the numbers vary too much to generalise.
Taxes & closing costs
What is the minimum down payment in Ontario?
5% on the first $500,000, 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million, and 20% at $1.5 million and above. So a $900,000 Etobicoke home needs $65,000 down — $25,000 on the first $500,000 plus $40,000 on the remaining $400,000.
Mortgages & down payment
Can I get an insured mortgage above $1 million?
Yes. The cap rose to below $1,500,000 on 15 December 2024. Note the wording — a purchase at exactly $1,500,000 is not insurable. Be careful with older articles on this: the federal consumer agency’s own page still contains a stale line saying insurance is unavailable at $1 million or more, which contradicts both its own table and CMHC.
Mortgages & down payment
What is the mortgage stress test right now?
You must qualify at the greater of your contract rate plus 2%, or 5.25%. That applies to both insured and uninsured mortgages. Since November 2024 there is an exemption: a straight switch of an existing uninsured mortgage to another federally regulated lender at renewal, with no increase to the amount or remaining amortization, does not have to be re-stress-tested.
Mortgages & down payment
Can I get a 30-year amortization?
On an insured mortgage, yes, if either at least one borrower is a first-time buyer or the property is newly built and never occupied. It is only available on high-ratio loans — more than 80% loan-to-value — and the price must be below $1.5 million. The premium is higher: 4.20% at 90–95% loan-to-value versus 4.00% on a 25-year.
Mortgages & down payment
How much is CMHC mortgage insurance?
On a standard 25-year insured purchase: 2.80% of the loan at 80–85% loan-to-value, 3.10% at 85–90%, and 4.00% at 90–95%. Stretching past 25 years adds 0.20%. Remember the Ontario PST on the premium is payable in cash at closing and cannot be added to the mortgage. Sagen and Canada Guaranty publish their own schedules, so confirm with your lender which insurer they are using.
Mortgages & down payment
What is a status certificate and what does it cost?
It is the condominium corporation’s disclosure package on a specific unit — common expenses, arrears, the budget, audited financials, insurance, reserve fund position, outstanding lawsuits, and the declaration, by-laws and rules. The corporation may charge no more than $100 including all taxes and must provide it within 10 days of receiving both the request and the fee. If they miss the deadline, the law deems a certificate to have been issued saying there are no arrears and no assessments.
Condos & co-ops
What will a status certificate not tell me?
More than most buyers expect. It says nothing about the physical condition of the unit or the building — no inspection is required. The reserve fund balance can be up to 90 days old. Increases and reserve fund assessments only have to be disclosed back to the current year’s budget date, so an assessment from an earlier year need not appear. You get a list of the corporation’s major agreements, not copies. And if information that should have been included is missing, the law treats the certificate as stating there is no such information — silence reads as a clean answer.
Condos & co-ops
How often does a condo have to do a reserve fund study?
Every three years. A newly registered corporation does a comprehensive study within its first year, then a further study within three years, and every three years after that. The type alternates — a comprehensive study, an update based on a site inspection, or an update without one — so that someone physically inspects the building at least every six years. After receiving a study the board has 120 days to propose a funding plan and 15 days after that to notify owners.
Condos & co-ops
Can a condo board hit me with a special assessment without a vote?
Yes. The Condominium Act does not actually use the phrase “special assessment” and contains no owner-vote requirement and no prescribed notice period for one. The board manages the corporation’s affairs and owners must contribute to common expenses in the proportions set out in the declaration. If you do not pay, the corporation gets a lien on your unit. Your own declaration or by-laws may add requirements — that is where to look, not the statute.
Condos & co-ops
Is there a cooling-off period when I buy a resale condo in Ontario?
No. None. The 10-day rescission right applies only to buying from the declarant — a builder selling pre-construction. Buy a resale condo and you are bound the moment the agreement is firm. Ontario says this directly: there are no rules in legislation setting a cooling-off period for a preowned condo. The only way out is a condition you negotiated into the agreement, such as financing, inspection or status certificate review.
Condos & co-ops
How does the 10-day cooling-off period work on a pre-construction condo?
The clock runs from the latest of three dates: when you receive the disclosure statement, when you receive Ontario’s Residential Condominium Buyers’ Guide, and when you receive a copy of the agreement signed by both you and the builder. Miss any one of those deliveries and the clock has not started — in fact the agreement is not binding on you at all until the disclosure statement and guide arrive. Your notice must be in writing and must reach the builder or their solicitor within the 10 days. Those are calendar days.
Condos & co-ops
What can a builder charge me during interim occupancy?
Three things and nothing else: interest on the unpaid balance of the purchase price at a prescribed rate, a reasonable monthly estimate of municipal taxes, and the projected monthly common expense contribution. That list is a hard cap in the statute. You can also elect, before your rescission period expires, to pay the balance of the purchase price in full on occupancy — which removes the interest component entirely.
Condos & co-ops
What is the difference between a condo and a co-op, and why does it matter?
In a condominium you own a deeded unit plus a share of the common elements, registered on title, and you can mortgage it normally. In a co-op you own shares in the corporation that owns the building, plus a right to occupy — not registered title to real property. Most major lenders will not write a conventional mortgage against co-op shares, resale is slower, and the board usually approves the buyer. Co-ops are not governed by the Condominium Act, which means no status certificate right and no access to the Condominium Authority Tribunal. Several Etobicoke buildings are advertised as condos when they are in fact co-ops — they are flagged in the building directory.
Condos & co-ops
What records can I ask a condo corporation for?
As an owner, purchaser or mortgagee you can request most of the corporation’s records — financials, minutes, reserve fund studies, agreements, insurance policies. You do not have to say why. The board must respond within 30 days on a prescribed form. Core records delivered electronically are free; paper copying is capped at 20 cents a page. Employee records, litigation and insurance-investigation records, and records about other specific units are excluded. Disputes go to the Condominium Authority Tribunal, not to court.
Condos & co-ops
What is the CAO fee on my condo bill?
The Condominium Authority of Ontario assessment, charged at the equivalent of $1 per voting unit per month and passed through as part of your common expenses. It funds the CAO and the Condominium Authority Tribunal. Tribunal filing fees are modest — $25 to file, $50 for mediation, $125 for adjudication.
Condos & co-ops
What can I take a condo dispute to the Tribunal for?
As of 2026: records requests; pets and animals; vehicles, parking and storage; and nuisances — unreasonable noise, odour, smoke, vapour, light and vibration — plus related indemnity or compensation claims. It cannot decide title disputes or common expense arrears. Applications must be filed within two years of the dispute arising. From 1 July 2027 the Tribunal also gains jurisdiction over owners’ meeting requisitions, and its damages cap rises from $25,000 to $50,000.
Condos & co-ops
Why do published condo square footages sometimes not match?
Because what gets counted varies. Across Humber Bay and Mimico specifically, published sizes routinely include open terrace space, and in at least one case a listed “2,649 square feet” turned out to be two commercial units. Confirm the size from the registered declaration, not the listing. It is the single most common measurement error in this part of the city. The Humber Bay breakdown is here.
Condos & co-ops
Do I have to declare occupancy for the Toronto Vacant Home Tax even if I live in my home?
Yes. Every residential property owner in Toronto must declare each year, whether the home is occupied or not. If you do not declare, the City assumes the property was vacant and bills you. The tax is 3% of the property’s current value assessment from the 2024 taxation year onward, and a false declaration or failure to provide information can draw a fine of up to $10,000. Full walk-through here.
Selling & tax on sale
Is my empty home exempt from the Vacant Home Tax while it is listed for sale?
No — and this catches sellers out. There is no exemption for a home standing empty while it is on the market. The “vacant new inventory” exemption for property offered for sale applies only to developers who are the registered owner of newly built units. An ordinary owner whose house sits empty for six months or more during a slow sale is exposed. There is an exemption for the year legal ownership transfers, and separate ones for death of an owner, an owner in care, major renovations, a court order, and employment requiring a Toronto residence. If you are carrying two homes through a move, this is the exposure to plan around.
Selling & tax on sale
Do I have to report the sale of my home to the CRA if there is no tax owing?
Yes. Since 2016 you must report the sale of a principal residence even when the full exemption shelters the gain. It goes on Schedule 3 of your return plus Form T2091(IND) to designate the property. CRA says a penalty may apply if you fail to report or file the designation late. This is a tax filing question, not a real estate one — talk to your accountant.
Selling & tax on sale
What is the flipped property rule?
If you owned a Canadian housing unit — or the right to acquire one, which captures assignments — for fewer than 365 consecutive days before selling, the profit is deemed business income, not a capital gain. That means it is fully taxable and the principal residence exemption is unavailable, no matter that you lived there. There are exceptions for genuine life events: death, a household change, relationship breakdown after 90 days apart, a threat to personal safety, serious illness or disability, a work relocation of at least 40 km, involuntary job loss, insolvency, and destruction or expropriation.
Selling & tax on sale
I am not a Canadian resident. What happens when I sell?
The buyer is required to withhold and remit 25% of the purchase price unless you obtain a certificate of compliance from CRA first. You request it on Form T2062, and notice of an actual disposition must reach CRA by registered mail no later than 10 days after closing. Late notification carries a penalty of the greater of $100 and $25 per day, to a maximum of $2,500. Start this well before closing — it is the most common cause of a non-resident sale going sideways.
Selling & tax on sale
What is Ontario’s estate administration tax on a property I inherited?
Nothing on the first $50,000 of the estate, then $15 for every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) above that. It is calculated on the whole estate, not the property alone. Those rates apply where the estate certificate was applied for on or after 1 January 2020. Selling an inherited property has its own sequence — see the estate trustee guide.
Selling & tax on sale
Should I sell before I buy, or buy before I sell?
There is no universal answer, and anyone who gives you one without looking at your numbers is guessing. What I would want to know first: how much of your down payment is locked in your current home, whether your lender will actually approve you carrying both, and what the Vacant Home Tax exposure looks like if the old place sits empty. Use the net proceeds calculator to see what you would actually walk away with, then let us talk through the sequencing.
Selling & tax on sale
I am buying a house with a tenant in it. Can I get them out?
Not automatically, and not quickly. The tenancy survives the sale — the buyer steps into the landlord’s shoes and the existing lease continues on its existing terms. If you or a close family member genuinely intend to move in, the seller can serve an N12 on your behalf after the agreement is signed. It requires at least 60 days’ notice ending on the last day of a rental period, and the landlord must pay the tenant one month’s rent in compensation by the termination date. If the tenant does not leave, you are going to the Landlord and Tenant Board, and that takes time.
Tenanted property
What happens if an N12 is used in bad faith?
It is a serious problem, and the Board treats it that way. If the unit is not actually occupied as claimed, the former tenant can apply for remedies. Do not let anyone talk you into serving one as a tactic to clear a property for resale — the intention to occupy has to be real. If you are buying and you need vacant possession, raise it with me before the offer, not after.
Tenanted property
How much can I raise the rent?
For 2026 the guideline is 2.1%, down from 2.5% in 2025. You need 90 days’ written notice on the proper form, and you can only increase once every 12 months. Units first occupied for residential purposes after 15 November 2018 are exempt from the guideline — which covers a great deal of newer Etobicoke condo stock, and is worth confirming before you assume a unit is rent controlled.
Tenanted property
Is my newer condo exempt from rent control?
It depends on one date: whether the unit was occupied for the first time for residential purposes after 15 November 2018. If it was, the annual guideline does not cap increases. Many Humber Bay and Queensway buildings registered after that date fall outside rent control. Do not guess from the building’s age — first residential occupancy is the test, and in a pre-construction building interim occupancy can complicate it.
Tenanted property
Is a deposit the same as a down payment?
No, and confusing them is expensive. The deposit accompanies your offer, is held in the listing brokerage’s trust account, and forms part of your down payment at closing. If you walk away from a firm agreement without a condition to rely on, the deposit is usually at risk — and your exposure may not stop there. The down payment is the total cash you put in on closing day.
Offers & process
What conditions should I put in an offer?
Whatever protects you against the things you have not yet verified. Financing, home inspection, and — for a condo — status certificate review are the common three. In a competitive situation you will be pressured to drop them. Sometimes that is a reasonable risk taken with eyes open, sometimes it is not; the difference is whether you have done the verification work in advance instead of skipping it. That is a conversation to have before you are sitting in front of an offer.
Offers & process
What does the corporation number tell me about a building?
It is the single most useful identifier a condo buyer can have. It tells you the corporation is actually registered, roughly when, and it is what the status certificate and reserve fund study are filed against. If nobody can produce it from a document, treat the building as something other than a registered condominium until proven otherwise. Corporation numbers for 258 Etobicoke buildings are in the directory.
Offers & process
How accurate are online home value estimates?
They are a starting point, not an appraisal. An automated estimate works from market data and recent comparable sales; it cannot see that your unit faces a wall, that the building has a special assessment coming, or that you renovated the kitchen last year. For a condo especially, floor, exposure, parking and locker move the number more than neighbourhood averages do. Try the home valuation tool or the condo value estimator, then read how an estimate, a CMA and an appraisal differ.
Offers & process
Nothing matches that. Try a shorter phrase — or just send me the question and I will answer it.
How to use this
These are general answers about how the rules work in Ontario, not advice about your situation. Rates, thresholds and rebate windows change — several on this page changed in 2026 alone — so check the linked source before you rely on a number, and take tax questions to your accountant and legal questions to your lawyer. I am a Realtor, not either of those.
Where I could not verify something from a primary source, it is not on this page. That includes a few things you will see confidently stated elsewhere.
Why this page exists
Most of these questions get answered badly online, usually because someone copied a figure from an article that was already out of date. Three examples from this page alone: Toronto’s land transfer tax gained new high-value tiers on 1 April 2026, the insured mortgage cap moved from $1 million to $1.5 million in December 2024, and a federal GST rebate worth up to $50,000 to first-time buyers of new homes only became law in March 2026.
There is also the opposite problem — rules people assume exist and do not. There is no cooling-off period on a resale condo in Ontario. There is no Vacant Home Tax exemption for a house sitting empty while it is listed. Both of those cost real money to find out late.
So each answer here is short, says what the rule actually is, and links to the government page it came from. If you find something wrong or out of date, tell me and I will fix it and note on the page that I did.
Work the numbers yourself
These are the same tools I use before a listing appointment: home valuation · condo value estimator · land transfer tax · mortgage payment · net proceeds · all calculators. The valuation tools give you an instant estimate from market data — a starting point, not an appraisal. Here is how an estimate, a CMA and an appraisal differ.
Looking at a specific building? The Etobicoke condo directory covers 258 documented buildings by name, street and corporation number.
Question not on this list?
Send it to me. If it has a straight answer I will give you one, and if the honest answer is “it depends, and here is what it depends on” you will get that instead. No pitch, no obligation, and I will add it to this page if other people are asking it too.
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Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Calculating Land Transfer Tax — Ontario Ministry of Finance
- Land Transfer Tax Refunds for First-Time Homebuyers — Ontario Ministry of Finance
- Non-Resident Speculation Tax — Ontario Ministry of Finance
- MLTT and MNRST Rates and Fees — City of Toronto
- MLTT Rebate Opportunities — City of Toronto
- Property Tax Rates and Fees (2026) — City of Toronto
- Vacant Home Tax — City of Toronto
- First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate — Canada Revenue Agency
- Notice 346 — Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate — Canada Revenue Agency
- Guide RC4028 — GST/HST New Housing Rebate — Canada Revenue Agency
- Principal residence and other real estate — Canada Revenue Agency
- Report the sale of your principal residence — Canada Revenue Agency
- IC72-17R6 — Disposition of taxable Canadian property by non-residents — Canada Revenue Agency
- Mortgage loan insurance premiums — CMHC
- Home Start (30-year amortization) — CMHC
- Down payment — Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
- Minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages — OSFI
- Mortgage reforms in force 15 December 2024 — Department of Finance Canada
- Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19 — Ontario e-Laws
- O. Reg. 48/01 (General) under the Condominium Act — Ontario e-Laws
- O. Reg. 179/17 — Condominium Authority Tribunal — Ontario e-Laws
- Co-operative Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.35 — Ontario e-Laws
- What to know before buying a home — Government of Ontario
- Funding and fees — Condominium Authority of Ontario
- Tribunal jurisdiction — Condominium Authority of Ontario
- Estate Administration Tax — Government of Ontario
- Residential rent increases — Government of Ontario
- Form N12 instructions — Landlord and Tenant Board