Alberta land transfer fees.

Alberta has no land transfer tax

This is the single most useful thing to know about buying in Alberta, and it is genuinely unusual: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and the three territories are the only Canadian jurisdictions that levy no tax on a transfer of land. What Alberta charges is a pair of registration levies, and they are set by statute rather than by a fee schedule that can be changed administratively.

Section 64.1(2) of the Land Titles Act sets the transfer levy: “an amount equal to $50 plus $5 for each $5000 or portion thereof of the value of the land or interest in land to which the instrument relates.” Section 102.1(2) sets the mortgage levy in identical terms, applied to the principal amount secured.

“Or portion thereof” means round up

The three words are load-bearing. The value is divided into $5,000 increments and any part of an increment counts as a whole one, so $412,001 and $415,000 both attract 83 increments — $415 — on top of the $50 base.

The calculator above applies exactly that rounding. It is worth mentioning because a straight percentage estimate will be a few dollars out on almost every purchase.

The October 2024 increase, and why old pages are wrong

The variable component has moved twice in recent memory, and a great many pages have not caught up.

• Before 2020: $1.00 per $5,000 on both the transfer and the mortgage.
• From 1 January 2020: $2.00 per $5,000 on transfers, $1.50 on mortgages. The $50 base did not change.
• From 20 October 2024 (Budget 2024): $5.00 per $5,000 on both. The levy applies to registration submissions received by the Land Titles Office on or after that date.

So the transfer levy has risen fivefold since 2019 and the mortgage levy more than threefold, and the two rates — historically different — are now the same. If a calculator quotes you $2 per $5,000, it predates October 2024.

What “value of the land” means

Value here is fair market value, sworn by the transferee in an Affidavit Re Value of Land: the dollar amount the land might be expected to realise if it were sold on the open market by a willing seller to a willing buyer. On an arm’s-length purchase that is your purchase price.

It is not always. On a transfer between family members at a nominal price the affidavit must still state market value, and the levy is charged on that. An affidavit more than two years old cannot be reused.

No first-time home buyer rebate exists

Ontario, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island all relieve first-time buyers of some or all of their transfer tax. Alberta has no equivalent, because there is no transfer tax to relieve. Neither the Land Titles Act nor the Tariff of Fees Regulation contains any first-time buyer provision.

The only fee relief in the regulation is a 25% reduction for Alberta residents aged 65 and over, and it is limited to copies and searches of certificates of title. It does not touch a transfer or a mortgage registration.

What else lands on the closing statement

The levies above are what Land Titles charges. They are not your whole closing cost. Budget separately for legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, an Alberta Real Property Report with a municipal compliance stamp if the seller does not supply one, and the adjustment for property tax already paid by the seller.

One recent addition worth knowing about: from 1 September 2026, registration requests submitted by members of the Law Society of Alberta may attract a $25 re-examination fee for each Notice of Deficiency issued. It is conditional on a deficiency and applies to law firm submissions, so it is not in the base figure above, but your lawyer may pass it on if a document has to be corrected.

What the other provinces charge

Transfer tax is the closing cost that varies most across Canada — from nothing at all in three provinces to five figures on a mid-priced house in Toronto. Each of these has its own calculator:

• Ontario Land Transfer Tax — Marginal brackets to 2.5%, doubled inside Toronto, with a first-time buyer rebate.
• BC Property Transfer Tax — Brackets to 3%, an extra 2% above $3 million, and a 20% additional tax on foreign buyers.
• Quebec Transfer Duties — The taxe de bienvenue, billed by the municipality weeks after you close.
• Manitoba Land Transfer Tax — Marginal brackets topping out at 2% above $200,000, with no first-time buyer relief.
• Saskatchewan Land Transfer Fee — No transfer tax: an ISC registration fee of 0.4% of title value, plus a flat mortgage fee.
• Nova Scotia Deed Transfer Tax — Set by each municipality rather than the province, with a 10% provincial tax on non-residents.
• NB Real Property Transfer Tax — A flat 1% charged on the greater of the consideration and the assessed value.
• PEI Property Transfer Tax — A flat 1% with a low-value exemption and a genuine first-time buyer exemption.
• Newfoundland Registration Fee — No transfer tax: a Registry of Deeds fee built from a base amount plus a rate per $100.

Sources, and when they were last checked

Every rate, threshold and rebate above was read off the official page listed here on 2 September 2026. Rates change with provincial budgets; if you are reading this long after that date, open the source and check the number before you rely on it.

• Land Titles Act, RSA 2000 c L-4 — Alberta King’s Printer — s. 64.1(2) transfer levy, s. 102.1(2) mortgage levy
• Land Titles and Surveys fee schedule — Government of Alberta — effective 1 May 2026
• Register a land title document or plan — alberta.ca — the 20 October 2024 levy increase

Last verified 2 September 2026