Legal & Regulatory · Estates
Probate fees, province by province.
There is no federal probate fee — every province and territory sets its own formula, and the shapes genuinely differ: a percentage above an exemption (Ontario, BC), a flat fee per bracket (Alberta), a flat fee plus a marginal rate (Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, New Brunswick), or no fee at all (Manitoba).
Manitoba charges nothing (abolished 2020). Alberta caps out at $525 no matter how large the estate. Nova Scotia is among the most expensive: about $16,258 on a $1,000,000 estate.
Inputs
Estimated fee
Choose a province, enter an estate value, and press Calculate.
Every jurisdiction's formula
| Jurisdiction | How it's charged | Confirmed |
|---|
Sources, read 24 September 2026: British Columbia (bclaws.gov.bc.ca, Probate Fee Act text loaded directly), Alberta (alberta.ca/court-fees, loaded directly), Newfoundland and Labrador (court.nl.ca schedule of fees, loaded directly), Ontario (the site's own dedicated Ontario Probate Fee Calculator, built from the Estate Administration Tax Act, 1998 directly), Saskatchewan and Manitoba and Quebec and New Brunswick's new 2026 schedule (each corroborated across multiple independent, mutually-agreeing sources, including cross-checking New Brunswick's figures by recomputing a cited real $1,000,000-estate example and getting an exact match). Nova Scotia and PEI are shown but flagged secondary-source-confirmed only (their own regulation text could not be loaded directly this session, though multiple independent calculators agree to the cent). Yukon is shown but its exemption/flat-fee pairing is not independently confirmed. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut have no figure asserted — no primary schedule could be loaded for either this session.
Frequently asked questions
Which province has the highest probate fees?
Nova Scotia and Ontario are both around 1.4–1.5% of the estate value above their thresholds, among the highest in Canada. A $1,000,000 estate pays roughly $16,258 in Nova Scotia and $14,250 in Ontario.
Which province has the lowest (or no) probate fee?
Manitoba charges no ad valorem probate fee at all, having abolished it effective 6 November 2020. Alberta is the lowest among provinces that still charge one, capped at a flat $525 regardless of estate size.
Does Quebec charge probate fees?
Not in the way other provinces do. A notarial will in Quebec never needs court "probate" (verification) at all. Only a will made before witnesses or a holograph will needs court verification, which costs a flat, annually-indexed fee ($243 as of 1 January 2026) — unrelated to the estate's value.
Did New Brunswick's probate tax really change in 2026?
Yes, substantially, effective 12 June 2026. Under the new Schedule A, a $1,000,000 estate now pays $14,100 in probate tax, up from $5,000 under the pre-2026 schedule.
Estimate only — not legal or tax advice
Probate fee schedules change by legislative or regulatory amendment on no fixed schedule, and several figures above (Nova Scotia, PEI, Yukon) rest on secondary-source corroboration rather than a primary regulation this tool loaded directly. Confirm the current figure with that jurisdiction's own court or Ministry of Finance before relying on it, and note that "estate value" itself is defined differently in different provinces (net vs. gross, real estate treatment, deductible debts) — see the Ontario deep-dive tool for how intricate that definition can get in just one province.