What closing costs will I pay when I buy a home or lot in BC?

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Beyond the price: property transfer tax unless exempt, GST on a new home, the lawyer's or notary's fee, Land Title Office fees, the tax adjustments and, with under 20% down, mortgage insurance. Completion is the day the money changes hands and the transfer is registered at the Land Title Office. Besides the price, the buyer pays a set of costs that day or before it, most of them through their lawyer or notary's trust account. Some are fixed by law, some by a fee schedule, and some are each firm's own price. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Property transfer tax: The largest cost for most buyers: 1% of the fair market value up to $200,000, 2% up to $2 million and 3% above, plus 2% more on residential value over $3 million, so $14,000 on $800,000 (Property Transfer Tax Act ss. 3 (1), 3.01 (4)). It's paid when the transfer is registered, and first-time buyers and buyers of a newly built home can be exempt in full or in part (see property transfer tax). GST on a new home: A used home, and most land an individual sells, carry no GST; a builder's new or substantially renovated home, and land sold in a business, carry 5%. Rebates on a new home, and for first-time buyers, can return part or all of it (see GST on a home or lot). On a new home, the contract says whether the price includes the GST and assigns the rebate to the builder. Land Title Office fees: The Land Title and Survey Authority charges $83.82 to register the transfer and $83.82 for each mortgage, and $10.61 for the transparency declaration a buyer files under the Land Owner Transparency Act (its customer fee listing as at April 1, 2026). A filing made through an LTSA account adds a service charge and, with an electronic signature, a Juricert fee, with GST on those two; the registration fees themselves carry no GST or PST. The lawyer or notary: Their fee and disbursements (title and tax searches, the registration fees, courier and bank charges) are each firm's own price, not set by law, so ask for a quote (our reading). Many also arrange title insurance for the buyer or the lender, a premium of its own (see title insurance). They hold the funds in trust and pay the seller only once the transfer is registered. The statement of adjustments: The costs that run by the day are split at the adjustment date in the contract: the year's property tax, a strata's monthly fees, a council's water and sewer charges, and the fuel left in an oil or propane tank where the contract says so (our reading). Taxes accrued and to accrue are a special charge on the land with priority over other claims and need no registration (Community Charter s. 250), so the buyer's lawyer or notary checks they're paid or adjusted. The home owner grant: The grant isn't a closing cost, but the year's taxes are adjusted on the full bill: a buyer who moves in and qualifies can claim the grant for that year by December 31; if the seller has already claimed it, ask how the adjustment treats it (our reading; see the home owner grant). Mortgage insurance: With under 20% down, the lender insures the mortgage. CMHC's premium is a share of the loan by its loan-to-value ratio: 2.80% from 80.01% to 85%, 3.10% to 90% and 4.00% to 95%, 4.50% with a non-traditional down payment (CMHC's premium schedule). Only Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan add provincial sales tax to it, so BC buyers pay none; the premium is usually added to the mortgage rather than paid at closing (our reading). A lender may also charge for its own appraisal (see a mortgage on rural land). Home insurance: A lender won't advance the mortgage until the house is insured from the completion date with the lender named on the policy (our reading). On a rural house, the insurer's questions about the fire hall, wood heat and the wiring can take days to answer (see home insurance). Checks before completion: A home inspection, a survey or a building location certificate, a strata's Information Certificate (at most $35, plus up to 25 cents a page for copies; Strata Property Regulation s. 4.4) and, on rural land, a well flow and water test and a septic inspection are paid before the subjects come off, each at the provider's price (see home inspections, testing a well and a septic inspection). What it means for a buyer: The tax and the fees are known before you write the offer, the adjustments only close to completion; we don't add them up, as each lot, lender and firm differs. A report gives the lot's property tax rate and whether the speculation and vacancy tax applies there; the property transfer tax page works out the tax on a price.

What closing costs will I pay when I buy a home or lot in BC?

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