Ontario Closing Costs Calculator
Closing costs are the cash you need on top of the down payment. In Ontario the big one is land transfer tax, and that part is exact tax law. The rest are service fees, and those are estimates you should replace with real quotes. This page runs on the same tax engine as the full Headroom calculator, using 2026 rates.
What is in the number
Two very different kinds of cost hide inside "closing costs", and it pays to keep them apart. The first is land transfer tax: a legal formula, exact to the dollar, and by far the largest line. In the City of Toronto you pay it twice, once provincially and once municipally, which is why a Toronto purchase closes so much more expensively than the same price elsewhere in Ontario. First-time buyers get up to $4,000 back provincially and up to $4,475 back on the Toronto tax.
The second kind is service fees: the lawyer, title insurance, the appraisal, the inspection, and the prepaid adjustments the seller passes on (property tax or utilities they already paid past the closing date). These vary by provider and by deal, so the figures below are rough placeholders. Get real quotes and swap them in.
| Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Legal fees and disbursements | $2,120 |
| Title insurance | $360 |
| Appraisal | $630 |
| Home inspection | $650 |
| Prepaid adjustments | $1,200 |
Two costs this page leaves out on purpose
Condo buyers also pay for a status certificate review (Ontario's version of a strata document check), about $410 at this price. And if your down payment is under 20%, Ontario charges its 8% RST on the CMHC insurance premium, due in cash at closing. That one depends on your mortgage size, not just the price, so this page does not add it. The full calculator does.
A worked example
On an $800,000 home in Toronto, land transfer tax is $24,950 ($12,475 provincial plus $12,475 municipal). Add roughly $4,960 in service costs and you need about $29,910 in cash at closing, before the down payment.
If you are a first-time buyer, the rebates take $8,475 off, so the land transfer tax drops to $16,475 and the cash to close comes down to about $21,435. Outside Toronto, the same non-first-time purchase pays only the provincial $12,475.
Common questions
What counts as a closing cost?
Everything you pay in cash to complete the purchase, on top of the down payment: land transfer tax, legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, the appraisal, the inspection, and adjustments for property tax or utilities the seller prepaid. Moving costs and furniture are real money too, but they are not closing costs.
How much should I budget for closing costs in Ontario?
The usual rule of thumb is 1.5% to 4% of the price. That is a wide range because land transfer tax dominates and it depends on the price and the city. Itemizing, the way this page does, gets you a much tighter number than the rule of thumb, especially in Toronto where the tax doubles.
Does the down payment count as a closing cost?
No. The down payment buys your equity in the home. Closing costs are the extra cash on top that buys nothing back. Your total cash needed on closing day is the down payment plus the closing costs.
When is it all due?
On closing day, through your real estate lawyer. In practice the lawyer asks you to wire or bring certified funds a day or two before closing, covering the balance of the price plus all of these costs in one amount. None of it can be added to the mortgage.
Planning the whole purchase, not just the closing costs?
Headroom folds this cash-to-close figure into your full picture: the mortgage, CMHC insurance and its RST, the stress test, and your monthly budget after the keys, for every province, free and with nothing leaving your browser.
Open the full calculator