Alberta is the only province in Canada where a home buyer pays no land transfer tax. That single fact is why almost every closing-cost guide you find online is wrong for Calgary: the familiar “budget 3% to 4% of the purchase price” rule is built around a tax you will never pay here. On a typical Calgary purchase the real figure is closer to 1%.
That does not mean closing is free. You will still pay a lawyer, register the title, and settle up property taxes with the seller. The calculator below gives you a real number for a Calgary purchase, itemized, with the ranges shown honestly rather than a single made-up figure. Every statutory amount is calculated exactly; every market-priced service is shown as a range, because that is what it is.
Closing costs, over and above your down payment
$0
| Cost | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Total closing costs | |
| Down payment | |
| Cash you need on closing day |
Added to your mortgage, not paid in cash
Notice what isn’t on that list: a land transfer tax.
Every other province charges one, and on a home this size it runs into five figures. Moving to Alberta from Ontario or BC? That saving is only the first one — calculate what your household keeps each year once income and sales tax are counted too.
Estimates only, for planning. Statutory amounts — registration fees, GST, and the property tax adjustment — are calculated exactly from published 2026 rates; professional fees are typical Calgary ranges and will vary by firm and by file. Confirm final figures with your lawyer and lender before you close. Not legal or tax advice.
What each of these costs actually is
Land Titles registration fee — the closest thing Alberta has to a transfer tax
Alberta charges a registration fee rather than a tax: $50 plus $5 for every $5,000 of the property’s value to register the transfer into your name, and the same $50 plus $5 per $5,000 on the principal of your mortgage. Both rates rose in October 2024 from $2 and $1.50 respectively, so older calculators and older blog posts understate this — if a figure you find online looks suspiciously small, that’s why. On a $700,000 home with a $560,000 mortgage the two registrations come to $1,360 combined. Real, but not in the same universe as a transfer tax.
Legal fees
Your lawyer reviews the contract and title, handles the mortgage instructions from your lender, arranges the payout of the seller’s mortgage, calculates the adjustments, and registers everything at Land Titles. Calgary firms overwhelmingly quote flat rates, scaled to price, and most bundle routine disbursements — couriers, copies, registration submissions — into the quoted number. On a $700,000 purchase with a mortgage, expect roughly $2,000 to $2,700 including GST, rising with price and complexity. A cash purchase costs a few hundred dollars less because there is no mortgage to register or report on.
Title insurance
A one-time policy, typically a few hundred dollars, that protects you against title defects, survey and compliance problems, and title fraud. It has quietly become standard in Alberta for a specific reason: sellers increasingly offer title insurance instead of producing a current Real Property Report with municipal compliance, because an RPR costs them more and takes weeks. If your deal goes that route, read what the policy does and does not cover — it protects against loss, but it does not tell you where your fence actually sits.
Property tax adjustment
This one surprises almost every first-time buyer, and it is the reason two identical purchases can have closing costs hundreds of dollars apart. Alberta property taxes cover the calendar year and fall due at the end of June. If you take possession after the seller has paid the year’s bill, you reimburse them for the part of the year you will own the home. If you take possession before the bill is paid, the adjustment usually runs the other way — the seller credits you for the months they owned it, and you then pay the full year’s tax yourself. The calculator above handles both cases and tells you which one you are in.
Home inspection and appraisal
An inspection is optional and, in my view, close to mandatory on any resale home — $450 to $800 for a house, less for a condo, against a purchase measured in hundreds of thousands. An appraisal is your lender’s requirement, not yours; on straightforward urban properties with conventional financing it is very often waived or absorbed by the lender, which is why the calculator shows it starting at zero.
Condo documents
If you are buying into a condo corporation, someone has to produce the document package — bylaws, budget, reserve fund study, minutes, and an estoppel certificate confirming what the unit owes. Budget $300 to $650. Read them, or have someone read them with you. The reserve fund study is the single most predictive document about what your condo fees will do over the next decade.
GST — only on brand-new homes
Resale homes carry no GST. New construction from a builder carries 5%, and since March 2026 there is a First-Time Home Buyers’ GST Rebate that eliminates the federal GST entirely on a new home up to $1 million, phasing out on a straight line to nil at $1.5 million. One important Calgary-specific caution: builders here almost always quote a price with GST already included and the rebate already assigned to them. Do not assume you owe the calculator’s GST figure on top of a builder’s advertised price — confirm in writing which way the contract is written before you sign.
CMHC premium — financed, not paid at closing
If your down payment is under 20%, mortgage default insurance is mandatory: 4.00% of the loan at 5% down, 3.10% at 10%, 2.80% at 15%. It is added to your mortgage principal rather than paid in cash, so it does not belong in your closing-day cash requirement. Worth knowing: some provinces charge provincial sales tax on that premium and require it in cash at closing, because it cannot be rolled into the loan. Alberta charges nothing.
What this calculator deliberately leaves out
Three things, all of which catch people out. The Real Property Report with municipal compliance is the seller’s obligation under Alberta’s standard purchase contract, so it is not in your buyer total — but it is worth knowing it costs the seller several hundred to a thousand dollars and takes weeks, which is precisely why so many sellers now offer title insurance instead. Moving, utility hookups, and immediate repairs are real money in your first month and belong in your budget even though they are not closing costs. And your deposit is not an extra cost at all: you pay it when your offer is accepted and it comes off your down payment at closing, so it appears nowhere in the totals above.
One more, for out-of-province buyers: Alberta charges no additional tax on non-resident or foreign buyers, and no speculation or vacancy tax. There is no Alberta equivalent of BC’s speculation and vacancy tax or Toronto’s vacant home tax.
Frequently asked questions
Does Alberta have a land transfer tax?
No. Alberta is the only Canadian province with no land transfer tax on residential purchases. You pay a Land Titles registration fee instead — $50 plus $5 per $5,000 of value — which on a typical Calgary home works out to a few hundred dollars rather than the tens of thousands a transfer tax would cost.
How much are closing costs in Calgary?
For a typical resale purchase with a mortgage, budget around 1% of the purchase price. On a $700,000 home that works out to roughly $4,100 to $8,200 — the spread is mostly your possession month, because a July or August closing means reimbursing the seller for half a year of property tax while a February closing does not. Lower-priced homes run a higher percentage, since the lawyer and the inspector cost the same whatever you paid. All of it is materially less than the 3% to 4% rule of thumb quoted nationally, because that figure assumes a land transfer tax you will not pay.
Who pays closing costs, the buyer or the seller?
Both, but different ones. Buyers pay their own lawyer, registration fees, title insurance, inspection, and the property tax adjustment. Sellers pay real estate commission, their own lawyer, the mortgage discharge, and the Real Property Report with compliance. The largest single closing cost in most transactions — commission — is the seller’s.
Can I add closing costs to my mortgage?
Generally no. Closing costs are cash you must have available on possession day, and lenders will usually want to see proof you have roughly 1.5% of the purchase price on hand beyond your down payment. The CMHC premium is the exception, and it is added to the loan automatically.
Do I pay GST when I buy a house in Calgary?
Not on a resale home. New construction from a builder attracts 5% GST, though first-time buyers now receive a full federal rebate on new homes up to $1 million, and Alberta builders typically quote GST-inclusive prices. Always confirm how your builder’s contract handles GST and the rebate before signing.
Planning a purchase in Calgary?
The closing-cost number is the easy part. What it costs you to buy the wrong home is the expensive part — and that is where having someone in your corner who will tell you the honest version of a community, a building, or a reserve fund study actually earns its keep. Whether you are buying your first home in Calgary or relocating from Ontario or BC, I’ll walk you through the numbers for your specific situation before you write an offer.
Preet Jandu, eXp Realty — get in touch or call 587-435-0029. Moving to Alberta from out of province? Run the tax savings calculator, start with the relocation guide, or browse the Calgary community guides.
