BC Property Transfer Tax: What You Pay

Property transfer tax is the biggest cheque most buyers write on closing day that is not the down payment, and it is the one that catches people out. It is not financed. It is not rolled into the mortgage. Unless you qualify for one of the exemptions set out below, it is due in full when the transfer registers at the Land Title Office, in cash, on top of everything else.

On a $900,000 Victoria home that cheque is $16,000.

Most buyers find this out three weeks before completion. This page sets out what the tax actually costs at Greater Victoria prices, which exemptions are real and which are narrower than they sound, and the one rule that changes the arithmetic completely if you are building rather than buying.

The rate bands

The province charges property transfer tax on the fair market value of the property, in bands, the way income tax works. You do not pay one rate on the whole price.

The general rate is 1 percent of the fair market value up to and including $200,000, 2 percent on the value greater than $200,000 and up to and including $2,000,000, and 3 percent on the value greater than $2,000,000.

On residential property there is a further 2 percent on the portion of the value above $3,000,000, charged on top of the 3 percent band.

What that costs at Victoria prices

Worked out at prices that actually transact here:

Purchase price	Property transfer tax
$600,000	$10,000
$900,000	$16,000
$1,100,000	$20,000
$1,350,000	$25,000
$2,400,000	$50,000
$3,500,000	$93,000

The $3,500,000 line is where people stop believing the number. It is $83,000 of general tax plus $10,000 of the further 2 percent on the $500,000 that sits above the $3,000,000 line.

The 20 percent that applies here and not in most of BC

If the buyer is a foreign national, a foreign corporation or a taxable trustee, there is an additional property transfer tax of 20 percent of the fair market value of their share of residential property. It applies in five regional districts, and the Capital Regional District is one of them. So it applies to Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Colwood, Langford, Sooke, Metchosin, Highlands, Sidney, North Saanich and Central Saanich. It does not apply to properties on Tsawwassen First Nation treaty lands.

Twenty percent of a $1,200,000 Victoria house is $240,000, on top of the $22,000 of general tax. This is the single largest line item in any cross border purchase on this island and it is the one that gets discovered late.

First time buyers

The First Time Home Buyers' Program removes the tax on the first $500,000 of the price, which is worth up to $8,000.

The exemption is worth up to $8,000, and you get the full $8,000 where the property has a fair market value of $835,000 or less. Between $835,000 and $860,000 the $8,000 is proportionally reduced to nothing. Above $860,000 there is none. A purchase at $500,000 or under pays no property transfer tax at all, because the tax on $500,000 is exactly $8,000.

To qualify you have to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident when the transfer registers, and either have lived in BC for at least one year immediately before that date or have filed at least two income tax returns as a BC resident in the last six taxation years. You cannot have owned a registered principal residence anywhere in the world at any time, and you cannot have received this exemption or refund before. The property has to be your principal residence, 0.5 hectares or smaller, and residential only.

The condition that disqualifies people most often is the one about owning a principal residence anywhere in the world. It is not limited to BC and it is not limited to Canada.

Newly built homes

A separate exemption covers newly built homes. The full exemption applies up to a fair market value of $1,100,000, there is a partial exemption in the $50,000 band between $1,100,000 and $1,150,000, and above $1,150,000 there is none. The parcel has to be 0.5 hectares or smaller.

A newly built home includes a house built on vacant land that has not been occupied since construction, a new condominium unit never previously occupied, a manufactured home placed on vacant land, a house moved onto a new parcel, and a building converted from a commercial or other non residential use that has not been occupied as a residence since the conversion began.

Note the ceiling. At $1,100,000, this exemption now misses a large share of what gets built in the Westshore and nearly everything new in the core.

The rule most builders miss

This is the one worth reading twice if you are building rather than buying.

New purpose built rental buildings can be exempt from property transfer tax entirely. The exemption runs for transfers from 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2030. An earlier, narrower version covering only the further 2 percent on value above $3,000,000 ran through 2024.

To qualify, the building has to be new rather than a resale, located in BC, not stratified, and hold at least four separate apartments at the time of registration at the Land Title Office. The residential portion has to be entirely rental. Within 92 days of registration the owner has to rent or offer for rent the whole residential portion on a monthly basis or longer, and keep doing so for at least 10 years.

For the 2025 to 2030 version, the building must not have been previously occupied as a residence, except by tenants renting monthly or longer where there was no tenancy in place more than 24 months before the transfer date. That carve out exists so a stabilised building can still change hands inside the exemption.

Put that beside the Bill 44 and transit oriented area capacity now sitting on ordinary Greater Victoria lots and it changes which projects pencil. A four unit rental building is a very different proposition from four strata units when the tax on the transfer goes to zero and stays there for a decade of rental use.

Why how you buy changes what you pay

The tax is charged per registered transfer, not per project. That has consequences people do not expect.

Four adjacent houses bought at $1,200,000 each attract $22,000 of tax apiece, so $88,000 across the assembly. The same $4,800,000 paid for one already consolidated residential parcel attracts $158,000, because the price runs through the 3 percent band and then through the further 2 percent above $3,000,000. The difference is $70,000 on identical money.

That is arithmetic, not a strategy. Whether a given deal can or should be structured one way or the other is a question for your conveyancing lawyer and your accountant before anything is signed, not after. The point is simply that the shape of the transaction moves the number, and on a land assembly it moves it by more than most people allow for.

When you pay it

On a taxable transfer, the tax is payable when the transfer is registered at the Land Title Office. Your conveyancing lawyer or notary files the property transfer tax return and collects the funds as part of the closing statement. There is no instalment option and no financing. If you are claiming an exemption, it is claimed on that return, which is another reason to tell your lawyer early rather than on the day.

FAQ

Is property transfer tax the same as property tax?

No. Property transfer tax is a one time tax paid when ownership transfers. Property tax is the annual municipal tax billed every July by your municipality. They are separate, and the annual property tax bill has nothing to do with what you paid on closing.

Can property transfer tax be added to my mortgage?

Not directly. Lenders will not advance it as part of the mortgage, so it has to come from cash you have on hand at closing, over and above your down payment. Budget it separately.

Does the first time home buyers' exemption apply at Victoria prices?

Sometimes, and it is worth less than people expect. The exemption is capped at $8,000, available in full up to a fair market value of $835,000 and tapering to nothing at $860,000. On a $700,000 purchase the tax is $12,000 and a qualifying first time buyer pays $4,000. Condominiums and townhouses in Greater Victoria often fall under the threshold. Detached houses in most of the core do not.

I am buying a presale condominium. Which exemption applies?

The newly built home exemption, if the unit has never been occupied and the fair market value is $1,100,000 or less. Partial relief runs to $1,150,000. The first time home buyers' exemption is separate and has its own lower threshold, so check both rather than assuming the one you have heard of applies.

I am not a Canadian citizen. Do I pay the extra 20 percent?

The additional tax applies to foreign nationals, foreign corporations and taxable trustees. Permanent residents are not foreign nationals for this purpose. Because Greater Victoria sits inside the Capital Regional District, the additional tax does apply here, unlike most of Vancouver Island.

I am building a four unit rental building. Do I pay property transfer tax on the land?

Possibly not. The purpose built rental exemption can remove the tax on a qualifying new rental building for transfers between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2030, where the building is not stratified, holds at least four apartments, and is rented monthly or longer for at least 10 years. The conditions are specific and the 10 year commitment is real, so confirm eligibility with your lawyer before you rely on it in a proforma.

Sources

Rates and thresholds verified against the above on 1 October 2026. This page is general information about how the tax is calculated, not tax or legal advice. Confirm your own position with your conveyancing lawyer, notary or accountant before you commit to a purchase.

Find out what your lot can become

Before you buy, know what the property is allowed to be. The development potential assessment reads the zoning, the Bill 44 tier and the transit oriented area rules for any Greater Victoria address and tells you what can be built there.

Check development potential