Welcome Tax in Montréal (2026): Rates, Examples and the New First-Home Refund

The welcome tax — officially the droits sur les mutations immobilières, or property transfer duties — is the cost Montréal buyers most often forget to budget for. It isn't paid at the notary, it can't be financed in your mortgage, and the bill arrives a few months after you've moved in. On a typical Montréal purchase it runs to several thousand dollars.

This guide explains the 2026 brackets for the City of Montréal and the rest of Québec, shows exactly how the tax is calculated with real examples, and covers Québec's new refundable credit that returns up to $5,875 to eligible first-time buyers.

What the welcome tax is — and why it's called that

Every buyer of a property in Québec pays transfer duties to the municipality where the property is located. The nickname taxe de bienvenue comes from Jean Bienvenue, the provincial minister who introduced the tax in 1976 — not from any welcome. It applies to houses, condos, plexes, land and commercial buildings, whether you're a first-time buyer or a seasoned investor.

Montréal welcome tax brackets for 2026

The tax is progressive: each slice of the price is taxed at its own rate, like income tax. The City of Montréal publishes these brackets for transfers from January 1 to December 31, 2026:

Compared with 2025, only the first two thresholds moved (from $61,500 and $307,800). These Montréal brackets apply to all 19 boroughs — including Saint-Laurent, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Rosemont, Verdun, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and the Plateau — but not to the island's independent cities such as Westmount, Mount Royal, Pointe-Claire or Dollard-des-Ormeaux, which set their own rates.

How the welcome tax is calculated, step by step

The taxable base is the highest of three amounts: the price you paid, the price stated in the deed, and the property's market value (its municipal assessment multiplied by the comparative factor, which is 1.00 for Montréal in 2026). In most purchases, that's simply the price.

Here is the City of Montréal's own example for a $700,000 purchase:

You can run your own figure with our welcome tax calculator, which uses the 2026 brackets for Montréal and the standard Québec rates.

Welcome tax examples at common Montréal prices

*Standard rates: 0.5% to $62,900, 1% to $315,000, 1.5% above. Outside Montréal, municipalities may charge more — up to 3% — on the portion above $500,000. Figures rounded to the nearest dollar; the credit column assumes the buyer qualifies and the tax paid is the Montréal amount.

Outside Montréal: Laval, the South Shore and the North Shore

Every other municipality in Québec uses the standard provincial brackets up to $500,000 — 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% — and since 2018 each can set a higher rate, up to 3%, on the portion above $500,000. Many have done so, which means the same $700,000 home can carry a noticeably different bill in Laval, Longueuil, Brossard or Terrebonne than in Montréal. Rates change by municipal bylaw, so we always confirm the rate in force for the specific address before you sign. See our pages for Laval, Longueuil, Brossard and Terrebonne.

Québec's new first-home refund: up to $5,875

On April 17, 2026, the Québec government announced a new refundable tax credit for access to homeownership, applying retroactively to purchases from January 1, 2026. It reimburses 100% of the first $5,000 of welcome tax paid on a first home, plus 25% of the next $3,500 — a maximum of $5,875. Because it's refundable, you receive it even if you owe little or no Québec income tax.

• Who qualifies: buyers acquiring a first home that becomes their principal residence, where neither the buyer nor their spouse owned and lived in a home in the year of purchase or the four preceding years. A version also exists for people with a severe disability buying a more accessible home.
• How to claim: on your Québec income tax return, or — for 2026 purchases — through an advance-payment request in Revenu Québec's Mon dossier pour les citoyens. Revenu Québec's deadline for 2026 advance requests is December 1, 2026.
• What it means in practice: on a purchase up to roughly $450,000 in Montréal, an eligible buyer can recover the entire welcome tax.

Conditions can be refined as the measure is implemented, so check Revenu Québec's current guidance or ask us before relying on the credit in your budget.

When the bill arrives and how to pay it

The notary registers the sale, the municipality is notified, and the welcome tax bill is mailed to you — usually within a few months of closing. It's payable directly to the municipality by the due date on the bill. Because it can't be added to your mortgage, set the money aside before closing, alongside notary fees, inspection costs and the adjustments for property and school taxes. If your down payment is under 20%, remember that Québec's 9% tax on the mortgage insurance premium is also payable in cash at the notary.

Exemptions and special cases

• Family transfers: transfers between spouses, and between parents and children (direct line), are generally exempt, subject to conditions.
• Adding or removing a spouse from title: often exempt, but the deed must state the exemption — your notary handles this.
• New construction: the tax applies to the purchase of a new home; GST and QST rebates are separate programs.
• Corporations and investors: the tax applies to plexes and commercial buildings at the same rates; there's no first-home credit for investment purchases.

How to plan for the welcome tax

We build the welcome tax into every purchase plan from the first conversation, so it never comes as a surprise. For first-time buyers we also check whether to time the purchase and the FHSA withdrawal so the credit, the down payment and the closing costs all line up. For investors, we include it in the cash-to-close on our investment property calculator, because it materially changes the return on a plex.

If you're buying in Greater Montréal, a pre-approval review with us takes about 30 minutes and gives you the full cash-to-close — welcome tax included — before you make an offer.