The average Canadian family pays 45.3% of its income to taxes.
In an analysis of six major housing markets including Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, RE/MAX found governments at all levels are collecting billions from Canadian homebuyers through levies and development fees on new construction, as well as land transfer and property taxes on residential properties. Tax rate increases, in tandem with record-high housing values and mortgage rates, have sparked a post-pandemic exodus from the country’s most expensive markets, contributing to a significant uptick in interprovincial migration numbers in Alberta and Atlantic Canada in 2023.
Given today’s housing market realities, it comes as no surprise that buyers are willing to travel across the country to achieve home ownership. In addition to affordable housing values and extensive job opportunities, Alberta is well known for its position on taxation, with no provincial sales tax and zero land transfer tax on residential real estate. -
CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER, PRESIDENT, RE/MAX CANADA
While some homebuyers were content to move outside of core markets within their province, close to 60,000 Canadians found their answer to the current housing crisis in Alberta. According to Statistics Canada, interprovincial migration doubled over already-strong year-ago levels in the first three quarters of 2023 in Alberta, with the province welcoming 45,194 people, compared to 22,278 during the same period in 2022.