Real Estate Commission Calculator for Canada (2026)

Commission is the largest cost for Canadian home sellers, according to WOWA. This calculator estimates the commission, the sales tax on it and what you keep, for any province, using either a flat percentage or a tiered schedule.

How real estate commission works in Canada

• It’s negotiable. No government sets commission rates. The BC Financial Services Authority says any commission amount can be negotiated, the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission that “there is no standard commission”, and the Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission that commission “is not regulated or set at any standard rate”.
• It can be a percentage, a flat fee or a tiered schedule. A tiered schedule charges a higher rate on the first part of the price and a lower rate on the rest, so the effective rate falls as the price rises.
• The seller usually pays it, from the sale proceeds. The listing brokerage shares part of it with the buyer’s brokerage.
• Sales tax is added on top. A GST/HST-registered agent has to charge GST/HST on their commission, according to the CRA, at the rate for the province where the property is.

Commission and sales tax by province

Tax: provincial tax authorities and the CRA. Schedules: WOWA, Zealty, nesto and HomeSask. Averages: Payotte, September 2026. Commission rates are negotiable everywhere; none of these figures is a set rate.

The tax column is a rule. The other two columns aren’t: a traditional schedule is one that industry sources describe as common in that province, and the averages come from one industry survey. Your own rate is whatever you agree with your brokerage.

The provincial tax rules differ:

• HST provinces (Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces): the full HST applies to the commission.
• Quebec: GST and QST.
• Saskatchewan: GST plus the provincial sales tax, which applies to commission on land and buildings in the province but not on new home sales.
• British Columbia and Manitoba: GST only. B.C.’s PST excludes services for residential property, and Manitoba’s retail sales tax doesn’t list real estate services.
• Alberta: GST only, since it has no provincial sales tax.

Flat versus tiered commission

On a $600,000 sale, a flat 5% commission, the common Ontario estimate, is $30,000. The traditional B.C. schedule (7% on the first $100,000, 2.5% on the rest) comes to $19,500 on the same price, an effective rate of 3.25%. Tax then depends on the province: $3,900 of HST on the Ontario figure, $975 of GST on the B.C. one.

How the agent's share is taxed

The seller pays the commission to the listing brokerage, which shares it with the buyer’s brokerage; each brokerage then pays its agent a share under the agent’s own agreement with it (who gets paid what). The tax on that share depends on whether the agent works for the brokerage as a self-employed contractor or as an employee, which the CRA decides from the whole working relationship (the CRA’s test).

• A self-employed agent reports the commission as business income and pays income tax on what is left after business expenses (Form T2125). Self-employed people pay both the employee and the employer share of CPP contributions on their net business income (11.90% above the basic exemption up to the first earnings ceiling, plus 8% CPP2 between the first and second ceilings), worked out on Schedule 8 and paid with the income tax return. A non-refundable tax credit is claimed on half of the base contributions, and the other half, the first additional contributions and all CPP2 contributions are deducted from income. In Quebec, contributions go to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) instead of the CPP. Farmers, fishers and self-employed commission agents can use the cash method or the accrual method.
• An agent paid as a commission employee has tax deducted from each payment. An employee paid wholly or partly by commission who claims expenses can give the employer Form TD1X, Statement of Commission Income and Expenses for Payroll Tax Deductions, as well as the TD1, so the tax deducted takes those expenses into account; commission paid with salary is added to the salary, and commission paid periodically or in varying amounts can be taxed with the bonus method. In Quebec, an employee with commission expenses fills out the federal TD1X and Revenu Québec's Form TP-1015.R.13.1-V.
• A commission employee’s expenses: An employee who sells goods or negotiates contracts for an employer and is paid at least partly by commission can deduct amounts paid to earn that commission, on Form T777 and line 22900, if the employment contract required them to pay their own expenses, they normally worked away from the employer's place of business, they got no non-taxable travel allowance and they keep a T2200 completed by the employer; apart from interest and capital cost allowance on a vehicle, the claim can't be more than the commissions received in the year.

Each province page shows the income tax and CPP on an agent’s commission income at that province’s rates.

GST/HST registration for agents

You have to register for the GST/HST once you make taxable sales in Canada and are no longer a small supplier: that happens when your taxable sales go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter (register from that sale) or over the last 4 consecutive calendar quarters (by the end of the month after that quarter); below that you can register voluntarily. A registered agent then charges GST/HST on each commission at the rate for the province where the property is, as in the table above; the sales tax hub covers registration and filing in more detail.

Paying less commission

The main ways to lower the cost are negotiating the rate, using a discount or 1% listing brokerage, or selling without an agent. On the buying side, some agents share part of their commission with the buyer; the buyer rebate guide covers how that works.

Commission calculators by province

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan

Related pages

• How to sell a house in Canada
• How much real estate agents make in Canada
• Sales tax rates by province