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New Brunswick Real Estate Commission Calculator (2026): Agent Fees and Tax

Updated

New Brunswick applies 15% HST to real estate commission. The calculator shows the commission, the HST and what’s left from the sale. Further down are the same figures at the average sale price in each of the province’s four board areas, the rules a New Brunswick listing agreement has to meet, and what agents here earn.

Province
Home sale price
Commission type
Total commission rate (%)
Buyer's agent share of the commission (%)
Total commission
Listing brokerage
Buyer's brokerage
Net proceeds (before mortgage payout and legal fees)

New Brunswick commission rates

A percentage of the sale price is the common arrangement in New Brunswick (WOWA), with the rate agreed with your brokerage (how commission works). Payotte’s September 2026 figures show an average of about 4.8% of the price in the province, the second-highest of the 9 provincial averages it publishes.

No law fixes the figure. The Real Estate Agents Act says commission on a sale “shall be on an agreed amount or percentage of the sale price”, and where nothing was agreed, the rate generally prevailing in the community applies. The Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) lists setting “commission fees or home prices” among the things it cannot do.

Who regulates agents in New Brunswick

Two bodies share the job. FCNB administers the Real Estate Agents Act: it licenses agents, managers and salespeople, oversees their business practices and investigates complaints under the Act. The New Brunswick Real Estate Association (NBREA) “is responsible for the education and discipline of its members respecting their Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practices” (FCNB). Every real estate agent and salesperson operating in the province has to be licensed with FCNB and be a member of the NBREA.

The Act’s vocabulary differs from everyday use. Its “agent” is the brokerage: FCNB issues the agent’s licence to the company, partnership or individual “legally responsible for contracts, financial accountability, advertising, and the activities of each of its salespeople”, and each salesperson is licensed to act for that agent. An agent can’t collect commission for services given while it, or the person who gave them, was unlicensed (section 35).

Rules for the listing agreement

Section 36 of the Act says a seller is not bound by an agreement with an agent to list real estate:

  • if it isn’t in writing and signed by the seller or someone the seller authorized to sign;
  • if the agent, or the manager or salesperson acting for it, wasn’t licensed when the agreement was made;
  • if it has no provision that it expires on a stated date;
  • if it gives more than one date on which it may expire; or
  • if the agent didn’t hand the seller a true copy right after it was signed.

After the agreement expires, an agent is not entitled to commission on a sale (section 37). The one exception is a sale that results from the agent’s work before the expiry: the agent can still collect if the agreement’s other conditions are met and the owner knew the sale came from that work, and in that case no other agent is entitled to a commission from the owner, whatever another agreement says.

HST on New Brunswick commission

The whole commission is subject to 15% HST, made up of the 5% federal part and New Brunswick’s 10% share; the province has charged HST since April 1, 1997. Whether a salesperson has to register and charge it is set out in GST/HST registration for agents.

Commission at New Brunswick sale prices

New Brunswick has one real estate board, New Brunswick REALTORS, and its monthly release gives an average sale price for four areas. Applying the survey average of 4.8% to each August 2026 average:

Board areaAverage sale priceCommissionHSTSeller pays in all
New Brunswick (all areas)$348,897$16,747$2,512$19,259
Fredericton Area$368,845$17,705$2,656$20,361
Greater Moncton$374,090$17,956$2,693$20,649
Northern and Valley Region$237,826$11,416$1,712$13,128
Saint John$383,449$18,406$2,761$21,167

These averages are each area’s dollar volume divided by its number of sales, across all property types, so a mix of cheaper or dearer homes in a given month moves them. The board’s province-wide MLS HPI benchmark, a typical-home measure, was $342,400. Market detail for the areas is on the Moncton and New Brunswick market pages.

What New Brunswick agents earn, and the tax on it

Job Bank, drawing on the 2021 Census, puts the median income of real estate agents and salespersons in New Brunswick at $50,000 a year, 14% below the national median of $58,400. Its high figure, the level the top tenth of agents earn more than, is $115,000. The national picture is in how much real estate agents make.

A self-employed agent works out income tax and CPP on the tax return (how the agent’s share is taxed). If each figure were an agent’s net business income, tax at 2026 federal and New Brunswick rates would be:

Job Bank figureNet self-employment incomeFederal + New Brunswick income taxCPP at the self-employed rateLeft after tax and CPP
Median$50,000$6,732$5,534$37,734
Top 10% start at$115,000$27,152$9,293$78,555

The estimate assumes no other income and only the basic credits. New Brunswick’s own rates start at 9.4% on the first $52,333 of taxable income and reach 19.5% above $193,861 (New Brunswick income tax).

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 5, 2026 and October 6, 2026. How we check facts.