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

Ontario charges 13% HST on commission, so this calculator shows the tax separately. It starts at a 5% total rate, a common estimate for the province.

Ontario commission rates

WOWA and nesto both use 5% of the price, shared between the listing and buyer’s brokerages, as the usual estimate for Ontario. Actual rates vary with the agreement you sign (how commission works); Payotte’s September 2026 survey puts the provincial average at about 4.3%.

What TRESA says about commission

Ontario agents and brokerages are registered with RECO, which administers the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 (TRESA) and regulates more than 110,000 agents and brokerages. The Act shapes what a listing agreement can say about money:

• Section 36: an agreed amount, percentage or both. Commission has to be a set dollar amount, a percentage of the sale price, or a combination. A percentage can step down as the price rises, so a tiered schedule is as valid as a single rate.
• No “keep anything over the list price” deals. The same section forbids any arrangement that pays the brokerage based on the difference between the listing price and the actual sale price.
• Two listings, one commission. Under section 33 (3), a brokerage can’t claim commission from a seller whose home it knows is covered by an unexpired listing with another brokerage, unless the seller agrees in writing.
• The agent is paid by their own brokerage. Section 31 (2) says a broker or salesperson can accept remuneration for trading in real estate only from the brokerage that employs them, and section 5 (3) lets an agent work through a personal real estate corporation, subject to the regulations.

HST on commission

Ontario commission carries the full 13% HST: 8 points of it are Ontario’s provincial portion and the rest is the federal GST, all charged on the whole commission before the brokerages divide it. An agent who isn’t registered for HST doesn’t add it (GST/HST registration for agents).

Realtor fees in Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa and Hamilton

The table applies the 5% estimate, and in the last column Payotte’s 4.3% average, to each board’s MLS HPI benchmark, the price of a typical home in that market:

Benchmarks are from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (GTA, City of Toronto and Mississauga), the Cornerstone Association of REALTORS (Kitchener-Waterloo and Hamilton-Burlington), the Ottawa Real Estate Board and CREA Stats; each city’s housing market page has the averages and prices by home type. A home’s own sale price can sit well above or below its market’s benchmark, so the calculator above is the place for an exact figure.

What Ontario agents earn, and the tax on it

Job Bank lists a median of $62,400 a year for real estate agents and salespersons in Ontario, 7% above the Canadian median of $58,400, and puts the top tenth at $206,000 or more (figures from the 2021 Census). The agent income guide explains the brokerage split behind those numbers.

Ontario’s income tax has two pieces on top of its bracket rates. Ontario adds a surtax on top of its basic provincial tax: 20% of Ontario tax above $5,818 plus 36% of Ontario tax above $7,446 (2026 thresholds), which raises Ontario's top marginal rates above the bracket rates. Ontario residents pay the Ontario Health Premium through the income tax system: from $0 at a taxable income of $20,000 or less to $900 a year above $200,600; it doesn't affect eligibility for OHIP. Both are included in the income tax below, which treats each Job Bank figure as net self-employment income for 2026, with both shares of CPP (how the agent’s share is taxed):

The Ontario income tax page has the brackets.

Related pages

• Real estate commission calculator for Canada
• Real estate commission in Quebec
• Real estate commission in Manitoba
• Toronto housing market
• Cutting the cost: 1% listing brokerages or a sale without an agent