Welcome Tax Calculator Saguenay 2026
The exact amount of your transfer duties based on your city's official rate grid, first-time buyer credit included, and city-to-city comparison.
Calculator 2026
Estimate your real estate transfer taxes
2026 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit
Since April 2026, Quebec offers a refundable tax credit covering up to $5,875 of the welcome tax for eligible first-time buyers. The credit reimburses 100% of the tax on the first $5,000, then 25% of the slice up to $8,500. Three conditions apply: you must not have lived in a dwelling owned by you or your spouse during the year of acquisition or the 4 preceding calendar years, the property must be your principal residence, and the dwelling must be eligible. Retroactive to January 1, 2026; advance payment available from October 2026 for credits exceeding $1,000.
→ Read the full welcome tax credit guideThree boroughs, one grid — with an extra step
Chicoutimi, Jonquière and La Baie share a single by-law for transfer duties, but the schedule slips an additional municipal step in before reaching the top bracket set out in the provincial Act. For a buyer eyeing a property in Arvida, in Rivière-du-Moulin, around the Bagotville sector or along Lac Kénogami, that design reshapes the slope once the trigger of the top municipal bracket is crossed — and that's exactly where the calculator above helps frame the budget.
A regional market still under pressure
Riverside neighbourhoods and tight inventory keep pushing prices upward in Saguenay. According to the QPAREB note on Q1 2026 residential sales, Saguenay recorded 375 residential sales closed by brokers in the first quarter, marking a fourth consecutive quarter of growth, with a rising single-family median and a median time-on-market of roughly one month for that segment; supply edged up but still sits well below its long-run average. On the plex side, the median posted a sharp gain — a useful signal for buyers eyeing an income property in Chicoutimi-Nord or in the Jonquière downtown core, where the taxable base slides toward the intermediate step of the provincial grid quickly.
How the duty is calculated, the assessment roll and a regional comparison
The taxable base is the greater of the amount supplied for the transfer, the consideration stated in the deed, or the market value — the roll entry multiplied by the year's comparative factor. The City posts that factor on its Droit de mutation immobilière page, and the roll itself is open for lookup through the logiciel de consultation des comptes de taxes et rôles d'évaluation, which routes to the PG Solutions property data portal — by address, matricule or cadastre, with no accents. On the grid side, Alma shapes its slope differently: it sticks with a clean jump from the intermediate step to the top municipal bracket, where Saguenay inserts an additional step. On transactions crossing that trigger, the mechanical spread becomes measurable by running the calculator above for each city.
Programs to keep in mind: seniors, renovation and Arvida heritage
Saguenay relays the Senior Citizens' Assistance Program for a municipal tax increase, administered by Revenu Québec: the City computes the potential grant and prints it on the tax account of eligible residences, but it is the application filed with Revenu Québec that releases the payment. Households planning renovations can browse the City's Programmes de subvention page for residential and heritage renovation streams, particularly useful inside the historic Arvida sector. If your future address falls inside the Jonquière borough service area, plan an Hydro-Jonquière account opening alongside your tax file — the municipal utility runs in parallel to the City's tax account.
Payment, timing and the provincial home-access credit
Once the sale is published at the Quebec land register, the Service des finances updates the file and mails the notice. The invoice is paid in a single instalment; any unpaid balance accrues interest and penalty at the combined rate set by municipal by-law. Payment goes through a financial institution's website, by cheque made out to Ville de Saguenay, or through the Compte de taxes en ligne portal once you sign up — which replaces paper mailings. An exemption written into the deed by your notary does not erase the supplementary duty set out in the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables (CQLR, c. D-15.1): your notary will confirm the applicable exemption and verify whether you qualify for the provincial home-access tax credit presented by Revenu Québec.
Useful resources and contacts
Before paying, cross-check your estimate against the official notice and the Taxation page.
- City Hall: 201 rue Racine Est, C.P. 8060, Chicoutimi (Québec) G7H 5B8 — 418 698-3000, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (summer schedule from June 8 to September 4).
- Service des finances – assessment roll lookup: 418 698-3033 to obtain a copy of the assessment roll or clarify the comparative factor applied to your file.
- Online tax account: saguenay.appvoila.com — profile sign-up, balance tracking, due dates and transfer duties; the full sign-up procedure is published in PDF.
- Requests and inquiries: Requêtes et plaintes form on the City's site.
- Hydro-Jonquière (Jonquière borough): Facturation et paiement for electricity, billed separately from your municipal tax account.
- Senior Citizens' Assistance Program: see the municipal page and apply through Revenu Québec.
The calculator above provides an estimate to plan your budget; the official notice issued by Ville de Saguenay remains the document of record for final payment.
What is the transfer tax?
Commonly called the "welcome tax", the real estate transfer tax is a mandatory municipal tax collected when a property changes hands in Quebec. It is always paid by the buyer, never the seller, to the municipality where the building is located, in the months following the signing at the notary.
Is the welcome tax paid every year?
No. The transfer duty is paid only once, when the property changes hands. Do not confuse it with municipal and school taxes, which recur every year: the welcome tax is a single bill, sent by the municipality after the sale is registered in the Land Register.
How is the welcome tax calculated?
The calculation is based on the highest amount among the following:
- The purchase price paid for the building;
- The amount of the consideration entered in the deed of sale;
- The market value of the building, meaning the value entered in the municipal assessment roll multiplied by the city's comparative factor.
This amount is then subject to a progressive rate scale that varies by municipality. In 2026, the first bracket (up to $62,900) is taxed at 0.5%, the next ones at 1% and then 1.5%, and several large cities add higher brackets (up to 4% in Montreal).
New construction: the tax base is the price before GST and QST.
Calculation example (2026)
For a property purchased in Montreal at a price of $600,000 (tax base):
- $0 to $62,900 (0.5%) :$314.50
- $62,900 to $315,000 (1%) :$2,521.00
- $315,000 to $552,300 (1.5%) :$3,559.50
- $552,300 to $600,000 (2%) :$954.00
- Total to pay:$7,349.00
Calculated with the official rate grid in force in Montreal. Source: Ville de Montréal
Who is exempt from the welcome tax?
The Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables provides exemptions. The most common cases:
- Transfer between spouses: married, in a civil union, or common-law partners who have lived together for at least 12 months (in case of separation, the transfer must occur within 12 months of the end of the union);
- Transfer in the direct line: between parents and children or grandparents and grandchildren (but not between siblings);
- Tax base under $5,000;
- Transfer to a corporation in which the transferor holds at least 90% of the voting shares.
Even when exempt, the municipality may charge a special duty, generally capped at $200. The exemption must be recorded in the notarized deed: your notary claims it for you.
Not exempt? The 2026 first-time buyer tax credit can still refund up to $5,875 of your tax. See the first-time buyer credit guide
Why is it called the "welcome tax"?
The official name is "duties on transfers of immovables", introduced by a 1976 Quebec law allowing municipalities to collect this duty. The nickname is often attributed to Jean Bienvenue, Minister of Municipal Affairs at the time ("bienvenue" means "welcome" in French), but the expression mostly owes its success to its irony: a "welcome" billed to the new owner. Both terms refer to exactly the same tax.
Calculators for nearby cities
Selected year: 2026