Welcome Tax Calculator Sainte-Catherine 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

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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 guide

A new triennial roll reshuffles the acquisition budget

In Sainte-Catherine, the arrival of the 2026-2027-2028 triennial assessment roll — filed in fall 2025 by the firm Evimbec and reflecting market conditions as of 1 July 2024 — moved the recorded value of just about every property in the city. That standardized roll value is exactly one of the three figures the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables uses to fix the imposition base. In other words, the estimate you pull from the calculator above depends as much on the negotiated price as on the number on the roll — and that number has just shifted.

A snapshot of the Sainte-Catherine market

Pressure on the single-family segment confirms the repositioning. According to Centris real-estate statistics for Sainte-Catherine, the single-family median for Q1 2026 came in at $577,500 (+4% year over year) and reaches $567,500 over the rolling four quarters (+6%). The condominium segment posts a four-quarter rolling median of $340,625 (+3%), an average of 20 days on market and 61 transactions — a thinner market, but accelerating. Single-family homes clear in 27 days on average, eleven days faster than a year earlier per Centris, and active single-family inventory is shrinking. With a 2021 population of 17,347 per the Centris community profile and a density of 1,851 inhabitants per km², the city stays compact — which amplifies the effect of each comparable sale on the neighbourhood roll.

What moves the amount, and how the grid compares

The imposition base is the highest of three eligible figures: the price actually paid, the amount listed in the deed of sale, or the market value drawn from the roll (standardized value multiplied by the comparative factor). To check your own reading, run a search through the Acceo ImmoNet service reachable from the Évaluations foncières page. On the rate side, Sainte-Catherine keeps the classic four-bracket structure with a direct jump to the top municipal bracket as soon as the imposition base clears the reference threshold — the same structure the other municipalities of the MRC de Roussillon use. The most telling comparison is with Boisbriand on the North Shore, which inserts an intermediate step before the top bracket: on the same home that clears the local median by a clear margin, the climb is gentler on the Boisbriand side and steeper on the Sainte-Catherine side. By contrast, Châteauguay pushes the top-bracket trigger materially further out than Sainte-Catherine, which changes the gap for transactions sitting just past the local threshold.

The 2026 tax adjustment and municipal programs

The City does not run a municipal credit aimed at transfer duties for new buyers. The local fiscal frame rests this year on by-law 941-26, in force since 14 May 2026, which revises the base property-tax rate downward for residences of 1 to 5 dwellings. This 2026 taxation adjustment — announced after the City found that a majority of accounts exceeded the planned average increase — will be applied automatically during summer 2026 on the final instalment, with no form required, for roughly 5,555 properties. It is an annual relief, separate from transfer duties, but worth keeping in mind for the first full year of ownership. For older buyers, the provincial seniors' grant for a municipal-tax increase is confirmed through the annual income-tax return.

Payment, timing and the provincial home-access credit

The welcome-tax notice is mailed by the City after the sale is published at the land register. Local quirk: for notices issued after 1 January 2026 with a balance of $300 or more, payment can be spread over three instalments (30 days, 90 days and 150 days after the bill is mailed) — a flexibility you rarely see in neighbouring cities that stick to a single-instalment deadline. The annual property-tax bill follows a separate four-instalment calendar: 3 March, 3 May, 3 July and 3 September. On the tools side, the Accès-cité portal lets you receive and view the annual tax bill online after signing up with the digital bciti+ citizen card — handy so the payment stub does not get lost in the move. Your notary will confirm at closing whether you qualify for the provincial home-access tax credit, framed by the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables (CQLR, c. D-15.1).

Useful resources and contacts

Before paying, cross-check your estimate against the City's Taxation page and the notice received in the mail.

The calculator above gives a working estimate for budgeting; the official notice issued by Ville de Sainte-Catherine 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

Mutation rates by city (2026)

Complete list of municipalities and their rate grids for calculating real estate transfer taxes.

Selected year: 2026

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