Welcome Tax Calculator Shawinigan 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 2025-2026-2027 roll anchored on summer 2023

The calculator above already combines the municipal bracket grid with values from the 2025-2026-2027 triennial roll, filed on September 12, 2024 by Servitech inc. using market conditions as of July 1, 2023. For the vast majority of transactions, this figure — multiplied where applicable by the year's comparative factor — is the taxable base the Service des finances uses when the welcome-tax notice is issued. The City confirmed it in its official announcement, « L'évaluation foncière est maintenant disponible en ligne », which opened free public lookup by civic address.

A Mauricie market that has visibly woken up

Centris real-estate statistics for Shawinigan for the first quarter of 2026 record 171 residential sales (up 40% year over year) for CA$56.061 million in volume (up 52%). Single-family homes lead the way with 134 transactions (up 47%) at a $300,000 median (up 11%), cleared in 36 average days on market. Plexes (2 to 5 units) follow with 31 sales (up 19%) at a $275,000 median over 37 days. The condominium segment is too thin for Centris to produce reliable statistics. The community profile puts the population at 49,620 with a density of 68 residents per square kilometre — a reflection of a vast municipal territory that combines dense urban cores with peripheral sectors. APCIQ flagged Shawinigan among the strongest median price gains for single-family homes in Quebec this quarter.

What moves the amount, and where Shawinigan sits among its neighbours

The taxable base remains the greater of the price paid, the consideration stated in the deed and the market value — the entry on the online property assessment roll multiplied by the year's comparative factor. On the bracket side, Shawinigan uses the standard four-bracket provincial grid with no transitional municipal step between the next-to-top and the top rate. The curve is therefore identical, at equal value, to neighbouring Trois-Rivières, and to Drummondville in the adjoining Centre-du-Québec: run the calculator on the same property value and the mechanic is strictly the same in those three cities. The comparison gets more interesting with Saguenay, which inserts a transitional step before its top rate to soften the climb. The new 2025-2026-2027 roll opens a fresh assessment cycle, so it is also the right moment to check your value: a revision request must reach the Service des finances within the deadlines published on the municipal page.

City programs and the Plan de vitalisation

Shawinigan does not refund the welcome tax itself, but its Programmes et aide financière section gathers several useful levers for new homeowners. The Construction and building revitalization page opens the door to the Rénovation Québec program (residential conversion, expansion, new construction and major renovation) and to the RénoRégion stream for lower-income rural homeowners, both jointly funded with Société d'habitation du Québec. Several of these grants take the form of a credit on the annual property-tax bill rather than a cheque. The Plan de vitalisation explicitly targets the Centre-ville–Saint-Marc, Sainte-Flore–Grand-Mère and Saint-Georges-de-Champlain cores: those are the neighbourhoods where City programs and tax credits go furthest. An otherwise exempt transaction still owes the supplementary duty (droit supplétif), levied by the City since 2015 under by-law SH-1, title 13, chapter 13.6 — a mechanism framed by the Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables (CQLR, c. D-15.1). For older buyers, the provincial grant tied to a sharp rise in municipal taxes may offset, under income and ownership conditions, the impact of a new roll.

Single-instalment payment and the provincial home-access credit

Unlike the annual property-tax bill — payable in four instalments since 2023 once it crosses the municipal threshold — the welcome-tax notice is paid in a single instalment, within thirty days of being mailed by the Service des finances. After that delay, annual interest and a monthly penalty set out in the tarification by-law apply until the account is settled. Payment runs through your financial institution using the eighteen-digit matricule, by cheque made out to Ville de Shawinigan, or directly at the Service des finances counter at City Hall during business hours (cheque, cash or Interac; credit cards are not accepted). The AccèsCité online services portal (which replaced ICOSet) lets you consult your file, sign up for pre-authorized payments and track notices. Your notary will confirm whether you qualify for the provincial home-access tax credit framed by the same Act.

Useful resources and contacts

Before paying, cross-check your estimate against the City's Taxes et évaluation page and the official notice issued by the Service des finances.

The calculator above provides an estimate to plan your budget; the official notice issued by Shawinigan's Service des finances 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.

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