Closing costs in Alberta
Closing costs are what a purchase costs beyond the price and the down payment. They run lighter here than in provinces with a land transfer tax, and they still arrive together in a single week, so they belong in the budget from the first conversation.
Your lawyer
Alberta closings are handled by lawyers. Yours reviews title, receives the mortgage funds from your lender, prepares the transfer, registers it at Land Titles, and releases the keys. Fees are usually quoted as a flat amount plus disbursements, and disbursements are the real variable. Ask for the full estimate in writing when you retain the firm, disbursements included.
Land Titles registration
Alberta charges no provincial land transfer tax. In its place the Land Titles Office charges a registration fee of $50 plus $5 for every $5,000, applied to the purchase price and again to the mortgage amount. Both are registered, so both are charged. The calculator works it out at each down payment scenario, and the mortgage half of the fee shrinks as the down payment grows.
Title insurance or a Real Property Report
Your lender needs assurance that the structures sit where they are supposed to and comply with the municipality. Two routes cover it. A Real Property Report with a stamp of compliance is a survey, usually the seller's obligation under the contract. Title insurance is a policy bought at closing that covers the same risk and several others. Which route applies is negotiated in the offer. Settle it then. By the final week the offer has already fixed it.
Adjustments
The seller has usually paid part of the year's property taxes, and in a condominium, the month's fees. On possession day your lawyer divides those by the calendar and you reimburse the portion covering your ownership. Adjustments can run either direction depending on the date.
Inspection and appraisal
A home inspection is paid at the time of the inspection, inside the condition period, and it is spent whether or not the deal proceeds. Some lenders order an appraisal and pass the cost to you. Both land in the same weeks as the deposit. Plan the cash around that.
Mortgage default insurance
Where the down payment is under twenty percent, the mortgage carries default insurance. The premium is added to the mortgage and paid across its life, so it is not cash you need on possession day. It is still a cost. Insurance is available on properties priced up to $1.5 million, and an insured amortization beyond twenty-five years carries its own eligibility conditions and a premium surcharge. Alberta applies no provincial sales tax to the premium.
New construction and GST
GST applies to newly built and substantially renovated homes. It does not apply to a typical resale. On a new build the tax is often quoted as included in the price with the rebate assigned to the builder, and the rebate itself phases out above a price threshold. Read the builder's contract on this point specifically.
Possession day
Your lender requires home insurance in place before funds are released, so the first premium comes due before you have keys. Utilities move into your name the same day. Movers, if you use them, are paid then as well.
Putting a number on it
The calculator totals cash to close across four down payment scenarios, with its cost assumptions left editable so you can drop in real quotes as they arrive. For your numbers, talk to a mortgage professional.