Closing costs are the money you need on closing day that is not your down payment. Budget somewhere between one and a half and four per cent of the purchase price, driven almost entirely by whether you are buying inside the City of Toronto.
The list
Land transfer tax: the largest single item, and double inside Toronto. Run your own number with the land transfer tax calculator.
Legal fees and disbursements: commonly $1,500 to $2,500 all in for a straightforward purchase, more with a mortgage and more again for a condominium.
Title insurance: usually $300 to $600 on a residential purchase, arranged by your lawyer.
Adjustments: you reimburse the seller for property tax, utilities, and condo fees they have prepaid past your closing date. A closing early in the month costs you more here than one late in it.
Status certificate, on a condominium. Capped by regulation at $100 including HST, and usually paid by the buyer.
Mortgage default insurance, if you are under twenty per cent down. The premium is added to your loan, but Ontario charges retail sales tax on it, and that is payable in cash at closing.
Moving, utility hookups, and locks. Small individually, and they arrive in the same fortnight as everything else.
The provincial sales tax on mortgage default insurance. On a $700,000 purchase with ten per cent down, the premium is roughly $19,500, and the eight per cent tax on it is about $1,560 due in cash on closing day. It is not in your mortgage. Nobody mentions it.
Up to $4,000 comes off your provincial land transfer tax, and a further $4,475 off Toronto's municipal tax. Both are claimed through your lawyer at closing rather than refunded later, so they reduce the cash you need on the day. See First-Time Buyer Programs.