The Ontario government announced it's eliminating the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) for all buyers of new housing, a move the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board called "a major step forward" on March 25. The tax cut applies to every new home buyer in the province—no income limits, no price caps. For someone buying a $700,000 new condo, that's roughly $91,000 they won't have to pay upfront. TRREB, which represents thousands of real estate professionals in the Greater Toronto Area, welcomed the provincial announcement as a concrete action to tackle the housing affordability crisis that's locked many families out of homeownership.

But taxes aren't the only government charge making new homes expensive. Research from the Fraser Institute reveals that to build a new high-rise unit in Hamilton, developers must pay $59,600 per unit in municipal fees, $38,100 in Ottawa and $27,200 in London—compared to $11,100 in Calgary, $8,000 in Halifax and $6,300 in Winnipeg. These aren't taxes—they're upfront fees municipalities charge for things like development permits, parkland levies, and infrastructure connections. The Fraser Institute found Ontario cities charge dramatically higher fees than comparable cities across Canada, and those costs get passed directly to buyers. That means even with HST eliminated, a new home in Hamilton still carries tens of thousands in municipal charges before construction even begins.

Here's how it works in practice. When a developer wants to build an apartment building, they face two types of government costs: taxes like HST, and municipal fees for permits, parks, roads, and sewers. The HST is percentage-based, so eliminating it saves more money on expensive homes. But municipal fees are flat charges per unit, hitting every new home the same way whether it's affordable housing or a luxury condo. The Fraser Institute points out that if policymakers want to help make homeownership a reality for Ontario families, they should reduce approval delays and rein in the fees that make homebuilding more expensive. The control article explains that these rising municipal charges squeeze both developers and buyers, creating a double barrier to affordability. Toronto's HST elimination tackles one cost, but leaves the other untouched.

The provincial HST cut represents real savings for buyers, especially in Toronto's expensive market where new condos routinely top $800,000. But Ontario's housing crisis runs deeper than taxes. Cities like Hamilton and Ottawa have built regulatory environments where government fees alone add $40,000 to $60,000 per unit before anyone lifts a shovel. If Ontario wants to make homeownership genuinely accessible rather than just slightly less expensive, Queen's Park will need to pressure municipalities to follow the province's lead and cut the red tape—and the fees—that come with it.