Canadian probate fees by province (2026): what owners of Florida property actually pay

Section 01What probate is, and why a fee is charged

When a Canadian dies, someone has to prove they are entitled to deal with the estate. Banks, land registries, and investment dealers will usually not release a deceased person's assets to an executor on the strength of the will alone. They want a court to confirm that the will is valid and that the named executor is the right person. That confirmation is probate, and the document the court issues is the grant of probate.

The fee a province charges for issuing that grant is what people loosely call a probate fee. Some provinces label it differently. Ontario calls it the Estate Administration Tax, British Columbia calls it a probate fee, and Quebec frames the question around whether a will needs verification at all. Whatever the label, the fee is generally calculated on the value of the assets that actually pass through the estate, not on the deceased's entire net worth, because assets that bypass the estate (discussed in Section 3) are not counted.

The principle that matters most for a cross-border reader is that probate follows the asset. A province charges its fee to administer the assets situated in that province or owned by a resident of it. Assets situated in another jurisdiction are administered, and charged, under that other jurisdiction's rules. That single principle is why your Florida property is treated separately, which is the subject of the next section.

Section 02Your Florida home does not go through your province's probate

This is the trap to disarm first. A Canadian who owns a condo in Hollywood or a single-family home in Naples and reads that Ontario charges 1.5% often assumes that 1.5% will apply to the Florida property at death. It will not. Real property is administered where it sits. A house in Florida is Florida real estate, so it is dealt with under Florida law, through a Florida court, in a proceeding called ancillary probate.

In practice this means a Canadian estate with a Florida home produces two parallel processes. The Canadian estate is probated in the province of residence or wherever the Canadian assets are, and the provincial fee applies to those Canadian assets. Separately, the Florida home passes through a Florida ancillary probate that has its own costs (court filing and, in most cases, a Florida attorney, since Florida formal probate generally requires one). The provincial percentage you read about in this guide never reaches the Florida property. Our companion guide on Florida ancillary probate for Canadians covers that separate process in detail.

The reverse is also true and equally important: the Florida ancillary probate does not charge your province's percentage either. Florida does not levy a probate fee calculated as a percentage of the estate the way Ontario or Nova Scotia do. The Florida cost is mostly the attorney's fee and court charges. So the two systems do not stack a percentage on top of a percentage; they are simply two distinct administrations that have to be coordinated, ideally by a Canadian lawyer or notary working alongside a Florida attorney.

Section 03Which assets attract probate fees, and which escape

Because the provincial fee is charged on the value passing through the estate, two estates of identical net worth can pay very different amounts depending on how the assets are held. Understanding what counts is therefore as important as knowing the rate.

Assets that typically attract the fee include Canadian real estate held in the deceased's sole name, Canadian bank accounts and non-registered investment accounts in the sole name, and any other Canadian asset that requires the executor to show a grant of probate before it can be transferred. These are the assets that make up the probated value the province multiplies by its rate.

Assets that typically escape the fee fall into two groups. The first is registered plans and insurance with a named beneficiary: a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), a registered retirement income fund (RRIF), a tax-free savings account (TFSA), and life insurance generally pass directly to the named beneficiary outside the estate, so their value is not counted for probate. The second is property held jointly with right of survivorship, which passes automatically to the surviving joint owner and likewise bypasses the estate, although joint ownership carries real risks discussed in Section 8. The Florida home, as Section 2 explained, is in a category of its own: it neither attracts your provincial fee nor escapes administration, because it is handled under Florida law.

Section 04Probate fees by jurisdiction, 2026

The table below sets out, for each Canadian jurisdiction, the level of government that charges the fee, the 2026 fee structure taken from the official statute or tariff, and the fee that structure produces on a $1,000,000 estate of Canadian assets. The final row contrasts Florida, to keep the cross-border distinction visible.

The 2026 fee structures (rates and tiers) are verified facts drawn from the provincial statutes and tariffs cited under Sources. The amounts on $1,000,000 are computed from those official schedules; fixed tiers can shift the exact result for other estate values. They are illustrations derived from the schedules, not official quotations.

Section 05Three fee models, explained

The thirteen jurisdictions look chaotic in a table, but they sort cleanly into three families. The first family charges a percentage of estate value. Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick above its threshold all work this way. For these provinces the fee grows with the estate, so a larger estate genuinely pays more, and the planning levers in Section 8 matter most here.

The second family charges a capped flat fee that stops rising once the estate passes a modest threshold. Alberta is the clearest example: its Surrogate Rules top out at $525 for any estate above $250,000, so a $400,000 estate and a $4,000,000 estate pay the same $525. The territories work similarly, with the Northwest Territories capping near $435 and Nunavut near $400, and Yukon charging a flat $140 once the estate exceeds $25,000. In these jurisdictions the size of the estate is almost irrelevant to the fee.

The third family charges nothing, but for two very different reasons that are easy to confuse. Manitoba charges nothing because it abolished its probate fee outright in 2020. Quebec charges nothing when there is a notarial will, because such a will needs no court verification at all. The result looks the same on the invoice, zero, but the mechanism is different, and the Quebec case carries a condition that Section 7 explains. Treating Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec as interchangeable because each shows a low or zero figure would miss why each gets there.

Section 06Worked example: a $1,000,000 Canadian estate

To make the spread concrete, take a Canadian whose probated estate is $1,000,000 of Canadian assets (a Canadian home in their sole name, Canadian accounts, and non-registered investments), with their Florida condo handled separately in Florida. Here is what four jurisdictions charge on that same estate.

In Ontario, the Estate Administration Tax is $0 on the first $50,000 and 1.5% on the remaining $950,000, which is $14,250. In Alberta, the Surrogate Rules cap the fee at $525 because the estate exceeds $250,000, so the bill is $525 regardless of the million-dollar value. In Manitoba, the fee is $0, because the province abolished it in 2020. In Nova Scotia, the most expensive jurisdiction, the fee is $1,002.65 plus 1.695% of the $900,000 above $100,000, which is $1,002.65 plus $15,255, for a total of about $16,258.

The same death, the same $1,000,000 of Canadian assets, produces a probate fee of $0, $525, $14,250, or $16,258 depending only on which province administers the estate. None of those four numbers has anything to do with the Florida condo, which is administered in Florida under its own rules.

Section 07Quebec's special case

Quebec is the jurisdiction most often misunderstood, in both directions. Some readers assume Quebec has no estate procedure at all, and others assume it must charge a fee like every other province. Both are wrong, and the reason is the notarial will.

A notarial will is prepared and kept by a Quebec notary, who is a public officer. Because the will is already an authentic act, it does not need to be proven in court after death, so there is no verification and no probate fee. This is why Quebec shows $0 in the table. If, however, the deceased left a holograph will (handwritten) or a will made before witnesses, that will must be verified by the Superior Court or by a notary before it can be acted on, and a nominal court fee applies to that verification.

What is constant in every Quebec estate, notarial will or not, is the liquidation. A liquidator (Quebec's term for the executor) must still gather the assets, pay the debts, file the final tax returns, and distribute the estate. So the correct statement is not that Quebec has no procedure; it is that a notarial will removes the verification step and its fee, while the underlying job of settling the estate remains. When the estate's biggest asset was a Florida property, that distribution step has a cross-border sequel: the guide to splitting Florida sale proceeds among Canadian heirs covers moving the money north and dividing it cleanly.

Section 08How Canadians legitimately reduce probate fees

Because the fee is charged on the value that passes through the estate, every legitimate technique works the same way: it moves an asset out of the probated estate so the province cannot count it. The techniques differ in how much they help and how much risk they carry.

The simplest lever is the beneficiary designation. Naming a beneficiary on an RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, or life insurance policy lets that asset pass directly to the named person outside the estate. For most Canadians this is the cleanest reduction available, because it is free, reversible, and does not give up any control during life.

Joint ownership with right of survivorship also keeps an asset out of probate, because it passes automatically to the surviving owner. But it carries genuine risks that make it the wrong default for many families: the joint owner gains an immediate legal interest, the asset becomes exposed to that owner's creditors and matrimonial claims, adding a non-spouse can be treated as a gift with tax consequences, and disputes among heirs over whether a joint account was a true gift or only an administrative convenience are common. Joint ownership is a tool, not a reflex.

In Quebec, choosing a notarial will is itself a probate-fee strategy, since it removes the verification step entirely. And across the country, trusts can hold assets outside the estate, although they involve setup cost and ongoing administration that only make sense above a certain size. On the Florida side, the structures that keep the Florida home out of ancillary probate are different again, and we cover them in separate guides: a Florida revocable living trust, holding title through joint tenancy with right of survivorship in Florida, and the Florida Lady Bird deed. Those tools address the Florida property; they do nothing for your Canadian probate, which is a separate question answered by the levers above.

Section 09Common mistakes

Believing your Florida home is subject to your province's probate fee. This is the central error this guide exists to correct. The Florida property is administered in Florida through ancillary probate; your province's 1.5% or 1.4% never reaches it. Budgeting a provincial percentage against the Florida condo overstates the Canadian cost and misses the real Florida cost, which is mostly attorney fees.

Forgetting that beneficiary-designated and jointly held assets escape probate. An owner who counts an RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, life insurance, or a jointly held home in the probated value will overestimate the fee. These assets generally pass outside the estate, so they are not in the base the province multiplies by its rate.

Assuming Quebec has no estate procedure. A notarial will removes the verification step and its fee, but the estate still has to be liquidated, and a non-notarial will still has to be verified. Quebec's $0 in the table is a statement about verification fees, not a statement that nothing has to be done.

Relying on a stale Manitoba figure. Manitoba abolished its probate fee on 6 November 2020. Any source that still shows a Manitoba percentage, such as the 0.7% that circulated in older summaries, is out of date; the correct figure is $0.

Section 10Checklist

• Identify the Canadian jurisdiction that will probate your estate: usually your province of residence and wherever your Canadian assets are situated.
• Separate your Canadian assets from your Florida home in your own planning. The provincial fee applies to the first group; the Florida home is administered in Florida.
• Find your province in the Section 4 table and read its fee structure, not just a headline rate. The tiers matter.
• Confirm the beneficiary designations on your RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, and life insurance. These are the simplest way to keep value out of probate.
• Review any jointly held property with a professional, since joint ownership reduces probate but adds control, creditor, and tax risks.
• In Quebec, consider a notarial will, which avoids verification entirely.
• For the Florida home, consult a Florida attorney about ancillary probate and the Florida-specific tools (revocable living trust, joint tenancy, Lady Bird deed). Coordinate that with your Canadian lawyer or notary.

Section 11FAQ

Do Canadian probate fees apply to my Florida house? No. A Florida property held in your own name is administered through a separate Florida ancillary probate, under Florida law. Your province's probate fee is charged on your Canadian assets, not on the Florida home. See our ancillary probate guide.

Does Quebec charge probate fees? Not when there is a notarial will, because such a will needs no verification. A holograph or witnessed will must be verified, which carries a nominal court fee, and a liquidation of the estate is required in every case.

Which province is the most expensive? Nova Scotia, whose marginal rate of 1.695% above $100,000 is the highest in the country. On a $1,000,000 estate the Nova Scotia fee is about $16,258.

Did Manitoba really abolish probate fees? Yes. Manitoba abolished its probate fee on 6 November 2020. Only nominal court fees remain. Older summaries that still show a Manitoba percentage are out of date.

How can I reduce probate fees? The most common levers are beneficiary designations on registered plans and insurance, joint ownership with right of survivorship (which carries real risks), a notarial will in Quebec, and trusts. Each moves value out of the probated estate, and each has trade-offs worth reviewing with a professional.

Is US estate tax the same as a probate fee? No. A probate fee is a charge to administer an estate; US estate tax is a tax on the value of US-situs assets at death, with its own threshold and return. For a Canadian, the two are separate questions; see our guide on the US nonresident estate tax and the $60,000 threshold.