Nova Scotia Realtors want province to drop planned increase to deed transfer tax [Video]

The Nova Scotia government’s plan to double a deed transfer tax for non-resident homebuyers needs to be reconsidered, says the association for the province’s Realtors.

Increasing the tax would effectively add a “tariff” on Canadian buyers at a time when the country is trying to reduce internal trade barriers, says Suzanne Gravel, who will assume the presidency of the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors at the end of March.

The 2025-26 provincial budget would increase the tax to 10 per cent from five per cent as of April 1, with officials estimating the increase would raise an additional $13 million.

“Nova Scotia has just shut the door” on out-of-province buyers, Gravel said in an interview Friday.

“If they want to buy a cottage property … they are going to think twice about where they are going to go, if not financially then simply on principle.”

Gravel said the tax increase will …