Probate fees in Canada are set by each province, and the gap is wide. On an estate valued at C$500,000 for probate, Alberta charges C$525, B.C. about C$6,450, New Brunswick C$6,600, Ontario C$6,750 and Nova Scotia about C$7,780. Those are the five provinces whose current rates we confirmed from provincial law. For the others, we say below what we couldn’t check.
Probate is the court process that confirms a will and the executor’s authority to deal with the estate. The fee is based on what passes through the will, so what you hold outside it, such as accounts with a named beneficiary, usually isn’t counted.
The fee on a C$500,000 estate
These are worked out from each province’s schedule, assuming the full C$500,000 counts for probate. They leave out court filing fees, lawyers and the cost of an executor’s time. At C$1 million the same schedules give about C$16,260 in Nova Scotia, C$14,250 in Ontario, C$14,100 in New Brunswick, C$13,450 in B.C. and still C$525 in Alberta.
The rules, province by province
Ontario
Ontario calls it the estate administration tax. For estate certificates applied for since January 1, 2020, it’s C$0 on the first C$50,000 and C$15 for every C$1,000, or part of C$1,000, above that. The value includes Ontario real estate less its mortgage, bank accounts, investments and vehicles. It leaves out real estate outside Ontario, RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and registered pension plans with a named beneficiary, and assets that pass automatically through joint ownership. Funeral costs, legal fees and credit card debts can’t be deducted. The executor must file an Estate Information Return within 180 days of the certificate, even for an estate of C$50,000 or less that owes nothing.
British Columbia
Under B.C.’s Probate Fee Act, there’s no fee on an estate up to C$25,000, C$6 per C$1,000 from C$25,000 to C$50,000, and C$14 per C$1,000 above C$50,000. The value is the gross value of property passing to the executor: real and tangible property in B.C., plus intangible property such as bank and investment accounts wherever they are, if the person lived in B.C. We didn’t confirm B.C.’s separate court filing fee.
Alberta
Alberta charges a flat court fee by the net value of property in Alberta:
| Net value of property in Alberta | Fee |
|---|---|
| C$10,000 or less | C$35 |
| Over C$10,000 to C$25,000 | C$135 |
| Over C$25,000 to C$125,000 | C$275 |
| Over C$125,000 to C$250,000 | C$400 |
| Over C$250,000 | C$525 |
That’s why probate planning matters far less in Alberta than in its neighbours.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s Probate Court Act, as amended in 2026, sets the tax at C$200 up to C$20,000, C$200 plus C$5 per C$1,000 from C$20,000 to C$100,000, and C$600 plus C$15 per C$1,000 above C$100,000. It’s charged on the whole estate, real property included, with mortgages on real property deducted. This is a large increase on larger estates. We couldn’t confirm from the Act when the new schedule began to apply, so if the person died in 2026, ask the probate court which schedule covers the estate.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia charges by bands: C$85.60 up to C$10,000, C$215.20 to C$25,000, C$358.15 to C$50,000, C$1,002.65 to C$100,000, and C$1,002.65 plus C$16.95 per C$1,000 above C$100,000. It applies to assets that pass by the will or on intestacy, including into a trust under the will. Those figures come from the Act as consolidated on October 3, 2025.
Provinces we couldn’t confirm
We couldn’t verify current charges for Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut from a provincial source, so we don’t print a figure for them. Two notes:
- Quebec works differently from the rest of Canada. A notarial will takes effect at death without being probated, according to the Quebec government, while handwritten wills and wills made before witnesses must be verified. We couldn’t confirm the cost of verifying one, so ask a notary.
- Manitoba has charged no probate fee since November 6, 2020, when its Law Fees and Probate Charge Act became the Court Services Fees Act and the charges on applications for probate or administration were eliminated (Manitoba Courts notice of that date).
What keeps assets out of probate
- Named beneficiaries on RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, pensions and life insurance. They pass outside the will. Quebec is the exception to check: for TFSAs, for example, the CRA notes that Quebec recognizes beneficiary designations only in some kinds of contract.
- Joint ownership with right of survivorship. The survivor takes the asset directly. Adding an adult child to title has risks: their creditors, their divorce, and a possible tax bill on the share you give them.
- Planning with an estate lawyer. In some provinces lawyers use a second will for assets that don’t need a court grant, such as shares of a private company, or a trust set up while you’re alive. Whether either fits is a legal question for your province.
Common mistakes
- Saving probate and creating a tax or family problem. A joint account with one child can leave the others out, and an RRSP left to one person can stick the rest of the estate with its tax. Our guide to inheriting money in Canada explains how that happens.
- Forgetting the estate as beneficiary. Naming “my estate” on an RRSP sends it through probate.
- Planning for the wrong province. The fee follows where property is and where the person lived, so a cottage in another province can mean two applications.
- Spending more to avoid the fee than the fee itself. In Alberta the fee is capped at C$525.
Questions to ask
- Which of my assets would go through probate today, and what would the fee be?
- Are my beneficiary designations up to date, and do they match the will?
- Who pays the tax on assets that pass outside the will?
- Does a second will, a trust or joint ownership make sense in my province, and what does setting it up cost?
- If you’re a planner: do you work with my estate lawyer, and do you earn anything from the products you recommend?
When a fee-only or advice-only planner is worth it
The lawyer drafts the will. A planner makes sure the plan behind it works: what each account is worth after tax, who pays which tax, and whether saving probate is worth what it costs. For a household in Ontario, B.C., New Brunswick or Nova Scotia with a house, registered accounts and children from more than one relationship, that check is often worth the fee. In Alberta, the tax side usually matters far more than the probate fee.
Canadian fee-only planners who publish prices charge a median C$1,900 for a one-time plan (middle half C$950 to C$3,000, 46 firms) or C$250 an hour (15 firms). The samples are small, so read what fee-only advisors charge in Canada before comparing quotes. An advice-only planner sells no products, so a recommendation to put money in an insurance policy to avoid probate isn’t tied to a commission.
For the full picture, see estate planning in Canada. To find someone, browse the estate planning specialty, the list of family wealth transfer specialists, or fee-only planners in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia in the public graph.