CIty of Toronto Act Update

It turns out I made an error in my recent post on the City of Toronto Act. It turns out that the Toronto now has, and Ontario municipalities in general soon will get, the ability to add a municipal component to the Land Transfer Tax. This is important because the LTT is a tax paid on the transfer of title from seller to buyer when a property is sold. Its based on a percentage of the sale price, so for a typical home (in TO) might amount to several thousands of dollars. Because of the sums involved, it is the one fund raising change in the new legislation that can potentially bring in more than just chicken-feed.

Which is good insofar as it allows the city to function independently from the Province. Note that it is an option that may never get utilized. My understanding is that one of the reasons it will eventually be extended to all Ontario municipalities is so that people will not be driven out of TO to the surrounding 905 suburbs by increased housing costs, because the 905 communities will presumably hike the tax as well. But that doesn't have to happen, and the various players in the GTA will still be able to compete for people and businesses through their tax policies, as they have always done.