Staying in Your Toronto House or Selling: The Costs Compared

The short answer

The stay or sell question for a long-held Toronto house comes down to two lists of costs. Staying means paying to adapt the house and to bring care and help into it. Selling means paying to leave one home and buy or rent the next one. Both lists include public programs that lower the bill for people who qualify. Staying put is often called aging in place in Toronto and elsewhere.

This post sets out both lists side by side. It describes programs and costs as their official sources state them. It does not tell you which way to go, because that depends on your house, your finances and what you want from the next ten years. Our complete guide to downsizing in Toronto covers the moving side in more depth.

Tax and care rules change, so treat everything here as general information. Confirm your own situation with an accountant and with the agency that runs each program.

What staying in a Toronto house costs

Staying in a house you already own has no closing costs. There is no commission, no land transfer tax and no moving bill. The costs are spread over time instead.

The main ones are:

• property tax, utilities and insurance, which continue every year
• maintenance and repairs, which tend to grow as a house ages
• renovations that make the house easier to live in, such as a main floor bathroom or a stair lift
• help at home, from a few hours of housekeeping to regular personal care

Some of these costs are covered or reduced by programs. The rest are paid from savings, income or the equity in the house. The sections below explain each program and the one common way to borrow against the house.

Home care through Ontario Health atHome

Ontario Health atHome is the provincial organisation that arranges home care in Ontario. According to the Ontario government’s home and community care page, updated May 5, 2026, home care can include:

• nursing care, including help to take medications, change bandages and clean wounds
• physiotherapy, including help for mobility problems and pain relief
• personal support, such as washing and bathing, eating and getting in and out of chairs, vehicles or beds
• homemaking, such as housecleaning, laundry, shopping and banking

The page says the Ontario government covers qualified home care costs. Community support services can have a client co-payment and private care is also available. To start, you contact Ontario Health atHome at 1-833-515-1234 or through its online map of local offices. A case manager or care coordinator assesses your needs and eligibility, which may include a visit to the house, then works with you on a care plan.

What the program provides depends on the assessment and on the services available in your community. Any care beyond that plan is a private cost. When you compare staying with selling, ask Ontario Health atHome what it can provide and get quotes for anything extra you expect to pay for yourself.

Tax credits for home renovations in 2026

Renovations are often the largest single cost of staying. Two federal credits and one Ontario credit can lower it for people who qualify. One older Ontario credit has ended.

Home Accessibility Tax Credit (line 31285)

The CRA’s page for line 31285, written for the 2025 tax year, allows up to $20,000 per year in eligible expenses. That limit has applied since 2022. The renovation has to help a qualifying individual gain access to the home, be mobile or functional within it or reduce the risk of harm.

A qualifying individual is someone who is 65 or older at the end of the year or who is eligible for the disability tax credit. Certain relatives who support that person can also claim. The CRA page sets out the full rules on who can claim and which expenses count.

Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit (line 45355)

This is a refundable credit for creating a self-contained secondary unit. The CRA describes it as helping a senior or an adult eligible for the disability tax credit live with a qualifying relative. You can claim up to $50,000 in qualifying expenditures for each qualifying renovation. The credit is 14.5% of those costs, to a maximum of $7,250 per claim. It is claimed on line 45355 for the 2024 and later tax years.

For a long-held Toronto house, this is the credit that applies when a family turns a basement or an addition into a separate unit so relatives can share the property. A new unit needs a City building permit, which we cover below.

Ontario credits: one current, one ended

Ontario’s Seniors’ Home Safety Tax Credit has ended. The province’s seniors finances page, updated June 16, 2026, says it was available for the 2021 and 2022 tax years.

The same page lists the Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit. It has been available since the 2022 tax year for people who turned 70 or older in the year or whose spouse or common law partner did. It provides up to 25% of claimable medical expenses up to $6,000, for a maximum credit of $1,500. The credit is reduced as family net income rises. Eligible expenses include attendant care, walking aids, bathroom aids and hospital beds.

Ask an accountant how these credits interact with each other and with the medical expense credit before you plan a renovation around them.

Building permits for renovations in Toronto

Many renovations that make a house easier to live in need a City building permit. The City of Toronto’s page on when you need a building permit, updated July 21, 2026, says a permit is needed to:

• add or remove walls
• add new windows or doors where there were none before
• install or modify heating or plumbing systems
• build most additions and decks more than 60 centimetres above ground
• create an additional dwelling unit, such as a secondary suite

The same page says some work does not need a permit. Examples are repairing and replacing plumbing fixtures, replacing a furnace or boiler and replacing a window or door in an existing opening in a house.

A permit adds application fees, drawings and time to a project. Include them in the cost of staying. Your contractor or designer can confirm what your specific project needs.

Toronto property tax relief for owners who stay

Property tax continues for as long as you own the house. The City of Toronto runs a property tax and utility relief program for seniors and people with disabilities who meet its income rules. It includes the Property Tax Increase Cancellation Program, the Property Tax Increase Deferral Program and water and solid waste rebates. The City says applicants must reapply every year with supporting documents.

The income limit and the current deadline are in our post on Toronto property tax, rates and relief, so we do not repeat them here.

Reverse mortgages explained

Some owners fund renovations or care by borrowing against the house. A reverse mortgage is the product most often discussed for this. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains it on its reverse mortgages page, last modified October 15, 2025.

How it works, according to the FCAC:

• It is a loan for homeowners, usually aged 55 or older, that lets you borrow from your home equity without selling.
• You may usually borrow up to 55% of the current value of your home.
• You can take the money as one lump sum, part as a lump sum and the rest over time or as regular payments.
• You do not make regular payments and you still own the home.
• The lender adds interest to the balance, so the amount you owe grows over time.
• The loan is repaid when you sell, move out, default or when the last borrower dies.

The FCAC also sets out the costs. Interest rates are higher than on a regular mortgage or a home equity line of credit. Fees can include an appraisal, setup charges, legal fees and closing costs and the lender may add them to the balance. Paying the loan off early may bring a fee.

The risks it lists are that your equity shrinks as interest builds, that less may be left for your estate and that you can lose the home if you default. The FCAC also names alternatives, including downsizing or renting, a regular mortgage or personal loan and a home equity line of credit. Speak with a lawyer and a financial professional before signing. In some provinces the lender may require independent legal advice.

What selling and moving cost in Toronto

Selling a long-held house brings the costs up front instead. They include commission on the sale, legal fees on both the sale and the purchase, moving and the land transfer tax on the next home. A buyer in the City of Toronto pays both the Ontario tax and the City’s municipal land transfer tax.

We set out every one of these costs with worked examples in Toronto downsizing costs, bill by bill. To see the land transfer tax on a specific price, use our Toronto land transfer tax calculator.

If the next home is a retirement residence instead of a condo or smaller house, the monthly costs are different again. Our comparison of condo vs retirement residence cost in Toronto puts the two next to each other.

Timing matters too. Buying before the sale closes can mean carrying two homes. Selling first can mean a short rental or storage. Our post on whether to sell first or buy first when downsizing covers both orders.

The principal residence exemption

For many long-time owners the largest number in the sale is the gain since they bought. The CRA’s principal residence page, last modified February 5, 2026, says that if the property was solely your principal residence for every year you owned it, you do not pay tax on the gain.

You must still report the sale. The CRA requires Schedule 3 and Form T2091(IND) for the year you sell. Your family can designate only one home as its principal residence for each year. The CRA will only allow the exemption if you report the sale and the designation. If you forget, ask the CRA to amend that year’s return. It accepts late designations in certain circumstances, but a penalty may apply. If the house was ever rented out or you owned a second property, ask an accountant how the rules apply to you.

Stay or sell: costs and programs side by side

Item	Staying in the house	Selling and moving	Source
One-time transaction costs	None	Commission, legal fees, moving	Downsizing costs post
Land transfer tax	None	Ontario and Toronto taxes on a purchase in the City of Toronto	Calculator
Tax on the gain	None until a later sale	None on a home that was solely your principal residence every year, sale still reported	CRA, February 5, 2026
Renovations	Paid by the owner, City permit for structural, plumbing and heating work or a new unit	Usually fewer if the next home already suits you	City of Toronto, July 21, 2026
Accessibility credit	Up to $20,000 per year in eligible expenses for a qualifying individual	Not applicable to the sale	CRA line 31285, 2025 tax year
Secondary unit credit	14.5% of up to $50,000, maximum $7,250 per qualifying renovation	Not applicable to the sale	CRA line 45355, 2024 and later
Ontario home safety credit	Ended, 2021 and 2022 tax years only	Ended	Ontario.ca, June 16, 2026
Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit	Up to $1,500 on eligible medical expenses for those who qualify	Same rules after a move	Ontario.ca, June 26, 2025
Home care	Ontario Health atHome, qualified costs covered by Ontario	Same program after a move within Ontario	Ontario.ca, May 5, 2026
Property tax relief	City cancellation and deferral programs, reapply every year	Depends on the next home	City of Toronto, July 22, 2026
Borrowing against the home	Reverse mortgage up to about 55% of value, interest added to balance	Equity is released by the sale	FCAC, October 15, 2025
Ongoing costs	Property tax, utilities, maintenance on the house	Condo fees or rent, plus costs on the new home	Your own bills

What to do next

1. List the renovations and care the house would need over the next few years and get written quotes.
2. Call Ontario Health atHome to ask what an assessment could cover.
3. Ask an accountant whether the line 31285 or line 45355 credits apply to your plans and how the principal residence exemption applies to your sale.
4. Check the City’s relief programs in our property tax guide if your household may qualify.
5. Get a current home valuation so you know the equity on the selling side of the table.
6. Run the purchase price you have in mind through the land transfer tax calculator.

When you want to put real numbers on both sides for your own house, contact us and we will walk through the selling costs with you.