Before you start
- Social Insurance Number
- T4 slips from employers
- Records of foreign income and foreign property
- A determination of the date you became a tax resident
Step-by-step
- 1
Establish the date you became a tax resident
Canadian tax residency turns on residential ties — a home, a spouse, dependants, then secondary ties such as bank accounts and a driving licence — rather than on a day count. Your first return covers only the part of the year after that date.
OnlineWho: You - 2
File one return by 30 April, covering both governments
Ontario tax is calculated on the federal return and collected by the CRA. Certified software is free for most situations and free volunteer clinics exist for modest incomes, which many newcomers qualify for in their first year. File even for a short part-year, because the assessed return is what triggers the GST/HST credit and the Canada Child Benefit.
OnlineWho: YouBy 30 April - 3
If you own residential property here, file the vacant unit tax declaration every year
Every residential property owner must declare the occupancy status of the property annually, whether or not it is vacant, by 15 April. A late declaration is accepted for about a month afterwards with a $250 fee. A property vacant for more than 183 days in the year is taxed an additional 1% of its assessed value — and failing to declare at all is treated as a vacancy.
OnlineWho: YouBy 15 April every year - 4
Compare property tax between Hamilton addresses using actual bills
Because of area rating, the transit levy differs by former municipality — the old city of Hamilton pays several times what urban Flamborough or Dundas pay toward the same system. Two houses of identical assessed value in the same city can carry different bills. Ask for the actual bill, not a rate.
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Report foreign property above the threshold on form T1135
Residents holding specified foreign property costing more than CAD 100,000 in total must file this each year. Penalties for non-filing are severe and applied per year, and a property you still own abroad is the usual trigger.
OnlineWho: You - 6
Register for CRA My Account once you have filed
This is where tax slips, benefit payments and refunds live. Registration requires information from a filed return, so most newcomers complete it after the first filing rather than before.
OnlineWho: You
Documents you’ll need
- Social Insurance Number
- T4 and other information slips
- Records of foreign income, accounts and property
- Property tax bill and vacant unit tax declaration, if you own
- Receipts for medical expenses, childcare and tuition
Things most newcomers don’t know
The vacant unit tax reaches people who are simply away, not just speculators.
The mechanism is a compulsory annual declaration by every residential owner, and a property unoccupied more than 183 days in the year attracts an extra 1% of assessed value. Someone posted abroad for a year, renovating slowly, or holding a parent's house after a bereavement is squarely inside it — and because a missed declaration is treated as a vacancy, the tax can arrive without the property ever having been empty. Diarise 15 April.
Source: City of Hamilton — vacant unit tax
Hamilton still area-rates its transit levy, which almost no other Ontario municipality does.
It is a leftover from the 2001 amalgamation, meant to be temporary, intended to reflect the different levels of transit service the former municipalities received. Two decades on, the old city pays multiples of what urban Flamborough, Ancaster and Dundas pay towards the same buses, and every attempt to unwind it stalls because it creates visible losers. The practical consequence for a newcomer is that the property tax figure quoted for 'Hamilton' may not be the one for your address.
Source: City of Hamilton — property taxes
There is no Ontario city with an income tax advantage, and people keep hunting for one.
Income tax is federal plus provincial and identical across Ontario; HST is 13% province-wide. The only municipal levers are property tax and, in Toronto alone, a municipal land transfer tax. Hamilton's genuine financial advantage over Toronto and Mississauga is the price of housing, and it is substantial — but it is not a tax advantage and treating it as one leads to bad comparisons.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency — Ontario tax rates
File a part-year return even if you earned almost nothing.
The assessed return is what starts the benefit machinery — the GST/HST credit, the Canada Child Benefit, the Ontario trillium benefit. Newcomers who arrive in October reasonably conclude there is no point filing for three months of income, and then wonder for a year why no benefit payments arrive. The return is the trigger, not the income.
Source: CRA — Newcomers to Canada
Common mistakes to avoid
- Missing the 15 April vacant unit tax declaration and being taxed as though the home were empty.
- Skipping the first part-year return and forfeiting the benefit entitlements it triggers.
- Comparing Hamilton property tax on a headline rate without accounting for area rating.
- Assuming a 183-day rule determines when you became a tax resident.
- Missing form T1135 on foreign property costing more than CAD 100,000.
- Expecting an Ontario municipality to offer an income tax advantage. None does.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.
Make it your personal checklist
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Sources
- CRA — Newcomers to Canada — official, Verified August 2026
- CRA — Canadian income tax rates for individuals — official, Verified August 2026
- City of Hamilton — vacant unit tax — official, Verified August 2026
- City of Hamilton — property taxes — official, Verified August 2026
- City of Hamilton — vacant unit tax declaration period — official, Verified August 2026
Last verified August 2026. Government processes change — always confirm critical details against the official source before acting.