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, the Canada Child Benefit and the Ontario Trillium Benefit.
OnlineWho: YouBy 30 April
3
Read the property tax bill as three levies, not one rate
A Kitchener bill combines the City levy, the Region of Waterloo levy and the province's education rate. Comparing a headline 'Kitchener' rate against a single-tier city like Hamilton or London is comparing different things — there, one municipal levy covers everything; here it is split, and the regional half is the larger. Compare actual bills on comparable assessments.
OnlineWho: You
4
Set up the City utility account separately from the tax account
Kitchener bills natural gas, water, sewer and stormwater directly. That is a separate account from property tax, on a separate cycle, and both are with the City. Newcomers who assume the private gas company will find them wait a long time.
OnlineWho: You
5
If you buy, budget the provincial land transfer tax only
Ontario charges land transfer tax on a purchase. Toronto charges a second, municipal one of similar size on top; Kitchener does not, and neither does any other Ontario municipality. First-time buyers can claim a provincial refund up to a set maximum.
OnlineWho: You
6
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
7
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 MPAC assessment notice, if you own
Receipts for medical expenses, childcare, tuition and rent paid (for the Ontario Trillium Benefit)

Things most newcomers don’t know

Renters can claim the Ontario Trillium Benefit, and newcomers routinely leave it on the table.

The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit inside the Trillium Benefit is available to tenants as well as owners, based on rent paid for a principal residence in Ontario during the year. It is claimed on the annual return and paid monthly. People who assume 'property tax credit' means owners skip the section entirely, and the amounts over a year are not trivial on a modest income. Keep a record of rent paid and the landlord's name.

Source: CRA — Ontario Trillium Benefit

A two-tier property tax bill is not more expensive, it is differently itemised — and people misread it constantly.

In Hamilton or London one municipal levy funds everything from water to policing. Here the Region levy funds police, paramedics, public health, waste, water and transit while the City levy funds parks, local roads, fire and planning. The total is what matters and the split is not a surcharge, but a newcomer comparing a single line on a Hamilton bill to a single line on a Kitchener bill will draw exactly the wrong conclusion.

Source: Region of Waterloo; City of Kitchener

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. Kitchener's genuine financial advantages over Toronto are housing and car insurance, and both are substantial — but neither is a tax advantage and treating them 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

Skipping the first part-year return and forfeiting the benefit entitlements it triggers.
Missing the Ontario Trillium Benefit as a renter because the credit's name mentions property tax.
Comparing a two-tier Kitchener tax rate against a single-tier city's without adding the regional levy.
Forgetting that gas and water come from the City on a separate account.
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.

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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 Kitchener — taxes, utilities and finance — official, Verified August 2026
Region of Waterloo — official, Verified August 2026 — the upper-tier government for Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and four townships