How 1% Listing Commissions Work in Ontario (and What You Actually Save)

A 1% listing commission in Ontario works by charging 1% of the sale price for the brokerage's own side of the transaction, the marketing, negotiation, and management of the sale, while the commission offered to the buyer's brokerage stays a separate line the seller sets independently at the time of listing. The 1% is paid only once the home sells, on closing, with no upfront or cancellation fees at Parker Coulter Realty, the original 1% listing brokerage. Because commissions in Ontario are negotiable and not set by law, a 1% listing commission is simply a lower rate charged by one brokerage instead of a higher one, not a different product. Real estate commission is also subject to 13% HST, which applies to the listing commission and to whatever is offered to the co-operating brokerage. On a $700,000 home, the listing side alone works out to $7,000 before HST, or $7,910 with HST included, a fixed, checkable number regardless of what the buyer's side ends up being.

The Two Commissions Bundled Into One Number

Most of the confusion around "1% commission" comes from one word doing two jobs. When people talk about "the commission" on a home sale, they usually mean two separate amounts added together:

1. The listing commission, what the seller's own brokerage charges to market, show, and sell the home.
2. The commission offered to the co-operating brokerage, the buyer's agent, which the seller sets at the time of listing and can adjust.

A 1% listing commission is the first number only. It doesn't tell a seller anything about the second number on its own, and no brokerage can honestly quote a single all-in figure without the seller first deciding what to offer the buyer's side. The decision about the co-operating commission stays with the seller in every case, whether they're listing with a 1% brokerage or anyone else.

How the Math Works, Step by Step

Take a $700,000 home as an example.

Step 1, the listing commission. At 1%, that's $7,000. Add 13% HST and it's $7,910. This part is fixed and doesn't depend on anything the seller decides later.

Step 2, the co-operating brokerage commission. This is the seller's call, set when the home is listed. If a seller chooses to offer 2.5% (a comparison point, not a required amount), that adds $17,500 before HST, or $19,775 with HST.

Step 3, add them together if the seller has decided on both. With a 1% listing commission and a 2.5% co-operating commission, the combined dollar figure on a $700,000 home is $27,685, HST included. Set that against a comparison built on 2.5% for the listing side and 2.5% for the co-operating side (5% combined, a comparison point sellers recognize, not a market rate), which comes to $39,550 HST-included on the same home. The gap is roughly $11,865, kept by the seller.

Step 4, check it against a real number, not just a round one. Across the towns we track in our own market data, 754 homes sold in the trailing 30 days as of this writing, with a weighted median sale price of $756,507. Run that price, or any price, through our real estate commission calculator or the full commission comparison, which lay out both columns with the HST line shown separately so nothing is folded into a single hidden number.

Commissions in Ontario are negotiable and are not set by law. The 2.5% and 5% figures above are comparison points we've chosen because they're round numbers sellers already have in mind, not a claim about what any other specific brokerage charges.

What a 1% Listing Commission Includes

The commission a seller pays only means something next to what it buys. At Parker Coulter Realty, the 1% listing commission includes professional photography, drone photos, staging assistance, a 3D tour, floor plans, and support from our team from the day the home is listed to the day it closes. That list doesn't change with the sale price.

Two honest caveats worth stating plainly:

• The co-operating commission is a real trade-off, not a formality. A lower offer to the buyer's brokerage can mean fewer buyer's agents actively bringing clients through the door. It's the seller's decision, and it's worth a real conversation about the specific home rather than a default number.
• Commission math doesn't include everything else in a sale. Legal fees, closing adjustments, and mortgage discharge costs are separate, and they're a lawyer's numbers to quote, not a brokerage's.

Low Commission Real Estate in Ontario: Where a 1% Listing Commission Fits

Search "low commission real estate agents," "low commission realtors," or "low real estate commission" in Ontario and a lot of vague pricing comes back. A 1% listing commission is a specific structure: 1% of the sale price, full stop, not a range and not a "starting at" figure. It answers the real estate commission for selling a house question directly, since the listing side is fixed at 1% regardless of the home or the market conditions.

Not every brokerage using "low commission" language means the same thing. Some quote a low rate that only applies below a certain price, some quote it before HST, and some are actually describing a real estate broker flat fee rather than a percentage. It's worth asking directly: is the number a percentage or a flat fee, is it before or after 13% HST, and does it include full marketing and negotiation or just the MLS listing.

	1% listing commission (us)	Flat-fee MLS listing
Structure	Percentage of the sale price	Fixed dollar amount
Scales with price	Yes	No
Marketing, negotiation, support	Included	Typically extra or self-managed
Paid	On closing, only if the home sells	Usually upfront or at listing

See our full breakdown of flat-fee MLS listings in Ontario for how that structure compares in more detail.

Where 1% Listing Commissions Are Available in Ontario

Parker Coulter Realty offers the 1% listing commission across Barrie, Simcoe County, Muskoka, Newmarket, and the surrounding GTA-adjacent markets. In the towns we track, 754 homes sold in the trailing 30 days, at an average 96.1% of asking price and an average 41.8 days on market, conditions that vary by community rather than blending into one number. The current monthly market report breaks the figures down town by town.

For sellers outside that footprint, the mechanics above still apply: commission structure and the 13% HST rate are the same across the province. Our own track record backs the math: a 4.9-star average across 345 Google reviews. Ask any brokerage to put their listing commission and their suggested co-operating commission in writing, and run both through the same HST-inclusive math. We also work with sellers outside our full-service area on a flat-fee basis; ask us and we'll let you know how we can help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the co-operating brokerage commission the same thing as the listing commission? No. They're two separate amounts. The listing commission is what the seller's own brokerage charges. The co-operating commission is offered to the buyer's brokerage, and it's set by the seller independently, at the time of listing.

When is the 1% listing commission actually paid? On closing, only if and when the home sells. There are no upfront fees and no cancellation fees at Parker Coulter Realty.

Does the seller have to offer any commission to the buyer's brokerage? No. What to offer the co-operating brokerage, including whether to offer anything at all, is entirely the seller's decision, made at the time of listing.

Is HST included when a brokerage quotes "1%"? Not unless they say so directly. HST is 13% on top of the commission in Ontario, on both the listing side and the co-operating side. Ask for the HST-inclusive number, or check it on the commission calculator.

Is a flat-fee MLS listing the same mechanics as a 1% listing commission? No. A flat-fee listing charges a fixed dollar amount regardless of price and usually covers the MLS listing only. A 1% listing commission scales with the sale price and includes full marketing, negotiation and support. See how flat-fee MLS listings work in Ontario for the full mechanics.

Want the number for a specific home? Call 705-722-9111 or use the contact form on the site, and we'll work through what a 1% listing commission would actually mean for that address, HST included. For the full detail on the offer itself, see how our 1% listing commission works, and for the mechanics in FAQ form, see how the 1% listing commission works.

Parker Coulter is the broker of record at Parker Coulter Realty, based in Barrie, Ontario, and has offered a 1% listing commission for about a decade.