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FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS

Who is eligible for the GST/HST new housing rebate?

There isn’t one rebate. There are several running at once, each with a different test, and the one that applies to you depends mostly on dates.

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Three things decide almost every case:
 
What you bought or built — a home to live in, a rental, or something you built or renovated yourself.

When you signed or started — the agreement date for a purchase, the construction start date for everything else.

Whether you or your spouse have owned a home recently — this only matters for the first-time buyer programs, but when it matters it decides everything.

Everything below assumes an Ontario property. Other provinces have different provincial rebates, and this page doesn’t cover them.

If you bought a new home to live in

Agreement signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027

You’re likely eligible for Ontario’s enhanced new housing rebate — up to $130,000.
  • Bought a newly built or substantially renovated home from a builder
  • Agreement of purchase and sale dated in that window
  • It's the primary place of residence for you or a qualifying relation
  • You're the first person to occupy it after construction
  • Purchase price under $1.85 million for enhanced relief
  • Construction begins and completes within the program's required timeframes
No first-time buyer requirement. Move-up buyers, downsizers, anyone.

Agreement signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027

You’re likely eligible for Ontario’s enhanced new housing rebate — up to $130,000.
  • At least 18, and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • Neither you nor your spouse lived in a home either of you owned, as a primary residence, in the current calendar year or the four calendar years before it
  • Neither of you has claimed this rebate before
  • It's your primary place of residence
  • You're the first to occupy it
The ownership test is measured on the date ownership transferred to you, not the date you signed.
 

If you bought a property to rent out

You may be eligible for the New Residential Rental Property Rebate — up to $80,000 per unit, plus further relief.
  • The property is rented under a qualifying long-term residential tenancy
  • You paid HST on the purchase or on self-supply
  • The first use is as a place of residence, not a short-term rental
Two things that differ from a homeowner claim:
 
Your builder cannot credit this rebate. You pay the full HST at closing and apply to the CRA yourself, afterwards. Nothing prompts you to do it.
 
Eligibility runs on when construction began, not when you signed.
 

If you built it, or had it built for you

You may be eligible for the owner-built home rebate.
  • You owned the land and the house was built for you, rather than sold to you finished
  • It's the primary place of residence for you or a qualifying relation
  • You have invoices showing the GST/HST you paid
  • You're claiming within the filing window
Hiring a general contractor is still owner-built, provided you owned the land throughout and they were working for you rather than selling you a completed house. The distinction is whether you were an owner all along or a purchaser at the end.
 

If you gutted and rebuilt

A substantial renovation can qualify as new housing.
  • Substantially all of the interior of the existing building was removed or replaced — the working threshold is around 90%
  • It's your primary place of residence
  • You have invoices
Converting a non-residential building into a home also qualifies, and is treated as new housing.
 
What doesn’t qualify: an expensive renovation that left most of the interior in place. The test measures how much was replaced, not how much was spent.

The conditions people most often fail

These are the ones we see go wrong, in both directions.

The four-year lookback counts your spouse. A buyer who has never owned property can fail the first-time buyer test because their spouse owned a condo four years ago — before the two of them met. When the relationship started doesn’t enter into it.

It runs on calendar years, not rolling months. Closing in December rather than January can change the answer, because the lookback measures whole calendar years.

Primary residence means primary residence. A property bought as an investment, or a second home, doesn’t qualify for the homeowner rebates. It may qualify for the rental rebate instead — a different program with different rules.

You must be the first to occupy. If someone lived in it before you, including a tenant, the homeowner rebate generally isn’t available.

Owning isn’t the same as living in. The first-time buyer test asks whether you lived in a home you owned. Someone who owned a rental property but never lived in it may still qualify — and often assumes they don’t.

If you've already closed

Eligibility doesn’t end at closing. Most of these programs have a filing window running two years from the date ownership transferred to you, and nothing prompts you to use it.

Two situations worth knowing about:

If you closed before March 12, 2026 and were a first-time buyer, your builder couldn’t have credited the rebate — it hadn’t received Royal Assent. The CRA allows a further application in that specific situation.

If you were denied, you have 90 days from the date on your notice of assessment to file a Notice of Objection. It doesn’t matter who filed the original claim.

Closed before March 2026? → 
Claim denied? →

Still not sure?

Four questions and we’ll tell you which programs apply to you. No name, no email, no fee.
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Call 647-281-5399
Free assessment. Flat fee, quoted upfront and charged at filing. If you don’t have a claim, we’ll tell you.
This page describes GST/HST housing rebate eligibility in general terms as of September 2026 and is not tax advice. Eligibility is determined by the Canada Revenue Agency and depends on circumstances beyond those listed here. For CRA source material see Guide RC4028 and Notice 346.
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