Free Assessment

FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS

The full GST back on your first new home. Up to $50,000

If you’re buying your first new home in Ontario, the federal government rebates 100% of the GST on homes valued up to $1 million — and Ontario adds a rebate of the provincial portion on top.

It applies to agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025. Many people who already qualify have never claimed it.
Check if you qualify
Call 647-281-5399
2,500 claims filed · $65 million recovered · 15+ years in Excise Tax · Never a percentage of your rebate.

Two rebates, one purchase

Ontario’s HST is 13% — a 5% federal portion and an 8% provincial portion. The first-time buyer programs address both.

The federal rebate returns 100% of the 5% GST on a qualifying new home valued up to $1 million. That’s up to $50,000. Between $1 million and $1.5 million the relief phases down; above $1.5 million it’s unavailable.

The Ontario rebate removes the 8% provincial portion for first-time buyers of new homes, effective March 20, 2025, mirroring the federal conditions.

They’re separate programs with separate forms, and it’s entirely possible to qualify for one and claim it while never being told about the other. 

Do you qualify?

Your Purchase

  • Agreement of purchase and sale signed on or after March 20, 2025, and before 2031
  • New or substantially renovated home bought from a builder — house, condo, townhouse, or co-op share
  • Acquired as your primary place of residence
  • You are the first person to occupy it after construction was substantially completed
  • Purchase price under $1.5 million for any federal relief

You, as a first-time buyer

The CRA tests this on the date ownership transferred to you — not the date you signed.
  • At least 18 years old
  • Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • Neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner lived in a home either of you owned, as a primary residence, in that calendar year or the four calendar years before it
  • Neither of you has previously received a first-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate

If your built it yourself

The four-year test catches people out
The lookback runs on calendar years, not rolling months, and your spouse’s ownership counts as your own.
 
Example: You sold a condo in June 2022 and rented ever since. Ownership of your new home transfers in August 2026. The four calendar years before 2026 are 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 — and you lived in a home you owned in 2022. You do not qualify.
 
Push that same closing to February 2027 and the lookback covers 2026 back to 2023. The 2022 ownership falls outside it. You do qualify.
 
Four months of calendar difference, and a $50,000 outcome. This is the condition we see misread most often, in both directions — people rule themselves out when they qualify, and rule themselves in when they don’t. If your ownership history is anywhere near the boundary, it’s worth a conversation before your closing date is fixed.
The test asks whether either of you lived in a home that either of you owned, as a primary residence, during the relevant years. Two things follow:
 
Owning a property you never lived in — a rental, an inherited property you didn’t occupy — is a different question from living in one you owned. And a home your spouse owned and lived in before you met still counts, because the test looks at the calendar years, not at when your relationship began.
 
Bring us the dates. This is not a question worth guessing at.

How this fits with Ontario's enhanced rebate

If your agreement is dated between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, you may also be eligible for Ontario’s enhanced new housing rebate — the temporary program open to all buyers.
 
Where you qualify for both Ontario programs, you can claim either or both. But the total of all rebates for the 8% provincial portion cannot exceed the lesser of $80,000 and the provincial HST actually payable on your purchase.
 
They share one ceiling on the provincial side. They do not stack to $160,000.
 
This is the single most common error we see in advice circulating about these programs. If a builder’s sales office, a mortgage broker, or an online calculator has told you the two programs add together, the number you’re working from is wrong — and it may be shaping what you can afford.
 
See the enhanced rebate →

Closed already? You may still be able to claim.

Both programs reach backwards.
 
The federal rebate applies to agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025, but it didn’t receive Royal Assent until March 12, 2026. Buyers who closed in that gap couldn’t have it credited by their builder — it didn’t legally exist yet. The CRA allows a second application to recover it.
 
The Ontario rebate is likewise effective from March 20, 2025, so buyers who closed and claimed only the legacy rebate, or only the federal portion, may be able to go back for the provincial side.
 
Both routes have a filing deadline — generally two years from the date ownership transferred to you.
 
If you closed before March 12, 2026, start here →

What we do

We’ve filed more than 2,500 GST/HST rebate applications and recovered over $65 million. The Excise Tax Act is the whole of this firm’s practice — not a service line within a general accounting business.

  1. We tell you where you stand. Free. Bring your agreement date, purchase price, and closing details and we’ll give you a straight answer, including when the answer is no.
  2. We build and file the claim. Forms, schedules, supporting documentation, filed with the CRA. You sign; we handle the rest.
  3. We deal with the CRA. If your claim is reviewed, we respond. If it’s denied, we file the Notice of Objection and represent you through it — same engagement, not a separate bill.

A flat fee. Not a percentage.

Most firms in this business take a percentage of what you recover. That was reasonable when the ceiling was $24,000. On a $130,000 rebate, a 10% contingency is $13,000 — for work that hasn’t changed.

We charge a flat professional fee, quoted before you commit and charged when we file. Whether your rebate is $24,000 or $130,000, our fee is the same. The difference stays with you.

If the CRA ultimately denies your application and all appeals or opportunities for reconsideration have been exhausted or are no longer available, our agreement provides for a refund of our fee, less any out-of-pocket expenses, itemised in writing.
Call for a quote - 647-281-5399
Michael Sproule has spent 15+ years dealing with the CRA on GST/HST matters specifically — not general accounting practice. Excise Tax is the whole of what this firm does.

Common Questions

Am I still a first-time buyer if I owned a home years ago?
Possibly. The test looks at whether you or your spouse lived in a home either of you owned during the current calendar year or the four calendar years before it. Ownership further back than that doesn’t disqualify you. Because it runs on calendar years rather than rolling dates, the answer can change depending on when you close.
Yes. The test counts a home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner, and asks whether either of you lived in it as a primary residence during the relevant years. When your relationship began doesn’t enter into it.

You can claim either or both — but the total of all rebates for the 8% provincial portion is capped at the lesser of $80,000 and the provincial HST actually payable. They share one ceiling rather than stacking on top of each other.

The date ownership of the home transferred to you — generally your closing date — not the date you signed the agreement.
Not necessarily. Both programs are retroactive to March 20, 2025, and there’s a defined filing window running from the date ownership transferred to you. If you closed before Royal Assent on March 12, 2026, there’s a specific CRA route for that situation.
A flat professional fee rather than a percentage of your rebate, quoted on your first call and charged when we file. Your initial assessment is free.

Three dates and we can usually tell you

When you signed, when you closed, and when you last owned a home you lived in.
Check my eligibility
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 the first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate in general terms as of August 2026 and is not tax advice. Eligibility depends on your specific circumstances. For CRA source material see Guide RC4028 and the CRA’s first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate pages.