LANDLORDS & INVESTORS

Up to $80,000 back. Per rental unit.

Ontario’s enhanced New Residential Rental Property Rebate returns the full 8% provincial portion of the HST on eligible new long-term rental units — up to $80,000 each.

Your builder cannot credit this one at closing. Every landlord claims it directly from the CRA. That’s the part most investors don’t find out until after they’ve paid.

2,500 claims filed · $65 million recovered · 15+ years in Excise Tax · Never a percentage of your rebate.

Nobody is going to do this for you

If you buy a new home to live in, your builder normally credits the rebate against your purchase price at closing and files with the CRA. You never see a form.

Rental purchases don’t work that way. The rebate on a residential rental property cannot be paid or credited by the builder. You pay the full HST at closing, and you apply to the CRA yourself, afterwards.

That single structural difference produces two consequences.

You carry the tax. On a $700,000 rental unit that’s roughly $91,000 out of pocket at closing, recovered later.

Nothing prompts you. There’s no line on a closing statement and no letter from the CRA. Investors who don’t know the rebate exists simply never claim it — and we’ve seen unclaimed rebates surface years after closing, sometimes only when the property is being sold.

If you bought a new rental property in the last few years and don’t distinctly remember filing a rebate application, it’s worth checking. There’s a filing deadline, but it may not have passed.

Which units qualify

✓ New or substantially renovated residential unit in Ontario

✓ Acquired or built for long-term residential rental

✓ There is a qualifying tenancy — a lease to an individual as their place of residence

✓ You are the first to have the unit occupied after construction

✓ You paid HST on the purchase or construction

Enhanced relief adds construction-timing conditions:

✓ Construction or substantial renovation begins on or after April 1, 2026 and on or before March 31, 2027

✓ Substantially completed on or before December 31, 2029

Why the dates work differently from the homeowner rebate

For an owner-occupier, eligibility turns on the agreement of purchase and sale date. For rentals, it turns on when construction begins.

That matters because you may have no direct control over — or even visibility into — your builder’s construction start date, and it’s the fact your rebate depends on. It’s a question worth asking the builder in writing before you sign, and worth documenting.

There’s also a separate stream for projects where construction commenced before April 1, 2026, with its own conditions. If your project was already underway when the enhancement was announced, don’t assume you’re excluded. Bring us the dates.

Short-term rental does not qualify

The rebate is for long-term residential tenancy. A unit operated as a short-term rental doesn’t meet the qualifying-tenancy condition.

This matters beyond the initial claim: if the use of the property changes after you’ve received a rebate, there can be consequences. If you’re weighing short-term against long-term letting on a unit where you’ve claimed, get advice before you switch.

How much per unit

The enhanced rebate returns the full 8% provincial portion of the HST, up to $80,000 per eligible rental unit, on the same value scale as the homeowner rebate:

Unit value (pre-HST)	Provincial rebate
Up to $1,000,000	Full 8% — up to $80,000
$1,000,000 – $1,500,000	$80,000 flat
$1,500,000 – $1,850,000	Declines linearly toward $24,000
$1,850,000 and above	$24,000

This page addresses the 8% provincial portion. Federal relief for rental housing runs through a separate program with its own eligibility conditions, and whether it applies depends on the size and structure of the project. Bring us the details and we'll tell you what's available on both sides.

Per unit is the phrase to hold onto. On a multi-unit residential complex, the rebate is calculated for each eligible unit. A six-unit building isn't an $80,000 claim — it's potentially six of them.

Rental claims draw more scrutiny than homeowner claims

The CRA reviews these more closely, and for understandable reasons. A rental rebate claim asserts something about future use — that a property will be tenanted long-term — and the agency can’t verify that from a closing document alone.

What that means in practice:

Your lease is evidence. A qualifying tenancy has to be real and documented. Timing, terms, and the relationship between tenant and owner all matter.

Fair market value can be contested. On owner-built or converted properties, the rebate is calculated on FMV at substantial completion, and the CRA can and does disagree with a taxpayer’s figure.

Multi-unit claims need unit-level support. Each unit’s eligibility is established separately. A single well-documented claim across six units is not the same document as six loose ones.

Intent at the time of acquisition matters. The question isn’t only what you did with the property — it’s what you acquired it for.

This is where a specialist earns their fee. A rental claim that’s assembled properly the first time is far less likely to end up in a review, and far better positioned if it does.

If the CRA denies your claim →

What we do

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.
We build and file the claim. Forms, schedules, unit-level documentation, valuation support where needed, filed with the CRA. On multi-unit projects we assemble the whole claim as one properly supported package.
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 take a cut of what you recover. On a multi-unit rental claim, a percentage-based fee becomes a very large number very quickly — and the work does not scale the same way.

We charge a flat professional fee, quoted before you commit and charged when we file. Multi-unit claims are quoted on the scope of the work, not on the size of your recovery.

Your initial assessment is free. If we don’t believe you have a claim, we tell you at that stage and you pay nothing.

If the CRA ultimately denies your application and all appeals or opportunities for reconsideration have been exhausted or are no longer available, our engagement agreement provides for a refund of our fee, less any out-of-pocket expenses, itemised in writing.

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

Can my builder credit this rebate at closing like they do for homeowners?

No. The rental property rebate cannot be paid or credited by the builder. You pay the HST at closing and apply to the CRA directly afterwards. This is the single biggest difference between the rental rebate and the homeowner one, and it’s why so many investor rebates go unclaimed.

Is it $80,000 total, or $80,000 per unit?

Per eligible rental unit. On a multi-unit residential complex the rebate is determined for each unit that qualifies.

I bought a rental property a couple of years ago and never claimed anything. Is it too late?

Possibly not. There’s a filing deadline, but depending on your dates you may still be inside it. It costs nothing to have us check, and this is one of the more common situations we’re brought in on.

Does a short-term rental qualify?

No. The rebate requires a qualifying long-term residential tenancy. If you’re considering changing the use of a property you’ve already claimed on, get advice first.

Which date matters for the enhanced rebate?

When construction or substantial renovation began — not the date you signed your agreement. That’s the opposite of how the homeowner rebate works, and it catches people out.

What if the CRA reviews my claim?

We respond on your behalf. Rental claims attract more scrutiny than homeowner claims because they turn on the intended use of the property, so we assemble them expecting review rather than hoping to avoid it.

Bring us the dates and we'll tell you

Construction start, substantial completion, closing, and your lease. That’s most of what determines a rental claim.

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 New Residential Rental Property Rebate and its temporary Ontario enhancement in general terms as of August 2026 and is not tax advice. The enhanced rebate is a new program and administrative guidance continues to develop. Eligibility depends on your specific circumstances. For CRA source material see Guide RC4231 and CRA Notice 346.