New-home HST rebate in 2026: how it works, with a worked example

Questions people ask

Do I pay HST on a new home in Ontario in 2026?

Not if you sign the agreement of purchase and sale between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 and the home is $1,000,000 or less: Ontario's enhanced rebate returns the 8% provincial part and the Ontario new home affordability payment returns the 5% federal part, so the whole 13% comes back, up to $130,000. Between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 the relief stays at $130,000, then it falls to the regular $24,000 at $1,850,000. The builder normally credits it at closing.

How much is the first-time home buyers' GST rebate?

All of the GST, or the 5% federal part of the HST, on a new home valued up to $1,000,000, which is a maximum of $50,000. Between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 the maximum drops in a straight line, so a $1,250,000 home gets $25,000. At $1,500,000 and above there is nothing. It became law on March 12, 2026 and applies to agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025.

Who counts as a first-time home buyer for the GST/HST rebate?

You must be at least 18, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner can have lived in a home that either of you owned, anywhere in the world, in the calendar year you take ownership or in the four calendar years before. The home must become your primary place of residence, and neither of you can have claimed this rebate before.

Do I get the rebate if I bought a resale home?

No. GST/HST is not charged on a resale home, so there is nothing to rebate. The rebates apply to a newly built or substantially renovated home bought from a builder, a home you build yourself, a pre-construction condo, or a share in a new housing co-op.

I signed for a pre-construction condo in 2024. Do I qualify?

For the first-time buyer rebate, no: the agreement must be dated March 20, 2025 or later, and assigning an older agreement does not reset the date. You still get the regular new housing rebate (federal up to $6,300 on homes under $450,000, Ontario up to $24,000 with no price cap). If your closing was before March 12, 2026 and you qualify on the dates, you can file a second application for the first-time buyer portion within two years of closing.

How do I apply for the new housing rebates?

Usually you do not have to: the builder pays or credits the rebates on closing and files Form GST190 (with Form RC7190-ON in Ontario) for you. If the builder does not, file GST190 yourself within two years of the day ownership was transferred. For a home you build, use Form GST191 within two years of substantial completion. The fastest route is CRA My Account.

What is the Ontario new home affordability payment?

A payment from the Province of Ontario, not the CRA, equal to the 5% federal part of the HST on a home that qualifies for Ontario's enhanced rebate: up to $50,000 on homes to $1,500,000, declining to nothing at $1,850,000. It is reduced by any federal rebate you already get, so a first-time buyer who receives the $50,000 federal rebate gets nothing extra from it below $1,000,000. You consent to it on the CRA rebate form and Ontario pays it.

Does the rebate change my mortgage?

It can. When the builder credits the rebate at closing, the price you finance is the price net of the rebate. When you claim it yourself after closing, you pay the full tax on closing day and receive the money later, so plan the cash. The mortgage calculator's cash-to-close section shows the tax and the rebates together for a new build.

Is there a rebate in BC, Alberta or the Prairies?

Only the federal one, because those provinces charge no provincial sales tax on a new home (Saskatchewan charges PST on the construction with its own rebate of up to 42%, which this calculator does not model). GST is 5% everywhere, so the first-time buyer rebate is worth the same $50,000 maximum in Vancouver as in Toronto.

What about New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI and Nova Scotia?

HST is 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI and 14% in Nova Scotia. The federal rebates apply in all four; only Nova Scotia rebates part of the provincial portion, 18.75% up to $3,000 for first-time buyers who apply within two years. The other three have no provincial new-housing rebate for buyers.

Does Quebec have a first-time buyer QST rebate?

No. Quebec did not harmonize the QST with the federal first-time buyer rebate. Quebec's QST new housing rebate is 50% of the QST up to $9,975 on homes valued to $200,000, fading to nothing at $300,000. Quebec first-time buyers instead get a refundable credit of up to $5,875 against the welcome tax from 2026, which the land transfer tax calculator shows.