First-Time Home Buyers' GST Rebate
GST/HST Rebate for New Housing Purchases
GST/HST Rebate for Substantial Renovations or Change in Use to Principal Residence
Are You a "Builder" for GST/HST Purposes?
GST New Residential Rental Property Rebate (NRRP)
Temporary Increase to GST Rental Rebate
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Resources
In an October 28, 2025 news release the Ontario government announced a proposed rebate of the full 8% provincial portion of the HST for first-time home buyers on new or substantially renovated homes valued up to $1 million. This could provide up to an $80,000 reduction in cost, or up to $130,000 on a home valued up to $1 million. The implementation of this rebate is subject to passage of federal legislation for the federal rebate.
Bill C-4 was tabled in the House of Commons on June 5, 2025. This bill includes legislation that eliminates the GST for first-time home buyers on new or substantially renovated homes up to $1 million, and reduces the GST for first-time home buyers on new homes between $1 million and $1.5 million. The information on the proposed rebate indicates that it may be in addition to the existing GST/HST new housing rebate.
The rebate is available:
Some limitations:
The amount of the rebate:
For instance, for a home purchased for $1.2 million (GST of $60,000), the rebate would be:
$50,000 x [($1,500,000 - $1,200,000) / $500,000] =$30,000
For more information see
GST relief for first-time home buyers on new homes valued up to $1.5 million.
Proposed First-time home buyers' (FTHB) GST/HST rebate
If you build or purchase a new home with a purchase price of less than $450,000, you may qualify for a rebate of a portion of the GST/HST paid on the purchase if the home is purchased for use as the primary place of residence of the purchaser or a relation of the purchaser, at the time that the purchaser becomes liable under a purchase agreement. See link to Tax Court case at bottom. See the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guide RC4028 GST/HST New Housing Rebate (link at bottom) for more information on this.
The rebate is available as long as the new home is acquired for use as the primary place of residence of any one of the purchasers or a relation of any one of the purchasers. This measure applies to a supply made under an agreement of purchase and sale entered into on or after April 20, 2021.
The amount of the GST rebate is:
Guide RC4028 also has information on provincial new housing rebates for the provincial part of the HST, which may be available even if the new housing rebate for the federal part of the HST is not available. The guide also includes information on:
If you substantially renovate your home, you may qualify for a rebate of a portion of the GST/HST paid on labour and materials. See the CRA RC4028 information on Substantial renovations, conversions and major additions (link at bottom) for more information on this.
You can also be considered to have substantially renovated your home, resulting in eligibility for the GST/HST New Housing Rebate if you
See RC4028 Conversions as well as GST/HST Technical Information Bulletin B-092 Conversions. The legislation for the deemed substantial renovation is in s. 190 (1) of the Excise Tax Act.
The BC 2012 Budget introduced a grant for new secondary or residential residences.
Quebec has similar rebates for the QST on these transactions. See Revenue Quebec GST and QST Rebate for Owners of New or Substantially Renovated Housing.
If you are building or substantially renovating a home on land that you own, and the house is your primary place of residence, you are not a builder of a house for GST/HST purposes. If you are building a home, or have hired someone else to build it for you, in the course of a business or an adventure or concern in the nature of trade (i.e, you're building the home to sell it), then you are likely considered a builder for GST/HST purposes. In this case, you may or may not have to register for GST/HST, but your sale of the property may still be taxable and you may have to charge and collect the tax. See the CRA guide RC4052 GST/HST Information for the Home Construction Industry (link at bottom).
This rebate is available for eligible rental accommodation and for land leased for a residence. The rental accommodation or land must be intended for long-term use as a residence.
You may qualify for this rebate if you:
Tax Court Case: L'Écuyer v. the Queen, 2019 TCC 41 re primary place of residence.
On September 21, 2023, Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, was introduced to increase the GST Rental Rebate on new rental housing from 36% to 100%. The rebate increase is subject to the passage of Bill C-56, and is effective for projects that begin construction on or after September 14, 2023 and before December 31, 2030, and complete construction by December 31, 2035. See the September 21, 2023 Department of Finance news release.
Not all projects eligible for the existing GST rental rebate will qualify for the enhanced rebate.
The enhanced GST rebate is available to those that qualify for the existing GST rental rebate (see above), and are in buildings with at least:
If existing non-residential real estate is converted into a residential complex it will be eligible for the enhanced rebate if all other conditions are met, but the enhanced rebate will not apply to substantial renovations of existing residential complexes.
See the Backgrounder for more details.
See the October 2023 Life in the Tax Lane video from Video Tax News.
See Enhanced GST Rebates on New Purpose-Built Rental Housing Announced from Thorsteinssons LLP for an excellent summary.
RC4028 GST/HST New Housing Rebate
RC4028 information on Substantial renovations, conversions and major additions
RC4052 GST/HST Information for the Home Construction Industry
RC4231 GST/HST New Residential Rental Property Rebate
IT-459 Adventure or Concern in the Nature of Trade (Archived)
GST/HST Memorandum 19.5 Land and Associated Real Property
Revised: October 30, 2025