FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS' GST/HST REBATE (2026)

First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate (FTHB) - Federal 2026

New Rebate in force and current that allows first-time home buyers to refund the GST or federal portion of HST paid.

Practically replaces the existing federal rebate ($6,300) that is usually not accessible in the GTA due to purchase price being higher than the threshold. This is up to the maximum of $90,000.oo for properties at or below $2,000,000.oo. A reduced sliding scale applies between $1 million and $1.5 million purchases. No rebate for purchases above $1.5 million.

Who is eligible?

The person must be a First Time Home Buyer*:

1. At least 18 years old (an individual and not a corporation or partnership);

2. Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident; and

3. Have not lived in a home that they or their spouse has owned, or jointly owned, inside or outside Canada, as their primary place of residence at any time in the calendar year or in the previous four calendar years.

4. Meet the same requirements as the existing New Housing Rebate (owner occupied as primary place of residence).

5. Cannot have previously received an FTHB GST/HST rebate.

Neither the purchaser nor their spouse/common-law partner have previously received this rebate before.

To qualify for an FTHB GST/HST rebate, at least one of the purchasers would need to be a “first-time home buyer” that is purchasing the house for use as their primary place of residence. That individual would also need to be the first individual to occupy the house as a place of residence.

Note that based on this definition, the purchaser may be able to qualify for this rebate if they or their spouse/common-law partner have not previously received this (FTHB rebate) but may have received a previous existing rebate in the past. IE if they have never received the FTHB rebate before and at any time in the last four calendar years they have NOT owned a home they lived in as their primary residence.

To test for this a purchaser among other things may consider if they have ever received the FTHB rebate before and if they or their spouse owned a home they lived in as their primary residence at any time in the last four calendar years.

*Note, this definition of First-Time Home Buyer is unique to this rebate and is different from other definitions of first-time home buyer(s) in other legislation (ie land transfer tax). Caution should be applied when interpreting this.