Jun 2026
Ontario First Time Home Buyers’ HST Rebate now available
By David Young
Bill 114, HST Relief Implementation Act (Residential Property Rebates), 2026 received Royal Assent on May 12th, 2026 and introduced the legislative framework required to handle the Ontario First Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate (“ON FTHB Rebate”) and the upcoming Expanded HST Rebate for pre-construction homes.
On June 9th, 2026 the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) released an updated form RC7190-ON GST190 Ontario Rebate Schedule. This indicated that the CRA is now accepting applications for the ON FTHB Rebate provincial top up program. [1] [2].
Eligibility criteria:
Our March 12th, 2026 article on the Federal First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate (“Federal FTHB Rebate”) here [3] shows the eligibility requirements for the Federal FTHB Rebate of up to $50,000. The Government of Ontario has fulfilled their promise to introduce a “mirror-image” program.
- Therefore, the Eligibility Criteria to be considered a First-Time Home Buyer and eligible for the ON FTHB Rebate remains as: You must be over the age of 18;
- You must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada;
- You cannot have lived in a home that you or a spouse/common-law partner owned in the five years (rounded up) preceding the purchase of the new home;
- Similar to the existing HST New Housing Rebate program, you must move into the property to make it your primary place of residence;
- You will only be permitted to claim one ON FTHB Rebate per lifetime, and would not be permitted to claim if your spouse or common-law partner previously claimed the ON FTHB Rebate;
- It is possible for parents to co-sign Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) with adult children and maintain eligibility - as long as one party is FTHB living in the property.
Purchase and construction timelines:
Construction timelines remain the same provincially as it does federally:
- The Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) must be signed on or after March 20, 2025 to end of 2030;
- Construction must begin before 2031 and be substantially completed before 2036.
The dollar amount:
Together with Ontario’s existing HST New Housing Rebate (“Legacy HST Residential Rebate”), the new ON FTHB rebate provides relief of:
- The full 8% PST for FTHB up to $1,000,000 (up to $80,000);
- Portion of 8% HST on new builds between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000 (sliding scale);
- Existing Legacy HST Residential Rebate of $24,000 for $1,350,000 to $1,500,000 - no change or new benefit.
This means First Time Home Buyers can now qualify and apply for the existing Legacy HST Residential Rebate, the Federal FTHB Rebate and Provincial FTHB Rebate component for a combined 13% relief up to $130,000.
Existing claimants:
- If the APS was signed after April 20th, 2026 and you have closed on a pre-construction property as a FTHB in the last few months, you may have already claimed the Federal FTHB Rebate meaning you can go back and now apply for the ON FTHB;
- If your Vendor/Builder refuses to handle the Federal FTHB or ON FTHB Rebates, but credited you with the Legacy HST Residential Rebate, you can still apply for both the Federal FTHB and ON FTHB Rebates. You must ensure that you indicate that the Legacy HST Residential Rebate has already been claimed. They will not permit “double dip” to obtain Rebates greater than the 13%.
We now wait for the Expanded HST Rebate [4] program for all (FTHBs, non-FTHBs, investors) to be fully legislated. As of June 9th, 2026, Bill C-26 is still in its first reading in Federal Parliament. This Bill will authorize payment from the Federal Government to the Province to fund the Expanded Rebate and instruct the CRA to draft the applicable forms, as they have done here for the ON FTHB.
If you have any questions about calculating your rebate, the proposed changes or existing rules of HST on pre-construction properties, please contact to David Young at 365-509-2029 Ext.106 or via email at dyoung@sorbaralaw.com.
[1] https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc7190-on.html
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/gst-hst-rebates/first-time-home-buyers-gst-hst-rebate.html
[3]https://www.sorbaralaw.com/resources/knowledge-centre/publication/canada-lowering-costs-for-first-time-home-buyers-of-pre-construction-homes
[4]https://www.sorbaralaw.com/resources/knowledge-centre/publication/ontario-expands-hst-rebate