“The new home HST rebate in Ontario” actually refers to two different, real government programs, and mixing them up is the single most common mistake buyers make when they start researching. There is the standard GST/HST New Housing Rebate, which has existed for years and returns up to $24,000 of the provincial HST on a new home, available to any qualifying buyer. Layered on top of it, for agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, is a brand new, time-limited enhancement worth far more. This guide explains both clearly enough that you can tell, by the end of the opening section, which one actually applies to your purchase, as one piece of the closing-cost picture our complete Toronto real estate guide covers in full.
Two different rebates, not one
Start with the distinction, because everything else in this guide depends on it. The standard GST/HST New Housing Rebate is a long-standing federal and provincial program, open to any qualifying buyer of a new or substantially renovated home, first-time buyer or not. It is worth up to $24,000 from the Ontario portion of HST, plus a smaller federal amount on lower-priced homes. Separately, starting for agreements of purchase and sale signed on or after April 1, 2026, Ontario introduced a temporary enhancement that layers two additional programs on top: the Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate, which can return up to $80,000 of the provincial HST to any qualifying buyer, and the Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, which can return up to $50,000 more, but only to a genuine first-time buyer. Together, a qualifying first-time buyer can see up to $130,000 back. A buyer who has owned a home before, but who still qualifies for the enhanced provincial rebate, can see up to $80,000. Most coverage of this program collapses it into a single “$130,000 rebate” headline, which is true only for the first-time-buyer case and understates what everyone else is still entitled to. Our guide to land transfer tax in Ontario covers the other major buying cost this one is often confused with.
The standard GST/HST New Housing Rebate, and what it’s worth
The GST/HST New Housing Rebate is a partial rebate of the sales tax paid on a new or substantially renovated home, whether purchased from a builder, built by the owner, or bought as co-op shares. It has existed for years, applies regardless of whether you have owned a home before, and is not limited to any specific purchase window the way the 2026 enhancement is. It has two components, one federal and one provincial, and they behave differently as the purchase price rises.
The federal component rebates 36% of the GST paid, up to a maximum of $6,300, on a home priced at $350,000 or less. Above $350,000, that federal amount phases out in a straight line and disappears entirely at $450,000. The Ontario component works differently: it rebates 75% of the 8% provincial portion of HST paid, capped at a flat $24,000, a ceiling reached once the home’s price hits $400,000. Unlike the federal side, the Ontario portion does not phase out above that price. It simply stays at $24,000, regardless of whether the home costs $500,000 or $2 million, as long as the buyer otherwise qualifies under the CRA’s GST/HST New Housing Rebate framework.
The new 2026 rebate expansion, and how it’s actually structured
For agreements of purchase and sale signed on or after April 1, 2026 and on or before March 31, 2027, or for owner-built homes where construction begins in that same window, two additional and separately administered programs layer on top of the standard rebate above. This is the part of the “$130,000 rebate” story most coverage compresses into one number, and it is worth keeping apart, because the two programs have different maximums and different eligibility rules.
The Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate, administered federally by the CRA under its own Notice 346, sits alongside the original Ontario new housing rebate described above. Combined, the two provide relief of up to $80,000 of the 8% provincial portion of HST, on a new or substantially renovated home valued up to $1,850,000. This rebate is not restricted to first-time buyers. Any buyer who meets the existing eligibility requirements of Ontario’s current New Housing Rebate can claim it, whether they have owned a home before or not.
The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment works differently. Administered directly by the Province of Ontario rather than the CRA, it provides up to $50,000, equivalent to as much as 100% of the 5% federal portion of HST, but only to buyers who separately qualify as first-time buyers under its own specific test, covered in the next section. It is not a separate application. A buyer claims it by completing the affordability-payment consent section on the same GST/HST new housing rebate form used to claim the rebates above, which allows the CRA to share the relevant information with the province. Add the two programs together for a qualifying first-time buyer and the combined ceiling reaches $130,000. A repeat buyer who still meets the Enhanced New Housing Rebate’s own requirements is not shut out of the new measure entirely; they are eligible for up to $80,000 of it, just not the additional $50,000 that is reserved for first-time buyers specifically.
Who actually qualifies for the expanded rebate
Eligibility splits along the same line as the two programs themselves. For the Enhanced New Housing Rebate’s $80,000 ceiling, the requirements mirror the existing Ontario New Housing Rebate: the home must be purchased from a builder, owner-built, or bought through co-op shares, intended as the buyer’s or a relation’s primary residence, with an agreement of purchase and sale signed in the eligible window. Prior home ownership does not disqualify a buyer from this portion.
For the additional $50,000 Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, the bar is specifically first-time-buyer. A qualifying buyer must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and must meet an ownership-history test: neither the buyer nor their spouse or common-law partner can have owned and lived in a home, anywhere, in the current calendar year or the four calendar years before it. The home must become the buyer’s primary residence, and the buyer must be its first occupant. The buyer also cannot have previously received the federal first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate on an earlier purchase. Meet both sets of criteria, and a buyer stacks the full $130,000. Meet only the Enhanced Rebate’s broader requirements, and the ceiling is $80,000.
How the expanded amount scales with your home’s price
The Enhanced New Housing Rebate’s $80,000 provincial-portion ceiling is not a flat amount available at every price point. Below roughly $1,000,000, the rebate returns 100% of the actual 8% provincial HST paid, which naturally reaches $80,000 right around that $1,000,000 mark. Between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000, the rebate holds flat at the full $80,000. From $1,500,000 up to $1,850,000, it phases down on a sliding scale. Above $1,850,000, the enhancement no longer applies at all, and a buyer falls back to the original, unenhanced Ontario New Housing Rebate’s flat $24,000. The separate $50,000 Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, available only to qualifying first-time buyers, is described by the CRA as worth up to 100% of the federal 5% HST portion; its own price-based scaling has not yet been published in the same level of detail as the Enhanced Rebate’s, so a first-time buyer this close to any of these thresholds should confirm the exact combined figure directly with their builder or a tax professional rather than relying on a general guide.
Does either rebate apply to a resale home?
No, and this is the point most likely to matter for a typical TorontoProperty.ca reader, since the majority of listings on this site are resale homes rather than new construction. Neither the standard GST/HST New Housing Rebate nor the 2026 expansion applies to buying an existing home on the resale market. Both rebates exist specifically to offset the sales tax charged on a new or substantially renovated home, an owner-built home, or a purchase of co-op shares in a new residential complex, because resale home sales are not subject to GST/HST in the first place. If you are buying resale, this entire rebate category simply does not apply to your purchase, and no amount of paperwork changes that. If you are researching closing costs generally rather than this specific rebate, our complete closing costs checklist for Toronto buyers covers what actually applies to a resale purchase.
How the rebate actually gets claimed
In most new-construction purchases, the builder credits the rebate directly at closing, reducing the amount the buyer needs to pay on the statement of adjustments, and the builder then claims the equivalent amount back from the CRA. This is the most common path and the one most buyers experience without filing anything themselves. It is not, however, guaranteed to happen automatically in every transaction. Some purchase agreements require the buyer to apply directly to the CRA after closing using form GST190, along with the Ontario-specific RC7190-ON form for the provincial portion, generally within two years of the date ownership transfers. Whether the rebate is credited upfront by the builder or claimed afterward by the buyer depends on the specific agreement of purchase and sale, so confirming which path applies is worth doing before closing, not after. For current new-construction listings this rebate could actually apply to, browse active listings on TorontoProperty.ca.
Frequently asked questions
What is the GST/HST New Housing Rebate, in simple terms?
It is a partial rebate of the sales tax paid on a new or substantially renovated home, available whether the home is purchased from a builder, built by the owner, or bought as co-op shares. It has existed for years, is not limited to first-time buyers, and works alongside the newer 2026 expansion rather than being replaced by it. The rebate has a federal component, worth up to $6,300 on lower-priced homes and phasing out entirely above $450,000, and an Ontario component, worth up to a flat $24,000 with no further phase-out at higher prices. Together they form the baseline rebate that applies to any qualifying new-construction purchase in Ontario, before considering whether the temporary 2026 enhancement adds anything further.
How much is the standard rebate actually worth, and how is it capped?
The federal portion rebates 36% of the GST paid, up to $6,300, on a home priced at $350,000 or less, phasing out in a straight line between $350,000 and $450,000 until it disappears entirely. The Ontario portion rebates 75% of the 8% provincial HST paid, capped at a flat $24,000, a ceiling reached once the home’s price hits $400,000. Unlike the federal side, the Ontario portion does not phase out at higher prices; it simply holds at $24,000 regardless of whether the home costs $500,000 or several million, as long as the buyer meets the CRA’s GST190 eligibility requirements. Most buyers researching “the HST rebate” without specifying a year are actually asking about this standard, ongoing rebate rather than the temporary 2026 enhancement.
What is the new 2026 expanded rebate, and how is it different from the standard one?
For agreements of purchase and sale signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, two additional programs layer on top of the standard rebate. The Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate, administered by the CRA, can return up to $80,000 of the provincial HST portion on homes valued up to $1,850,000, and is open to any qualifying buyer, not only first-time buyers. The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, administered separately by the province, adds up to $50,000 more, worth up to 100% of the federal HST portion, but only to buyers who meet a specific first-time-buyer test. Stack both and a qualifying first-time buyer can see up to $130,000 back. A repeat buyer who still meets the Enhanced Rebate’s own requirements can still see up to $80,000, just not the additional first-time-buyer-only amount.
Who actually qualifies for the expanded first-time-buyer rebate?
For the additional $50,000 Ontario New Home Affordability Payment specifically, a buyer must be at least 18, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and must meet an ownership-history test: neither the buyer nor their spouse or common-law partner can have owned and lived in a home anywhere in the current calendar year or the four years before it. The home must become the buyer’s primary residence with the buyer as its first occupant, and the buyer cannot have previously received the federal first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate on an earlier purchase. The broader $80,000 Enhanced New Housing Rebate has a lower bar and does not require first-time-buyer status at all, only that the purchase otherwise meets the existing Ontario New Housing Rebate’s requirements.
Does either rebate apply if I’m buying a resale home?
No. Both the standard GST/HST New Housing Rebate and the 2026 expansion apply only to a new or substantially renovated home purchased from a builder, an owner-built home, or a purchase of co-op shares in a new residential complex. Resale home sales are not subject to GST/HST in the first place, so there is no sales tax to rebate on that kind of purchase. Since most of the listings on TorontoProperty.ca are resale homes, this entire rebate category will not apply to the majority of buyers using this site, and it is worth confirming whether a specific listing is new construction or resale before assuming any part of this guide applies to it.
How does someone actually claim the rebate?
In most new-construction purchases, the builder credits the rebate directly at closing, reducing what the buyer pays on the statement of adjustments, and the builder claims the equivalent amount back from the CRA afterward. Some agreements instead require the buyer to apply directly using CRA form GST190, along with the Ontario-specific RC7190-ON form, generally within two years of the date ownership transfers. Which path applies depends on the specific purchase agreement, so it is worth confirming with the builder or your lawyer before closing rather than assuming the rebate happens automatically. For the additional Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, a first-time buyer completes a consent section on the same rebate form rather than filing anything separate.
New construction changes which rebates actually apply to your purchase. Browse current listings on TorontoProperty.ca to see what’s available, or read our full library of Toronto buying guides for everything else that affects your closing costs.