Can I deduct the cost of a home inspection before buying a rental property?

Generally, no - a home inspection done before you buy a rental property is treated as a cost of acquiring the property, not a current operating expense, so it isn't deductible against rental income the way an ongoing repair or maintenance cost would be. Instead, costs like this are typically added to the capital cost of the property itself.

This makes sense once you think about what the inspection is actually for: it's part of the process of deciding whether to buy the asset in the first place, similar to other acquisition-related costs like legal fees to purchase the property, rather than something incurred to maintain or earn income from a property you already own and are operating as a rental. Because it forms part of the capital cost, its benefit shows up indirectly over time through the property's cost base, relevant to CCA claims and to calculating any capital gain or loss when the property is eventually sold, rather than as an immediate deduction in the year you paid for it. Keeping a clear record of acquisition-related costs like this, separate from ongoing operating expenses, makes the property's cost base easier to establish accurately down the road.