Can the residential rental portion of a mixed-use building qualify for an HST new rental property rebate?

Potentially, yes. Federal HST rules include a New Residential Rental Property rebate available for newly built or newly converted residential rental units, which can apply to the residential portion of a mixed-use building, for example, apartments built above ground-floor retail, where the landlord intends to keep those units as long-term rentals rather than sell them. This rebate exists alongside, but is distinct from, the general New Housing Rebate aimed at buyers purchasing a home for their own use.

The nuance is that this rebate applies specifically to the residential rental component; the ground-floor retail or commercial portion of the same mixed-use building is assessed under ordinary commercial property HST rules, not the residential rental rebate. Because a single building can have two different HST treatments running side by side, the purchase price and rebate claims often need to be apportioned between the residential and commercial components rather than treated as one uniform calculation.

Given how specific the eligibility conditions and current dollar figures for this rebate can be, and how easily they change, anyone developing or buying a mixed-use rental building should confirm current eligibility and figures directly with an accountant or the CRA rather than assuming a flat rate applies.