What happens to my New Residential Rental Property Rebate if I sell the unit shortly after renting it out?

Selling shortly after claiming the New Residential Rental Property Rebate can put the rebate at risk, because it was granted on the basis that you intended to hold the unit as a long-term residential rental, not flip it quickly. If the CRA concludes that your real intention at the time of purchase or self-assessment was always a short-term hold and quick resale, rather than genuine long-term rental use, it can reassess and require the rebate to be repaid, along with possible interest.

A short holding period isn't automatically fatal on its own, genuine, unforeseen changes in circumstances can happen, but a quick sale after only a brief rental period is exactly the pattern the CRA looks at closely, since it raises the question of whether the original rental intention was real. The stronger and more contemporaneous your evidence of genuine long-term rental intent at the time you claimed the rebate, a proper lease, actual tenant history, and consistent conduct, the better positioned you are if the sale is later questioned.

Because reassessment here can mean an unexpected repayment on top of the tax from the sale itself, anyone considering selling a recently rented new-build unit should get advice on the rebate implications before listing it, not after a reassessment arrives.