Late-Filed GST/HST New Housing Rebate in Canada: Claim After Two Years?

Many buyers learn about the GST/HST new housing rebate long after closing. If more than two years have passed, you may be wondering whether any door is still open.

The answer depends heavily on how you acquired the home. This article explains the deadline, the narrow relief that exists, and the checks worth doing before you decide the rebate is gone.

This article covers Canadian federal tax law, which applies in every province.

The two-year deadline

The application deadline for a house bought from a builder is two years after ownership transfers. You may apply to CRA, or you may instead apply to the builder within the same two years, and the builder may pay or credit the rebate if it agrees.

If the builder does not pay or credit the rebate, you generally have up to two years from the date ownership was transferred to claim it on Form GST190. For houses on leased land (Types 1B and 5), the two years run from the date possession was transferred.

Is there relief for a late claim?

For builder purchases, generally no. CRA says it will consider a request to accept a late-filed rebate only for owner-built homes in extraordinary circumstances, and it does not apply if you purchased the house from a builder, so a missed two-year deadline on a builder purchase generally means the rebate is lost.

For owner-built homes, the Minister may allow a later filing, and CRA considers late owner-built requests only in extraordinary circumstances. Do not assume your reason will meet that bar. Whether it does depends on the facts, and a lawyer or accountant can help you assess this.

Check the start date carefully

Before concluding you are late, confirm which date starts the clock. For a builder purchase it is the transfer of ownership, or possession for leased land. For an owner-built home, you must apply within two years after the base date, which is the earliest of two years after first occupancy, the ownership transfer date, or substantial completion.

The deadline runs from the base date, not from move-in. In CRA's example, substantial completion on April 30, 2026 gives a deadline of April 30, 2028.

• Builder purchase: two years from transfer of ownership.
• Leased land (Types 1B and 5): two years from transfer of possession.
• Owner-built: two years after the base date.

Other rebates that may still be open

A missed new housing rebate does not necessarily close every option. The first-time home buyers' rebate has its own timing rules: the agreement of purchase and sale must be entered into after March 19, 2025 and before 2031, and ownership must transfer before 2036. A buyer must also meet the first-time buyer eligibility tests.

If you rent the unit out, the new residential rental property rebate is applied for on Form GST524 within two years after the end of the month tax first became payable. That is also a fixed window, so check it promptly.

What to do next

• Find your closing documents and confirm the date ownership or possession transferred.
• Confirm whether your home was bought from a builder or built by you.
• Ask whether the builder already paid or credited a rebate at closing, in which case you would not have applied yourself.
• If you are still inside two years, file Form GST190 with the statement of adjustments without delay.
• If you are outside two years, speak with a lawyer or accountant about whether any exception or other rebate fits.

Frequently asked questions