What does a first-time buyer in Ontario get, and what should I not skip?

Who counts as a first-time buyer depends on the programme

For the Ontario land transfer tax refund you must be at least 18, never have owned a home or an interest in a home anywhere in the world, and your spouse must not have owned one while your spouse. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or become one within 18 months of closing, and move in within nine months.

The federal Home Buyers' Plan, the FHSA and the home buyers' amount each use their own look-back test based on whether you or your spouse occupied a home you owned in recent years. Someone who owned a home years ago may qualify federally but not provincially. Check each definition on the government page before you rely on it.

The Ontario land transfer tax refund

The refund covers all or part of the provincial land transfer tax on an eligible home, to a maximum of $4,000 for transfers on or after 1 January 2017 under section 9.2 of the Land Transfer Tax Act. Your lawyer claims it at registration by completing the affidavit; if it is missed, you may apply within 18 months.

If you buy with someone who is not a first-time buyer and not your spouse, the refund is reduced to your share. If your spouse owned a home while your spouse, neither of you qualifies. Toronto's municipal land transfer tax has a separate first-time rebate with its own rules; the City's page carries the current figure.

Federal help: HBP, FHSA and the home buyers' amount

The Home Buyers' Plan lets a qualifying first-time buyer withdraw from an RRSP up to a limit set by the Income Tax Act, tax-free, and repay it over a schedule starting in a later year. The First Home Savings Account allows contributions that are deductible and withdrawals for a qualifying home that are tax-free, within annual and lifetime limits. The home buyers' amount is a non-refundable credit claimed on your return for the year of purchase.

All three carry timing rules tied to the purchase date and the year you move in. The limits have changed in recent years; the CRA pages in Sources carry the current ones.

New home? The HST rebates for first-time buyers

New homes carry HST. The GST/HST new housing rebate and the Ontario new housing rebate reduce it for a home you will occupy, and the builder usually credits both in the price. As of September 2026 the CRA guide also describes a federal first-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate for new homes under a price limit, and time-limited Ontario rebates with agreement-date windows. Eligibility turns on the date of your agreement and on occupying the home, so read RC4028 before you sign a builder agreement; our new-build page explains the mechanics.

Mistakes we see first-time buyers make

• Treating a pre-approval as an approval and waiving financing to win a bidding war.
• Waiving inspection on a home with old wiring, a wood stove or an oil tank, then finding it hard to insure.
• Not reading the status certificate, and inheriting a special assessment.
• Under-budgeting closing costs, particularly the sales tax on mortgage default insurance and the adjustments.
• Withdrawing from an RRSP or FHSA outside the CRA's timing rules.
• Not deciding how title is held until the signing appointment.