First-time home buyer programs in Canada (2026): every federal and provincial benefit

Every first-time buyer program at a glance

Federal programs apply in every province. They help you save the down payment, cut tax when you buy and lower your mortgage payment. Provinces add land transfer tax relief.

Save the down payment: FHSA and Home Buyers’ Plan

The FHSA is the strongest tool if you’re starting early. You get $8,000 of room in the year you open your first account, and unused room carries forward up to $8,000, so the most you can add in one year is $16,000. The lifetime limit is $40,000. Contributions are deductible like RRSP contributions, growth isn’t taxed, and a qualifying withdrawal for your first home is tax-free and never repaid.

Room only starts once you open an account, so opening one now starts the clock. The account must close by the end of the year of its 15th anniversary, the year you turn 71 or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal. Unused money can move to an RRSP or RRIF without tax. Our FHSA calculator projects your savings.

The Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP without tax being withheld. It’s a loan to yourself: you repay it over up to 15 years, and amounts you miss are added to your income. For a first withdrawal between 2026 and 2028, repayments don’t start until the fifth year after, so a 2026 withdrawal is first repaid in 2031.

You can use both for the same home. A couple who each qualify could combine two FHSAs of $40,000 and two HBP withdrawals of $60,000, up to $200,000 in total, if they have saved that much.

Tax relief when you buy

The home buyers’ amount lets you claim $10,000 on line 31270 of your return for the year you buy. It’s a non-refundable credit, so it lowers tax you owe but isn’t paid out if you owe nothing. You and a spouse or co-buyer can split it, but the total can’t go over $10,000. The home must be in Canada and you must move in within one year.

Buying a new home brings two GST rebates. The first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate returns up to 100% of the GST, or the federal part of the HST, to a maximum of $50,000. The full rebate applies to homes worth up to $1 million, shrinks between $1 million and $1.5 million, and ends at $1.5 million. For a home bought from a builder, the agreement must be signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031. Resale homes don’t qualify.

Ontario matches it with a rebate of up to $80,000 of the provincial part of the HST on a new first home. The older GST/HST new housing rebate is open to any buyer of a new home, first-time or not, and pays 36% of the GST up to $6,300, but only on homes under $450,000.

Saskatchewan has its own First-time Homebuyers’ Tax Credit on the first $15,000 of the purchase, worth up to $1,575.

A longer amortization on an insured mortgage

If you put down less than 20%, your mortgage must be insured, and insured mortgages normally max out at 25 years. Since December 15, 2024, the Department of Finance allows 30 years for all first-time buyers and all buyers of new builds. The same change raised the price cap for insured mortgages from $1 million to $1.5 million.

Through CMHC Home Start, at least one borrower must be a first-time homebuyer, or the home must be newly built. The longer amortization lowers your payment but costs more interest over time, and the insurance premium is 0.20 points higher: 4.20% instead of 4.00% with 5% down. Our down payment calculator shows your minimum and premium.

Land transfer tax rebates by province

Land transfer tax is often the largest closing cost after the down payment, and several provinces cut it for first-time buyers. Your lawyer or notary usually claims the rebate at registration.

For first-time home buyers in B.C., the exemption is worth $8,000 on most homes. On a $700,000 home the property transfer tax is $12,000, so a qualifying buyer pays $4,000. B.C. also exempts a newly built home worth $1,100,000 or less for any buyer who lives in it. Our land transfer tax calculator runs these numbers for every province.

Who counts as a first-time buyer

There’s no single definition. Most federal programs use a four-year test, but provinces are stricter. Check each program before you count on it.

So someone who sold a condo five years ago can use the FHSA and HBP again, but won’t get Ontario’s or B.C.’s rebate. Then compare lenders on our mortgage rates page; a small rate difference on a 30-year mortgage often outweighs any single rebate.