How much HST rebate can I get on a new home in Ontario?

The $130,000 headline number is real, but it is the ceiling for a narrow group: a first-time buyer, buying a new home priced around $1,000,000, intending to live in it, with an agreement signed inside both program windows. Change any one of those and the number moves, sometimes to zero.

Here is what actually makes up that figure.

The three pieces

Federal First-Time Home Buyers’ GST Rebate, up to $50,000. Rebates the full 5% federal GST on a qualifying new home. Full rebate up to $1,000,000, then a straight-line phase-out to zero at $1,500,000. First-time buyers only.

Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate (ENHR), up to $80,000. Rebates the 8% provincial portion of HST. Full 8% up to $1,000,000, a flat $80,000 between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000, a partial rebate up to $1,850,000, and nothing above that. This one is not restricted to first-time buyers, a point most buyers get wrong.

The Ontario top-up. A provincial payment equivalent to the 5% federal portion, up to $50,000, available to buyers who actually receive the ENHR. It is reduced by whatever federal rebate you claim, so it does not simply stack on top.

What this looks like in practice

On a $900,000 freehold townhome bought by a first-time buyer inside both windows, the federal rebate is the full 5% and the ENHR is the full 8%. On a $1,250,000 detached home, the federal rebate has dropped to roughly half and the ENHR sits at the flat $80,000. On a $1,900,000 home, both enhanced programs are gone and you are back to the long-standing $24,000 Ontario rebate.

If you are renting the home out rather than living in it, none of the above applies. You are on the rental property rebate path instead, and you pay the HST at closing.

The part that costs people money

Almost every builder agreement prices the home “inclusive of HST” and requires you to assign the rebate to the builder at closing. That is normal, and it is not a scam, but it means the builder captures the rebate, and if you turn out not to qualify, the builder bills you for the difference. On a six-figure rebate, that is a six-figure surprise.

Check what your agreement says about assignment before you close, not after.

Run your numbers through the rebate checker for an estimate specific to your situation, then confirm it with your lawyer and accountant.