HST & GST rebates
My spouse owned a home before. Am I still a first-time buyer?
Possibly not. For the federal GST rebate, you are disqualified if you lived in a home your spouse or common-law partner owned during the current calendar year or the four preceding years. Only one spouse needs to qualify, but if you occupied their home, neither of you does. This trap catches many buyers.
This is the most common way an otherwise-eligible buyer loses the federal rebate, and the wording that causes it is subtle.
What the test actually says
To be a first-time buyer for the federal GST rebate, neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner can have lived in a home that either of you owned, anywhere in the world, during the current calendar year or the four preceding calendar years.
Two words do the work: lived in and owned. The test is about occupying a home you or your partner held title to. It is not a simple “have you ever owned property” question.
How it plays out
You have never owned anything. Your partner owns the condo you both live in. You are disqualified. You lived in a home your spouse owned, inside the window.
You have never owned anything. Your partner owns a rental in Calgary that neither of you has lived in. You likely still qualify. Ownership alone is not the disqualifier, occupation is.
You owned a house, sold it six years ago, and have rented since. You likely qualify again. The window has passed.
You are single and have never owned. Straightforward.
The asymmetry people misread
Commentary often says “only one spouse needs to be a first-time buyer.” That is true as far as it goes, but it is not a workaround. If one partner’s prior ownership is a home the other partner lived in, the second partner is caught by the occupancy limb of the test. You cannot simply put the purchase in the name of the partner who has never owned.
What to do about it
If this test is close for you, do not guess, and do not rely on a builder’s sales representative. The consequence of getting it wrong is not just losing the rebate: if your agreement assigns the rebate to the builder, the builder credited it against your price and will bill you for the full amount at closing when CRA declines your claim. On the federal rebate that is up to $50,000 due on closing day.
Get it in writing from your accountant before you waive conditions, and note that the Ontario ENHR has no first-time buyer test at all, so losing the federal rebate does not necessarily mean losing the larger one.
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