First-Time Buyer Incentives

Buying your first home comes with plenty of questions — but it also comes with some pretty great perks. From tapping into your RRSP for a down payment to claiming valuable tax credits and rebates, there are several government programs designed to make homeownership more accessible for first-time buyers. On this page, we break down the key incentives available in Ontario, so you know exactly what you're eligible for — and how to take advantage of it.

RRSP Home Buyer Plan

The home buyers' plan (HBP) is a program that allows you to withdraw from your registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) to buy or build a qualifying home.

This program allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 per person from your RRSP to buy your first home, without incurring a tax penalty. You have up to 15 years to repay to your RRSP the amounts you withdrew under the HBP. The repayment period starts the second year after the year when you first withdrew funds from your RRSP(s) for the HBP. For example, if you withdrew funds in 2019, your first year of repayment will be 2021.

Land Transfer Tax Rebate

Anytime a property is purchased and sold in Ontario, the buyer must pay the Ontario Land Transfer Tax. When buying a home in Ontario, first-time buyers are eligible to receive up to $4,000 off their land transfer tax.

If the property is located in the city of Toronto, the buyer also pays a second municipal land transfer tax. The city of Toronto, however, also offers an additional rebate similar to the Ontario rebate.

As with any government rebate, there are certain requirements that need to be met in order to qualify. Use our land transfer tax calculator to calculate how much tax you will need to pay based on the purchase price.

Income Tax Credit

The First-Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit (HBTC) was introduced by the federal government to help make home ownership more affordable for first-time home buyers.

Eligible Canadians can claim up to $10,000 on their federal income tax during the year they purchase their first home to receive a tax credit of up to $1,500. The HBTC is non-refundable, which means it is used to reduce the amount of tax that may be owed. The tax credit must be claimed within the first year of purchase and is intended for owner-occupied homes.

You are considered to be a first time buyer if neither you and your spouse or common-law partner has owned and lived in another home in the year of the purchase or in any of the four previous years.