Quick Answer Box: The Ontario HST rebate 2026 gives eligible buyers back the full 13% HST on a new home, up to $130,000. It combines an $80,000 enhanced provincial rebate with a $50,000 Ontario top-up. Your purchase agreement must be signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027.
What is the Ontario HST rebate 2026?
The Ontario HST rebate 2026 is a temporary program that refunds the 13% HST on qualifying new homes in Ontario. It pairs the Ontario enhanced new housing rebate, worth up to $80,000 of the 8% provincial portion, with the Ontario new home affordability payment, worth up to $50,000 of the 5% federal portion.
The Ontario government announced the measure on March 25, 2026 and tabled it in the 2026 Budget a day later. It is now in force, and the Ministry of Finance backgrounder sets out the mechanics. Federal regulations P.C. 2026-610 were made on June 12, 2026, and Ontario Regulation 196/26 followed on June 22. Both reach back to April 1, so nobody who closed this spring has missed out.
Ontario’s old rebate capped at $24,000, calculated as 75% of the provincial portion on the first $400,000 of value. For buyers in Mississauga and the wider GTA, that ceiling stopped meaning much a decade ago. The new one is different.
Who qualifies? HST rebate eligibility rules for 2026
HST rebate eligibility rests on four things: you are an individual buying a new or substantially renovated home, you or a relation will live in it as a primary residence, your agreement of purchase and sale is dated between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, and the price before HST is under $1,850,000. The Ontario HST rebate 2026 is not a first-time-buyer program.
Detached houses, semis, townhouses, rowhouses, condominium units, duplexes, co-op shares, and modular, mobile or floating homes all count. Owner-built homes qualify too, but the clock works differently. Construction has to start inside the same twelve-month window and be substantially complete by December 31, 2029.
Buying from a builder? Construction must begin on or before December 31, 2028 and reach substantial completion by December 31, 2031.
Three restrictions trip people up, and none get much airtime.
Assignment sales need both agreements inside the window. Take over a pre-construction contract signed in February 2026 and the enhanced rebate is gone.
Amending an older contract fails too. Ontario built an anti-avoidance rule into the regulations: change a pre-April 2026 agreement so that it looks newly signed, and it is deemed to have been entered into before April 1, 2026 anyway. Terminating the old deal and signing a fresh one only works where there is a real reason other than chasing the rebate.
Third, if a builder credits you a rebate you were never entitled to, you and the builder are jointly and severally liable to repay the CRA. Confirm your own eligibility on the CRA eligibility page rather than trusting a sales office. Sorting this out early belongs in the same conversation as your budget and financing.
How much is the Ontario 13% HST rebate worth?
The Ontario 13% HST rebate scales with price and then falls off a cliff at $1.85 million. Under $1 million you recover the entire tax. Between $1 million and $1.5 million relief holds flat at $130,000. Above $1.5 million it slides down until only the legacy $24,000 rebate is left.
| New home value before HST | Ontario ENHR, 8% portion | Combined relief |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $1 million | 100% of the 8% paid, max $80,000 | Full 13% HST, up to $130,000 |
| Above $1M to $1.5M | Flat $80,000 | Flat $130,000 |
| Above $1.5M, under $1.85M | Partial, declining | Declines toward $24,000 |
| $1.85M and above | Not available | Legacy Ontario rebate only, up to $24,000 |
Running the numbers with an Ontario HST rebate calculator 2026
Take a $900,000 home. HST adds $117,000: $72,000 provincial, $45,000 federal. The enhanced rebate returns the full $72,000 and the affordability payment covers the $45,000. Net HST paid: zero. Any Ontario HST rebate calculator 2026 should land on that figure, though the CRA assessment is what governs.
How the GST/HST rebate layers interact
The federal GST/HST rebate picture matters if you are a first-time buyer. Claim the federal first-time home buyers’ rebate first, because the affordability payment is reduced by whatever that rebate pays out. Total relief for the 8% portion still cannot exceed $80,000 or the provincial tax actually payable, whichever is lower.
How do you claim the new home rebate through the CRA?
Most buyers claiming the Ontario HST rebate 2026 never touch a form. The builder credits the new home rebate at closing, you pay the price minus the relief, and the builder files on your behalf. If not, you file yourself, generally within two years of the date ownership or possession transferred.
- Confirm with your lawyer that the agreement date, construction dates, and price all sit inside the rules.
- Check your statement of adjustments to see whether the builder already credited the rebate.
- Complete Form GST190 with Schedule RC7190-ON, following Guide RC4028.
- Fill in the consent section so the CRA can pass your details to Ontario for the affordability payment.
- Mail the package. Electronic filing is not available yet, and the CRA expects it in fall 2026.
That consent box is the step people skip. Without it you chase the province yourself for the 5% portion, which ServiceOntario handles on 1-800-267-8097, not the CRA. The payment also arrives separately, after the CRA assesses your rebate, so expect two payments at different times. Full filing instructions sit on the CRA page for homes purchased from a builder, and Notice 346 covers the interaction rules.
Owner-builders are still waiting. As of the CRA’s July 23, 2026 update, application details for owner-built claims were listed as coming later. If you are weighing a renovation against a full rebuild, that gap is worth building into your schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is the Ontario HST rebate only for first-time home buyers?
No. The enhanced rebate is open to any individual buying a new or substantially renovated home as a primary residence, move-up buyers included. First-time buyers have separate federal and Ontario rebates and may claim those as well, subject to the same $80,000 ceiling on the provincial portion.
2. Can I claim the HST rebate Ontario offers on an investment property?
Not through the new housing rebate, which requires a primary residence for you or a relation. Long-term rentals go through the enhanced new residential rental property rebate, which carries the same $80,000 provincial cap and 5% top-up but requires substantial completion by December 31, 2029.
3. What happens if I signed my purchase agreement before April 1, 2026?
You fall under the old rules, capped at $24,000 provincially. Amending or renegotiating the contract will not fix it, because the regulations deem a reworked pre-April agreement to have been entered into before April 1, 2026. First-time buyers may still qualify for the federal and Ontario first-time buyer rebates.
4. When does the Ontario new homes HST rebate window close?
March 31, 2027 is the last day to sign a qualifying agreement of purchase and sale. Three further deadlines follow: construction must begin by December 31, 2028, reach substantial completion by December 31, 2031, and HST must become payable no later than December 31, 2032.
5. Does a major renovation qualify for the rebate?
Yes, if it meets the CRA’s 90% test for a substantial renovation:
- Around 90% or more of the existing interior must be removed or replaced
- Foundations, exterior and interior supporting walls, roofs, floors and staircases can stay
- Only livable areas count, so garages and crawl spaces are excluded
- Partly finishing a basement does not count toward the test
Conclusion
A $130,000 swing on a closing statement changes what you can realistically afford. The Ontario HST rebate 2026 stops accepting new agreements after March 31, 2027, and the construction deadlines sitting behind it are firm rather than flexible. Check your dates against the CRA’s published rules, talk to a real estate lawyer before you sign, and get your design-build team costing the project against the same calendar. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
