Canadian First Time Home Buyer Program & Tax Exemptions (Updated 2024)

Canadian RRSP Home Buyer’s Plan

The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) is a program that allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 tax-free in a calendar year from your registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) to fund your down payment for buying or building a qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability. The money must be in your RRSP for at least 90 days before the purchase of your house for it to be valid.

The Home Buyer’s Plan is advantageous for Canadians purchasing a home as the initial withdraws is “tax-free”. You will have up to 15 years to repay back into the RRSP, which will give you ample time to build up the value again.

Here are more details of the RRSP Home Buyer’s Plan.

First Time Home Buyers Program: Property Transfer Tax Exemption

The property transfer tax is payable on all purchases of Real Estate. This is the breakdown of the PTT and the respectable percentages:

1% on the 1^st $200,000

2% on the balance up to $2,000,000

3% on the balance above $2,000,000

If you are a first time home buyer that is planning on using the home as your primary residence and purchasing a home for less than $830,000 then you may be eligible for a full exemption. There are also partial exemptions up to $865,000. To qualify for a full exemption, at the time the property is registered you must:

• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• have lived in B.C. for 12 consecutive months immediately before the date you register the property or filed at least 2 income tax returns as a B.C. resident in the last 6 years
• have never owned an interest in a principal residence anywhere in the world at any time
• have never received a first time home buyers’ exemption or refund

Here are more details for the Property Transfer Tax exemptions for first time home buyers.

First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit

This credit allows first-time buyers in Canada the opportunity to recover some of the costs associated with their purchase. It helps offset legal fees, inspections, and other similar closing costs.

This First-Time Home Buyer Tax credit is a non-refundable $10,000 credit,  which equates to a maximum tax rebate of $1500 as of 2023 ($750 until the 2022 budget was approved).

Here are more details for the First Time Home Buyer’s Tax credit.

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GST New Housing Rebate

For newly built homes, first time home buyers are able to apply for a GST credit from the government and/or the developer. The GST in BC is equal to 5%, and as a home buyer you may be eligible for a rebate of 36% of the 5% GST. There is a full general rebate for homes that are under $350,000 that a buyer intends on living is an his/her permanent residence, and there are partial rebates up to $450,000.

*** These price points for GST on new housing may be negligible in British Columbia unless you are purchasing a studio, or a property outside of the Greater Vancouver Area.

Here are more details of the GST New Housing Rebate.

Property Tax Exemptions on Newly Build Homes

The newly built home exemption reduces or eliminates the property transfer tax on qualifying purchases of a principal residence.

• Full exemption: Effective April 1, 2024, the fair market value threshold for a full exemption for newly built homes is increased from $750,000 to $1,100,000.
• Partial exemption: A partial exemption is also available for properties with fair market values just above the threshold. The phase out range is $50,000 above the threshold, with the complete elimination of the exemption at $1,150,000 for qualifying purchasers.

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Information on this webpage is from a variety of sources which may include the developer’s website, advertisements, sales centre, MLS or other sources and is not guaranteed and is subject to change.

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