GST on New Homes in BC | First-Time Buyer Rebate Guide

When You Pay GST and When You Don’t

Resale home? No GST. Ever. It doesn’t matter how new the building is if someone lived in it before you, GST doesn’t apply.

New home or presale? 5 percent GST on the purchase price. On a $1 million North Vancouver presale that’s $50,000.

First-time buyer buying new? This is the big change. Since Bill C-4 received Royal Assent in March 2026, first-time buyers can now recover 100 percent of the GST on a new home up to $1 million a rebate worth up to $50,000. Between $1 million and $1.5 million it phases out on a straight line. At $1.5 million and above it’s gone entirely.

The catch that disqualifies most people: your purchase agreement with the builder has to have been signed on or after March 20, 2025, and you have to genuinely be a first-time buyer under a fairly strict definition.

Your situation	GST you actually pay
Buying resale	$0
Buying new, not a first-time buyer	Full 5%
First-time buyer, new home at $900K	$0 after rebate
First-time buyer, new home at $1.25M	About half the GST
First-time buyer, new home at $1.6M	Full 5% no rebate

How Much GST You Actually Pay on a New Home

BC doesn’t have HST, so you’re dealing only with the 5 percent federal GST. The math before any rebate:

Purchase price	GST at 5%
$650,000	$32,500
$850,000	$42,500
$1,000,000	$50,000
$1,300,000	$65,000
$1,750,000	$87,500

GST applies to the price of the home, and it’s payable at completion. Some builders quote GST-inclusive prices and some don’t that difference is worth $50,000 on a million-dollar unit, which is why the contract wording matters so much (more on that below).

The New First-Time Home Buyer GST Rebate Explained

What it does: removes 100 percent of the federal GST on a qualifying new home valued up to $1 million, and reduces it on a straight-line basis between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Maximum benefit: $50,000.

How the phase-out works: rebate = $50,000 × (($1,500,000 − price) ÷ $500,000). At $1.25 million the midpoint you get 50 percent of the maximum, which is $25,000.

To qualify as a first-time home buyer, all of the following must be true:

You’re at least 18
You’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
Neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner has lived in a home you owned anywhere in the world as your primary residence in the current calendar year or the previous four calendar years
Neither you nor your spouse has previously received this rebate

That four-year lookback is the requirement that surprises the most people. If you sold your last home in 2022 and took ownership of a new one in 2026, you don’t qualify 2022 falls inside the four-year window. Push the ownership date to 2027 and you do.

Additional conditions on the property itself:

Requirement	Detail
Agreement date	Signed with the builder on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031
Construction start	Begins before 2031
Substantial completion	Before 2036
Ownership transfer	Before 2036
Use	Your primary place of residence not a rental, not a flip
Occupancy	You must be the first person to occupy the home

That “first to occupy” rule matters for assignments. If the original buyer moved in and you bought from them, you’re buying a resale, and the rebate is gone along with the GST.

Worked Examples at $750K, $1M and $1.3M

Example 1 | $750,000 Lower Lonsdale presale, qualifying first-time buyer

Line	Amount
Purchase price	$750,000
GST at 5%	$37,500
FTHB GST rebate (100%)	−$37,500
Net GST	$0

Example 2 | $1,000,000 new North Vancouver townhome, qualifying first-time buyer

Line	Amount
Purchase price	$1,000,000
GST at 5%	$50,000
FTHB GST rebate (100%, at the cap)	−$50,000
Net GST	$0

This is the sweet spot. One dollar over $1 million and the phase-out starts.

Example 3 | $1,300,000 new home, qualifying first-time buyer

Line	Amount
Purchase price	$1,300,000
GST at 5%	$65,000
Rebate: $50,000 × ($200,000 ÷ $500,000)	−$20,000
Net GST	$45,000

Example 4 | same $1,300,000 home, not a first-time buyer

Net GST: $65,000. The old rebate does nothing at this price.

The lesson buried in these numbers: between $1 million and $1.5 million, every additional $10,000 of purchase price costs you $1,000 of rebate on top of the $500 of extra GST. Your effective marginal cost in that band is meaningfully higher than the sticker price suggests, which is worth knowing when a builder offers you a slightly larger unit.

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The Older GST New Housing Rebate: Does It Still Apply to You?

Yes it still exists, and the new first-time buyer rebate sits on top of it. But in Metro Vancouver the old rebate is close to meaningless.

The original GST New Housing Rebate gives back 36 percent of the GST on homes up to $350,000, phasing out to nothing at $450,000. Maximum benefit: about $6,300.

There is essentially nothing new in North Vancouver, West Vancouver or anywhere on the North Shore priced under $450,000. If you’re not a first-time buyer, plan on paying the full 5 percent.

	Old GST New Housing Rebate	New FTHB GST Rebate
Who	Any buyer of a new primary residence	First-time buyers only
Full benefit up to	$350,000	$1,000,000
Gone at	$450,000	$1,500,000
Max value	~$6,300	$50,000
Useful in North Van?	Practically no	Yes

Is GST Included in the Presale Price? How to Read Your Contract

This is a $50,000 question and buyers get it wrong constantly.

Find the price clause in the disclosure statement and purchase agreement, and look for one of these:

“The Purchase Price does not include GST” → you’re paying it on top. Budget accordingly.
“The Purchase Price includes GST, net of the applicable rebate” → the builder has assumed you qualify for a rebate and baked it into the price. If you don’t qualify, you owe the difference at completion.
“GST included” with no qualifier → still confirm in writing with the builder’s lawyer. Assumptions here are expensive.

The most dangerous version is the second one. Builders commonly price presales assuming a rebate applies and require you to assign the rebate to them. If you turn out not to be a first-time buyer because you owned a home three years ago, or because your spouse did the builder collects the shortfall from you at completion. Buyers have been blindsided by five-figure adjustments this way.

Three things to do before you remove subjects on a presale:

Have your lawyer or notary read the GST and rebate clauses specifically and tell you in plain language who is paying what.
Confirm your first-time buyer status against the four-year lookback, including your spouse’s ownership history.
If you’re relying on the rebate to close, make sure your financing works without it as a backstop.

This is the same category of homework as the rest of the costs of buying a home in BC dull, and the reason people don’t get surprised at closing.

GST on Assignments and Quick Resales

Assignments are where GST gets genuinely complicated, and where the FTHB rebate usually disappears.

The general shape of it:

GST typically applies to the assignment fee the profit the original buyer makes and in many cases to the deposit portion as well.
The final buyer still owes GST on the full purchase price at completion.
The FTHB rebate requires that you be the first person to occupy the home. If the assignor never occupied it, an assignee can still qualify, but the timing conditions around the original agreement date still have to be met.
CRA looks closely at whether the original buyer ever really intended the unit as a primary residence. If they didn’t, they may be treated as a builder for GST purposes.

Separately, BC’s flipping tax applies if you sell a residential property within 730 days of buying it, at rates up to 20 percent of the gain. Assignments can fall within its scope. Between GST on the assignment fee, the flipping tax and income tax treatment of the profit, a “quick presale flip” is a much worse trade than it looks on a spreadsheet.

If you’re buying or selling an assignment, get accounting advice first. This is not a DIY area.

Buying to Rent: The New Residential Rental Property Rebate

If you’re buying a new home as an investment, the FTHB rebate does not apply it requires the home to be your primary residence.

What may apply instead is the New Residential Rental Property Rebate (NRRPR). The basics:

You buy a new residential unit and rent it to a tenant on a lease of at least one year
You pay the full GST at completion, then apply for the rebate afterwards
The thresholds mirror the old new housing rebate meaningful relief up to $350,000, phasing out by $450,000

In practical terms, on a North Vancouver investment condo the NRRPR is small. Model your investment assuming you pay the full 5 percent GST, and treat any rebate as a bonus.

Two more things investors should factor in on the North Shore: the speculation and vacancy tax at 1 percent (or 3 percent for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners) of assessed value if no exemption applies, and BC’s short-term rental principal residence rules, which rule out Airbnb income on most investment properties.

How to Claim: Forms, Timing and Who Files

Two routes, and which one applies depends on your builder.

Route 1 | the builder credits it at completion (most common on presales). You sign the rebate application, assign the rebate to the builder, and the builder reduces your closing payment. Simplest for you. The risk is that if CRA later denies your claim because you weren’t actually eligible, the builder comes after you for the money.

Route 2 | you claim it yourself after closing. You pay the full GST at completion and file the rebate application with CRA directly. Slower on cash flow, but cleaner, and it’s the route for owner-built homes and substantial renovations.

Timing: rebate applications generally have to be filed within two years of the relevant date the transfer of ownership for a builder purchase, or substantial completion for an owner-built home. Don’t let this sit.

Documents to keep: your purchase agreement, the statement of adjustments, proof of the GST paid, and evidence that the home is your primary residence and that you were the first occupant.

Who does the filing: your lawyer or notary usually handles this alongside closing when the builder is crediting the rebate. If you’re claiming it yourself, it’s your responsibility. Confirm which it is well before completion.

How GST Stacks With PTT and Your Other Closing Costs

GST is only one of the taxes on a new home in BC. Here’s the whole picture on a $1 million North Vancouver presale for a qualifying first-time buyer:

Cost	Amount
GST at 5%	$50,000
FTHB GST rebate	−$50,000
Property Transfer Tax (before exemption)	$18,000
Newly Built Home PTT exemption (full up to $1.1M)	−$18,000
Legal / notary fees	$1,500–$2,500
Title insurance	$250–$700
Net tax paid	$0

That’s the best-case scenario, and it’s genuinely available on a qualifying new North Vancouver home at or under $1 million.

On the PTT side, know these two thresholds:

First-time buyer exemption: full exemption on qualifying properties up to $835,000, partial between $835,000 and $860,000.
Newly built home exemption: full exemption up to $1,100,000, partial between $1,100,000 and $1,150,000.

You can qualify for both but you have to choose one. For a first-time buyer purchasing new above $860,000, the newly built home exemption is almost always the better choice. Our breakdown of hidden costs when buying in North Vancouver covers what’s left after the taxes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I pay GST on a resale home in BC?

No. GST applies only to new and substantially renovated homes. A five-year-old condo someone else has lived in is a resale, and no GST applies.

How much is the first-time buyer GST rebate?

Up to $50,000. It covers 100 percent of the GST on a new home up to $1 million and phases out on a straight line between $1 million and $1.5 million. Above $1.5 million there’s no rebate.

When did the new rebate take effect?

It applies to agreements signed with a builder on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031. Bill C-4, which enacted it, received Royal Assent on March 12, 2026.

I owned a home four years ago. Do I still qualify?

Probably not. You must not have lived in a home you or your spouse owned as your primary residence in the current calendar year or any of the previous four calendar years. Count carefully the window is based on the year you take ownership of the new home.

My spouse owned a condo before we met. Does that disqualify me?

Yes, if they lived in it as their primary residence within the lookback window. The test covers both partners.

Is GST included in the presale price?

Depends entirely on your contract. Many builders price “GST included, net of rebate,” which means you owe the difference if you don’t qualify. Have your lawyer confirm the wording before you remove subjects.

Can I claim the rebate on an investment property?

No. The FTHB rebate requires the home to be your primary residence and requires you to be the first occupant. Investors should look at the New Residential Rental Property Rebate instead, which is much smaller.

Do I pay GST on an assignment?

Generally GST applies to the assignment fee, and the end buyer still pays GST on the full price at completion. BC’s flipping tax may also apply if the sale happens within 730 days of purchase. Get accounting advice before assigning.

How do I claim the rebate?

Either the builder credits it at completion and you assign the rebate to them, or you pay the full GST and file with CRA yourself. Applications generally must be filed within two years of the relevant date.

Can I get both the GST rebate and the PTT exemption?

Yes, they’re separate taxes. But within PTT you must choose between the first-time buyer exemption and the newly built home exemption. On a new home over $860,000, the newly built home exemption is usually worth more.

What if the builder assumed I qualify and I don’t?

You’ll owe the difference at completion, often five figures. This is the single most expensive presale surprise we see, and it’s entirely preventable with one conversation before subject removal.

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Buying a Presale in North Vancouver? Let’s Run Your Numbers

A $50,000 rebate is the difference between a presale working and not working. So is a builder’s contract that quietly assumes you qualify when you don’t.

Navid Hakimi runs this analysis on every presale purchase before you sign: confirming your first-time buyer status against the four-year lookback, reading the builder’s GST and rebate clauses so you know exactly who pays what at completion, comparing the newly built home PTT exemption against the first-time buyer one, and modelling the total closing cost so nothing appears on your statement of adjustments that you haven’t already seen.

Send Navid the presale you’re considering or just your budget and timing and he’ll come back with the real all-in number.

📞 604-347-6084 or request a consultation.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm your eligibility with CRA, your accountant or your lawyer before relying on it.