For most of the last 30 years, GST was simply part of the price of a new home in Metro Vancouver. The federal rebate was so old that it disappeared at $450,000. That changed in March 2026. First-time buyers can now get back all the GST on a new home up to $1 million. Everyone else still pays the full 5%, and BC, unlike Ontario, turned down a deal to extend that relief to all buyers. This page works out what you'll pay, and whether a new home or a resale leaves you better off on tax.
When GST applies to a home in BC
GST applies at 5% to:
- newly built homes, including presale condos and townhomes
- substantially renovated homes, which generally means about 90% of the interior replaced
- new mobile and floating homes
- assignments of new-home contracts, where the tax is on the lift
Resale homes that have already been lived in are exempt, because GST was paid when they were new.
You pay GST at completion, on the price in your contract, and the builder sends it to CRA. BC presale prices are nearly always quoted "plus GST," so a $899,900 townhouse carries $44,995 of GST on top. BC doesn't charge its own sales tax on new homes, which is why the maximum saving here is 5% rather than Ontario's 13%.
The first-time home buyers' GST rebate
Bill C-4 received Royal Assent on March 12, 2026. It created the first-time home buyers' GST rebate, which works on a sliding scale:
- Up to $1,000,000: the rebate covers all of the GST, to a maximum of $50,000.
- $1,000,000 to $1,500,000: the rebate shrinks in a straight line. A $1.25 million home gets $25,000 back, half the maximum.
- $1,500,000 and above: no rebate.
The price matters most in the phase-out. Between $1 million and $1.5 million, each extra $1,000 of price adds $50 of GST and removes $100 of rebate. That's $150 of tax per $1,000 of price. On a new home in that range, a $20,000 price cut is also worth $3,000 in GST.
Who qualifies. According to CRA, you must be 18 or older and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. You also must not have lived in a home you or your spouse or common-law partner owned, in Canada or elsewhere, as your primary place of residence at any time in the calendar year or the four previous calendar years. Neither you nor your spouse can have received this rebate before.
The home and the dates. The home has to be your primary residence, and you must be the first person to live in it after it's built. For a home bought from a builder, the purchase agreement must be signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031. Construction must start before 2031 and be substantially completed before 2036. Owner-built homes have their own version of the rules, based on when construction starts.
Assignments. If you take over someone else's presale contract, the original agreement date is what counts. A contract first signed before March 20, 2025 doesn't qualify for the rebate, even if you buy the assignment today.
BC has two different definitions of "first-time buyer"
This catches people out. The GST rebate and BC's property transfer tax exemption use different tests:
- GST rebate: you must not have lived in a home you owned in the current calendar year or the previous four.
- BC transfer tax exemption: you must never have owned a principal residence anywhere in the world.
Take someone who sold their condo in 2020 and has rented since. On a purchase completing in 2026, they can qualify for the GST rebate, but not for BC's first-time buyer transfer tax exemption.
For that buyer, a new home can be the only way to get both breaks. On a new home up to $1.1 million, BC's newly built home exemption removes the transfer tax for any citizen or permanent resident who lives there, first-time buyer or not. Combine that with the GST rebate and a qualifying new home up to $1 million can carry no purchase tax at all. The calculator asks both questions separately for this reason.
The standard GST new housing rebate
The older federal rebate still exists for buyers who don't qualify as first-time buyers. It's 36% of the GST to a maximum of $6,300, for homes up to $350,000, and it phases out completely at $450,000. That price limit hasn't changed since the 1990s. It helps almost no one buying in Metro Vancouver, but it can still matter for a small condo or manufactured home in other parts of BC.
You can't collect both rebates in full. For any home up to $450,000, a first-time buyer's rebate already covers all of the GST. The calculator applies whichever gives you more.
Buying new to rent it out
Investors pay the full 5% GST. The new residential rental property rebate uses the same outdated $350,000 and $450,000 limits, so on most BC condos it's worth nothing.
Investors also don't get BC's newly built home transfer tax exemption, because it requires living in the home. On an $899,900 new townhouse, an investor pays $44,995 of GST and $15,998 of transfer tax, $60,993 in total. On a resale townhouse at the same price, the total is $15,998.
The federal GST removal on new purpose-built rental buildings applies to developers of rental buildings, not to someone buying a single condo to rent out.
New or resale: which costs less in tax?
It depends entirely on who you are. At $899,900:
| Buyer | New home: GST + transfer tax | Resale: transfer tax | Cheaper in tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-time buyer (both rules) | $0 + $0 = $0 | $15,998 | New, by $15,998 |
| Previous owner who'll live there | $44,995 + $0 = $44,995 | $15,998 | Resale, by $28,997 |
| Investor | $44,995 + $15,998 = $60,993 | $15,998 | Resale, by $44,995 |
At $649,900, a first-time buyer still pays $0 on a new home against $2,998 on a resale. A move-up buyer pays $32,495 in GST on the new home, against $10,998 of transfer tax on a resale.
Price differences can outweigh any of this. In 2026 many new and completed-but-unsold units are selling below what comparable resales cost per square foot, so the tax gap is one input, not the whole answer. The table in the calculator runs this comparison for your price and your situation.
Why Ontario buyers got more
On March 30, 2026, Ottawa and Ontario announced a one-year measure that removes the full 13% HST on new homes for all buyers, not just first-time buyers. It covers agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, with relief of up to $130,000.
BC's federal agreement, announced June 18, 2026, took a different route:
- development charges on multi-unit housing cut by up to 50% for three years
- a plan to buy roughly 2,200 unsold new condos and convert them into rent-to-own homes
Premier Eby said the federal offer was an Ontario-style GST removal. He called it the development industry's preferred option, and said it would only help people already in the market, since first-time buyers already get a GST exemption.
The result for BC buyers: GST relief on new homes remains limited to first-time buyers. Anyone else buying new pays the full 5%. If that changes, the calculator will be updated.
What counts as the price
The rebate thresholds are tested against the total you pay the builder for the home, not just the number on the brochure.
Upgrades. Upgrades bought from the builder under the purchase agreement are generally part of the price. On a unit listed at $985,000, $25,000 of upgrades can push you past $1 million and into the phase-out. At $150 of GST for every $1,000 over the line, that's $1,500 more tax on top of the upgrades. Price upgrades before you sign.
Parking and storage. A stall or locker sold with the unit is usually part of the same supply. If it's priced separately, ask the builder how it's being treated before you assume it's outside the calculation.
Credits. Incentives such as cash-back or credits on closing can reduce the price for GST purposes, depending on how they're structured. Developer incentives are common in 2026, so it's worth asking your lawyer to check how they're written into the contract.
Building your own home, or a substantial renovation
If you build a home yourself, or hire a contractor to build it on land you own, you pay GST as you go on the materials and contract work. There's no single GST line at completion. The first-time buyer rebate still applies if construction started on or after March 20, 2025 and you're a qualifying first-time buyer. You claim it from CRA after the home is substantially complete, using the owner-built application. It's generally based on the home's fair market value, including the land.
A home you buy after it's been substantially renovated is treated as new for GST purposes. That generally means all or most of the interior was removed or replaced, around 90%, and it applies when you're buying from the renovator. The seller has to charge GST, and the same rebates apply. Ordinary renovations, even expensive ones, don't make a resale home "new."
Both situations have more rules than a builder purchase, so get your accountant involved before construction starts.
Claiming the rebate
There are two ways to get the first-time buyer rebate:
- Builder credit. The builder can credit the rebate on your closing statement and claim it back from CRA. You sign a declaration of eligibility, and you never pay the GST in the first place.
- Claim it yourself. If the builder doesn't credit it, or you completed before the law passed, you pay the GST at completion and apply to CRA afterward. That generally has to be within two years of taking ownership.
Either way, keep your contract, statement of adjustments and proof of occupancy. If a builder credits a rebate you didn't qualify for, CRA can recover it from you.
Check the GST clause in your contract before you sign. It should say whether the price is plus GST or GST-included. If the price is GST-included, it should say who gets any rebate. Our closing cost calculator shows the timing difference if you'll be claiming the rebate yourself.
Mistakes we see with GST on new homes
Assuming "first-time buyer" means the same thing everywhere. The GST rebate looks back four calendar years. BC's transfer tax exemption looks back forever.
Counting on the rebate for a contract signed before March 20, 2025. That includes assignments of those contracts.
Forgetting GST if you've owned before. On a $899,900 new home, that's $44,995 at completion, and in BC nothing offsets it.
Renting out the unit after claiming an owner-occupier rebate. The rebate requires the home to be your primary residence. Get advice before changing plans.
Reading about Ontario's relief and assuming it applies here. It doesn't. BC's agreement took a different form.
Missing the two-year window to claim from CRA when the builder didn't credit the rebate.
Questions people ask us
Do you pay GST on a new home in BC?
Yes, 5% of the price, at completion, unless a rebate applies. Resale homes that have been lived in don't carry GST. First-time buyers can get all of it back on homes up to $1 million.
How much is the first-time buyer GST rebate?
All of the GST on a new home up to $1,000,000, to a maximum of $50,000. It shrinks in a straight line to zero at $1,500,000, so a $1.25 million home gets $25,000.
Who counts as a first-time buyer for the GST rebate?
A Canadian citizen or permanent resident, 18 or older, who hasn't lived in a home they or their spouse owned, anywhere, in the current calendar year or the previous four, and who hasn't received this rebate before. The home must be their primary residence and they must be its first occupant.
When does the purchase agreement have to be signed?
For a home bought from a builder, on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031. Construction must start before 2031 and finish before 2036. For an assignment, the original purchase agreement's date is the one that counts.
Is there GST relief for all new home buyers in BC like in Ontario?
No. Ontario's one-year removal of HST for all buyers covers agreements from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027 in Ontario only. BC's June 2026 federal agreement focused on development charge cuts and converting unsold condos to rent-to-own homes instead. In BC, only first-time buyers get GST relief beyond the old $450,000 rebate.
Can I get both the GST rebate and the property transfer tax exemption?
Yes. They're separate federal and provincial programs. A first-time buyer of a new home up to $1 million who lives in it can pay no GST and, under BC's newly built home exemption, no property transfer tax.
Do investors get a GST rebate on a new condo?
Rarely. The new residential rental property rebate uses the same $350,000 and $450,000 limits as the old owner-occupier rebate, so most BC condos don't qualify. Investors pay the full 5%.
How do I claim the first-time buyer GST rebate?
Most builders credit it on your closing statement after you sign an eligibility declaration. Otherwise you pay the GST and apply to CRA, generally within two years of taking ownership.
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New or resale, which works for you?
Dan can put new builds, finished unsold units and resale homes side by side with the taxes worked out for your situation, and check the GST clause in a builder's contract before you sign. Your calculator inputs come along with the message.
Buying through EstateBlock? Ask about our buyer cashback rebate.
