Ontario Introduces Major New Housing Incentives: Up to $130,000 in HST Rebates for New Home Buyers and Development Charges Reduced by Up to 50%

In 2026, Ontario's housing market is seeing one of the largest home-buying tax incentives in recent years.

As a key part of the provincial government's “Building More Homes Faster” plan, Ontario and the federal government have jointly introduced a new set of new-home rebate measures. Eligible buyers of new homes could receive up to $130,000 in HST relief; combined with the parallel reduction of Development Charges, total savings on a new home could approach $200,000.

For families planning to buy a new home, real estate professionals, and developers alike, this is a policy well worth watching closely.

What is HST, and why does this policy matter?

When buying a home in Ontario, there is a distinction that is easy to overlook: buying a resale home generally does not attract HST, whereas buying a new home is subject to 13% HST (Harmonized Sales Tax).

That 13% is made up of two parts: the 5% federal GST and the 8% Ontario provincial portion. Although this tax is usually already built into the sale price the builder advertises, it is ultimately borne by the buyer.

Even before this new policy, Ontario already had a New Housing Rebate in place — whether you bought a new home to live in or to rent out long term, you could apply to recover part of the HST if you qualified. In most cases, however, that rebate was capped at roughly $24,000.

The newly introduced Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate (Ontario ENHR) raises that ceiling substantially: new homes valued at $1 million or less can receive the full 13% HST relief, and eligible buyers could receive up to $130,000 — well above the previous maximum of about $24,000.

In short, the central aim of this policy is to lower the cost of buying by refunding the HST originally embedded in a new home's price, stimulate demand in the new-home market, and encourage builders to accelerate construction.

How much can you save?

The rebate is calculated based on the home's value. According to figures published by the Ontario government, a $500,000 new home could receive the full 13% relief of $65,000; a $700,000 home, about $91,000; a $1 million home reaches the maximum of $130,000; a $1.2 million home is still capped at $130,000; at $1.7 million the relief drops to roughly $69,400; and homes valued at $1.85 million and above receive a maximum of about $24,000.

Overall, new homes valued at roughly $1 million to $1.5 million stand to benefit the most from this round of relief.

How is the $130,000 made up?

The rebate actually comes in two layers.

The first layer is the 8% Ontario provincial portion, provided through the Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate (Ontario ENHR), with a maximum rebate of $80,000.

The second layer is the 5% federal portion. First-time home buyers can recover it through the federal First-Time Home Buyer GST Rebate; for other eligible buyers, Ontario provides an additional amount equivalent to that 5% (the Ontario Top-Up) to make up the difference.

Together, the two layers form the maximum $130,000 in HST relief.

Who is eligible to apply?

This round of relief applies to new or substantially renovated homes, not to ordinary resale transactions. Eligible home types include detached houses, semi-detached houses, townhouses (townhouse / rowhouse), condominium units, and owner-built homes.

The main groups who benefit include the following:

1. Families buying a new home to live in. Buying a new home from a builder and using it as the primary place of residence for yourself or a relation — not for rental, short-term rental, or pure investment.

2. Families build a home to live in. Building a home yourself, or hiring a builder to construct one, on land you own or lease, and using it as the primary place of residence for yourself or a relation.

3. Owners of new long-term rental homes. Owners who buy or build a new home for long-term rental may also qualify, but under a separate program — the New Residential Rental Property Rebate (NRRPR). Note that this program is for long-term rentals where the tenant uses the home as their primary residence; it does not cover short-term rentals such as Airbnb, and the forms and timelines differ from those for owner-occupied homes.

4. First-time home buyers. In addition to the Ontario ENHR, first-time buyers may also be eligible for related federal and Ontario first-time-buyer rebates, with the final rebate calculated in whichever way is most favorable to the buyer.

5. Purpose-built rental projects. Qualifying purpose-built rental housing projects are covered by a separate HST relief measure, mainly relevant to developers and institutional investors.

Key dates to remember

This is a time-limited incentive, so the dates of signing and construction matter — and they differ from one situation to another.

Buying a new home to live in: the Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) with the builder must be entered into between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027; construction must begin on or before December 31, 2028, and the home must be substantially completed on or before December 31, 2031.

Owner-built homes: Construction must begin between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, and the home must be substantially completed on or before December 31, 2029.

Long-term rental homes (NRRPR): applies to qualifying new long-term rental properties and is subject to the relevant signing, construction-start, and completion requirements; it does not apply to short-term or vacation rentals.

First-time home buyer rebate: applies to buyers who enter agreements of purchase and sale between March 20, 2025 and December 31, 2030; for new homes valued up to $1 million, the full 8% provincial portion can be relieved.

Purpose-built rental projects: apply to projects that begin construction between September 14, 2023 and December 31, 2030; qualifying projects can receive up to the full 13% HST relief.

When applications open: according to the CRA, the updated forms — GST190, RC7190-ON and others — are expected to be gradually released by mid-July 2026; buyers who sign and qualify before then will still be able to apply later and receive their rebate.

How to claim the rebate

There will be two main ways to claim.

Option one: credited directly at closing. Starting around mid-July 2026, builders are expected to be able to credit the eligible rebate amount directly to the buyer at closing. For the buyer, this effectively reduces the amount payable at closing.

Option two: apply to the CRA yourself. Eligible buyers can also submit the relevant forms (GST190 and the accompanying RC7190-ON) to the CRA after closing, with the government assessing and issuing the rebate. The Ontario Top-Up portion is paid separately by the Ontario government once the rebate has been assessed.

One important note: the total of all rebates for the 8% Ontario provincial portion cannot exceed the lesser of $80,000 and the 8% provincial tax actually payable on the home, nor can it exceed the tax actually paid or payable — in other words, you cannot get back more than the tax you actually paid.

Not to be overlooked: lower development charges

Beyond the HST rebate, another important measure in this housing package is the reform of Development Charges.

Development charges are fees that municipalities levy on new construction projects to fund public infrastructure such as roads, water supply, and sewers. In recent years these costs have steadily risen and have become one of the significant factors pushing up new-home prices — in some municipalities, the development charges on a single new home exceed $100,000. In Toronto, for example, the development charges borne by the buyer of a semi-detached home approach $140,000.

To ease the cost of building housing, Ontario and the federal government plan to invest $8.8 billion over the next ten years in housing-enabling infrastructure, using it to encourage municipalities to lower development charges — municipalities must reduce these charges by up to 50% to qualify for the funding. The province is also requiring clearer disclosure of these fees in new-home agreements so buyers that can clearly see the costs they are actually carrying.

It is precisely the combination of the HST rebate and lower development charges that underpins the province's stated goal of “combined savings of up to $200,000.”

CCCA's perspective

From an industry standpoint, this round of new-home rebates not only lowers the cost of entering the market for buyers, but also injects fresh confidence into a new-home market that has faced challenges. For buyers, it is a rare large-scale tax break; for developers, it can help stimulate demand and improve the sales environment for projects; and for the construction industry, it has the potential to further drive housing supply, echoing the government's long-term goal of building homes faster.

It is worth noting that this round of relief covers not only first-time buyers but also ordinary owner-occupier buyers, long-term rental property investors, and purpose-built rental development projects — a far broader reach than previous new-home rebate programs.