Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of provincial land transfer tax to qualifying first time home buyers, and Toronto adds a municipal rebate of up to $4,475 on top. An eligible buyer in Toronto can save up to $8,475 on closing day, and outside Toronto the provincial refund wipes out the tax entirely on homes up to about $368,000. Use the checker below to see in under a minute whether you may qualify and what your land transfer tax will be after the rebates come off.
First Time Home Buyer Rebate Checker
Land Transfer Tax First Time Home Buyer Rebate Checker
Answer a few quick questions to see whether you may qualify for the Ontario and Toronto rebates and what your land transfer tax will be after they come off.
Are you at least 18 years old?
Have you ever owned a home anywhere in the world?
Count any home or share of a home you have ever owned, including one you received as a gift or through an inheritance.
Do you have a spouse or common law partner?
Did your spouse own a home at any time while they were your spouse?
A home your spouse sold before you became spouses does not count against you.
Are you a Canadian citizen or permanent resident?
Do you expect to become a citizen or permanent resident within 18 months of closing?
If so, you pay the tax on closing and apply for the refund once you obtain your status, within the 18 month deadline.
Will you move into the home as your principal residence within 9 months of closing?
Will anyone who is not a first time buyer, other than your spouse, share ownership?
A parent going on title to help with mortgage approval is the most common example.
Is the home inside the City of Toronto?
Purchase price
How Does the Rebate Checker Work?
The checker asks the same questions the government programs use to decide eligibility. It covers your age, your ownership history anywhere in the world, your spouse’s ownership history, your citizenship or permanent residence status, your plan to live in the home, and whether anyone who is not a first time buyer will share ownership. It then calculates your land transfer tax on the current Ontario brackets, adds the Toronto municipal tax when the home is inside the city, and subtracts the rebates you may be able to claim.
The math reflects the rates in effect as of July 2026, including the higher Toronto rates on homes above $3 million that took effect on April 1, 2026. If you want the full bracket breakdown behind these numbers, our land transfer tax calculator walks through every tier for any purchase price in Ontario.
A short quiz cannot decide every situation. Purchases involving trusts, separations, gifts of a share in a property, estates, or unusual title arrangements need a real review of the documents. If your answers put you anywhere near a grey area, treat the result as a starting point and have a lawyer confirm it before you rely on it.
What Is the First Time Home Buyer Land Transfer Tax Refund in Ontario?
The Ontario refund returns all or part of the provincial land transfer tax you would otherwise pay when you buy your first home, up to a maximum of $4,000. Because the provincial tax on a home priced around $368,000 works out to almost exactly $4,000, the refund eliminates the tax completely on homes at or below that price. Above it, you simply pay $4,000 less than a repeat buyer would.
The refund applies to both resale homes and newly built homes, and it does not matter whether you buy a detached house, a semi, a townhouse, or a condominium, as long as the property qualifies as an eligible home and you meet the personal criteria. The Ontario Ministry of Finance administers the program and publishes the rules on its land transfer tax refund page.
One rule surprises almost everyone. You get one shot at this refund in your lifetime. Once you have owned a home anywhere in the world, at any time, you cannot requalify, even if you sold it decades ago and own nothing today. The program works differently from the federal Home Buyers’ Plan, which lets you regain first time buyer status after a few years out of the market. The provincial refund never resets.
How Much Is the Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax Rebate?
Toronto is the only municipality in Ontario that charges its own land transfer tax on top of the provincial one, which roughly doubles the bill for most Toronto buyers. To soften that, the City offers first time purchasers a rebate of up to $4,475, which covers the municipal tax in full on homes priced up to $400,000. The City publishes the program details on its municipal land transfer tax rebate page.
The two rebates stack. A qualifying buyer in Toronto claims both at once and saves up to $8,475. A qualifying buyer in Mississauga, Vaughan, Ottawa, or anywhere else in Ontario pays no municipal land transfer tax in the first place, so only the provincial refund applies.
| Program | Maximum rebate | Fully covers homes up to | Administered by | Late claim deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario first time homebuyer refund | $4,000 | About $368,000 | Ontario Ministry of Finance | 18 months after registration |
| Toronto first time purchaser rebate | $4,475 | $400,000 | City of Toronto | 18 months after closing |
Who Qualifies for the First Time Buyer Rebates?
The provincial and Toronto programs use the same personal criteria, so if you qualify for one you generally qualify for both. You must meet every requirement, not most of them.
- You are at least 18 years old.
- You have never owned a home, or any interest in a home, anywhere in the world, at any time. It makes no difference how you acquired it. A home you received as a gift or through an inheritance counts against you the same way a purchase does.
- If you have a spouse, your spouse has never owned a home, or an interest in one, anywhere in the world while they were your spouse.
- You are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada. If you are not on closing day, you have 18 months after closing to obtain that status and claim the refund.
- You will occupy the home as your principal residence within 9 months of the transfer date.
The occupancy rule quietly excludes investment purchases. If you buy a condo to rent out while you keep living with family, you do not qualify, because the home will not be your principal residence within the 9 month window. The rule also means the rebate follows the person, not the property. What matters is your history and your plans, not whether the home itself has changed hands before.
How Do Spouses and Co Purchasers Affect Your Rebate?
The spouse rule causes more confusion than any other part of the program, and the timing of ownership decides everything. Spouse here means married spouses and common law partners who meet the definition of spouse under Ontario family law, so the rule reaches further than many couples expect.
If your spouse owned a home at any point while they were your spouse, neither of you can claim the rebate. It does not matter that you never lived in that home or that only their name was on title. If your spouse owned a home before you became spouses and sold it before the relationship reached spousal status, you remain eligible, and you can claim the refund on the whole purchase, including your spouse’s share, up to the $4,000 maximum.
Co purchasers who are not your spouse follow a different rule. If someone who is not a first time buyer shares ownership, your rebate shrinks to match your share of the home. A parent taking half the title to satisfy a lender cuts the available rebate in half, which in Toronto means giving up more than $4,200. The size of the title share is a decision you make before closing, and it directly controls how much rebate survives, so get advice on the ownership split before anyone signs.
How Is the Rebate Applied at Closing?
You do not apply for anything yourself, and no cheque arrives in the mail. In a standard purchase, your lawyer claims both rebates electronically while registering your transfer in Teraview, Ontario’s electronic land registration system, by completing the first time homebuyer statements inside the electronic land transfer tax affidavit. The refund nets against the tax at that moment, so the closing funds you send your lawyer already reflect the reduced amount. Toronto’s rebate works the same way in the same registration.
Paper registrations still exist for a small number of transactions. In those cases the claim happens by filing the Ontario Land Transfer Tax Refund Affidavit for First Time Purchasers of Eligible Homes at the land registry office when the transfer is registered.
Because the claim rides on sworn statements, accuracy matters. Your lawyer will ask pointed questions about your ownership history and your spouse’s, and honest answers protect you. The Ministry of Finance audits refund claims, and a refund claimed on wrong information can be reversed, with real consequences for false declarations. Your part of the job is simple. Answer the eligibility questions fully, and confirm the rebate appears in your closing numbers before funds go out.
What If You Already Paid the Tax?
Both programs give you 18 months after registration to claim the refund if it was not applied at closing. That window matters in three common situations. The rebate was missed on closing day. You were not yet a citizen or permanent resident on closing and obtained your status afterward. Or the transaction closed in a way that did not allow an instant claim.
For the provincial refund, you apply to the Ontario Ministry of Finance with the refund affidavit and supporting documents, including a copy of the registered transfer, the agreement of purchase and sale, and proof that you occupy the home. For the Toronto rebate, you apply to the City’s Revenue Services with similar supporting documents, and the City charges a fee to process a refund claimed after closing. Both programs are strict about what counts as proof of occupancy. Documents showing your name at the new address are required, and utility bills do not make the cut for the City.
The deadline is unforgiving. Miss the 18 months and the refund is gone, even if you qualified all along. If you closed within the last year and a half and think the rebate was missed, check your statement of adjustments and your lawyer’s trust ledger now, while the window is still open.
What Will You Actually Pay? Worked Examples
The table below shows the land transfer tax a qualifying first time buyer pays at common Ontario price points, after the rebates come off. Figures assume every buyer on title qualifies for the full rebate and were verified against the published provincial and Toronto rates in July 2026.
| Purchase price | Tax outside Toronto | Net outside Toronto | Tax in Toronto | Net in Toronto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $368,000 | $3,995 | $0 | $7,990 | $0 |
| $400,000 | $4,475 | $475 | $8,950 | $475 |
| $500,000 | $6,475 | $2,475 | $12,950 | $4,475 |
| $600,000 | $8,475 | $4,475 | $16,950 | $8,475 |
| $800,000 | $12,475 | $8,475 | $24,950 | $16,475 |
| $1,000,000 | $16,475 | $12,475 | $32,950 | $24,475 |
Two things stand out. First, the rebates matter most at the low end of the market, where they can erase the tax entirely. Second, even at Toronto’s average prices the combined $8,475 is real money that belongs in your closing budget, not in the government’s account. Treat land transfer tax as cash you need on closing day, on top of your down payment, and let the rebate reduce that number rather than assuming it away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get the rebate if you owned a home in another country?
No. The programs count ownership of a home, or any interest in one, anywhere in the world, at any time. How you acquired it makes no difference, so a purchased apartment abroad, a gifted share of a family house, and an inherited interest all end your eligibility. If your ownership history is complicated, have a lawyer review it before anyone swears the closing statements.
Your spouse owned a condo before you met. Do you still qualify?
Usually yes, as long as they sold it before you became spouses and you have never owned a home yourself. In that case you can claim the refund on the whole purchase, including your spouse’s share, up to the maximums. If they owned it at any point during your time as spouses, neither of you qualifies. The dates of the relationship and the sale decide the outcome, so pin both down early.
Do you lose the rebate if a parent goes on title for the mortgage?
You lose part of it. The rebate shrinks to match your share of the home, so a parent holding half the title costs you half the rebate. Many lenders will accept a small ownership share or a guarantee instead, which preserves most or all of it. Settle the title split with your lawyer before signing anything, because it is very hard to fix after closing.
Is the rebate automatic at closing?
Close to it, but only because your lawyer claims it. The claim happens through sworn statements completed during electronic registration, and the refund nets against the tax on the spot. Nothing arrives by mail afterward. Your job is to answer the eligibility questions accurately and to confirm the reduced tax shows up in your closing numbers before funds go out.
What happens if you move in more than 9 months after closing?
You do not meet the principal residence requirement, so you do not qualify. If the refund was already claimed at closing, the Ministry of Finance can reverse it and require the tax to be paid, and false statements carry serious consequences under the legislation. If your plans change after closing, tell your lawyer right away rather than waiting for an audit letter.
Can you claim the first time buyer rebate twice?
No. Once you have owned a home anywhere, you can never requalify for the land transfer tax programs, even if you sold years ago and own nothing now. This is stricter than the federal Home Buyers’ Plan, which can restore first time buyer status after time out of the market. Plenty of buyers qualify federally but not provincially, so check each program separately.
The information provided above is of a general nature and should not be considered legal advice. Every transaction or circumstance is unique, and obtaining specific legal advice is necessary to address your particular requirements. Therefore, if you have any legal questions, it is recommended that you consult with a lawyer.
