First-Time Home Buyer Programs in BC: PTT Exemption, FHSA, HBP and the GST Rebate

If you are buying your first home in BC, several government programs can reduce the tax on your purchase or let you put more tax-sheltered savings toward it. They are run by different governments, and each one decides for itself who counts as a first-time buyer.

This guide walks through the BC property transfer tax exemption, the First Home Savings Account, the Home Buyers' Plan and the federal GST rebate for new homes: what each is worth, who qualifies, and the timing rules that most often catch buyers out.

Four programs, four different tests

Four programs come from two governments. The Province runs the first-time home buyers' exemption from property transfer tax. Ottawa runs the First Home Savings Account (FHSA), the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) and the GST rebate on new homes. A smaller federal credit, the home buyers' amount, is claimed on your tax return.

Each defines a first-time buyer differently. The BC exemption requires that you have never owned a home that was your principal residence, anywhere in the world. The federal programs generally look back only over the current year and the previous four calendar years, so someone who owned a home ten years ago may qualify federally but not provincially.

BC's first-time home buyers' property transfer tax exemption

Property transfer tax is charged when your purchase is registered at the Land Title Office: 1% of the fair market value up to $200,000 and 2% on the portion up to $2,000,000. The exemption removes the tax on the first $500,000, which is worth up to $8,000.

Who qualifies

• Status. Canadian citizen or permanent resident on the date the transfer is registered.
• Connection to BC. Lived in BC for the 12 months immediately before registration, or filed at least two income tax returns as a BC resident in the last six taxation years.
• No previous home. Never owned a registered interest in a principal residence anywhere in the world, and never received this exemption before.

Which homes qualify

For the full exemption, the home must be your principal residence, with a fair market value of $835,000 or less, on 0.5 hectares or less, with only residential improvements. Between $835,000 and $860,000 the exemption shrinks, and at $860,000 it is gone. Larger lots and mixed-use properties may get a partial exemption.

Example: on a $700,000 resale condo, property transfer tax would normally be $12,000 (1% of $200,000 plus 2% of the remaining $500,000). A buyer who qualifies saves $8,000 and pays $4,000.

If a co-buyer does not qualify, only the qualifying buyers' share is eligible. You must move in within 92 days of registration and live there as your principal residence until the first anniversary; if plans change, the Province asks you to contact it.

Buying a newly built home? A separate newly built home exemption does not require first-time buyer status and can remove the tax entirely on a qualifying home worth $1,100,000 or less, phasing out at $1,150,000. Its own citizenship, principal residence and occupancy conditions apply.

The First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

An FHSA lets you save with contributions that are generally tax-deductible, and a qualifying withdrawal to buy your home is not taxed. You must be an adult resident of Canada, 71 or younger at the end of the year you open it, and must not have lived, that year or in the previous four calendar years, in a home that you or your spouse or common-law partner owned.

You get $8,000 of room in the year you open your first FHSA, can carry forward up to $8,000 of unused room, and can contribute $40,000 in total. Room only builds once an account is open.

A qualifying withdrawal needs a written agreement to buy or build, with completion before October 1 of the following year, and an intention to live in the home within a year of buying it. After your first qualifying withdrawal, your FHSAs must be closed by the end of the next year; unused savings can move to an RRSP.

The RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP)

The HBP lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSPs toward a qualifying home without paying tax on it, as long as you pay it back. You need a written agreement to buy or build when you withdraw (a mortgage pre-approval is not enough), and the home must be acquired before October 1 of the following year.

You repay over up to 15 years, and a missed repayment is added to your income. Repayment normally starts in the second year after the withdrawal, but temporary relief pushes it to the fifth: for a first withdrawal in 2026, the CRA says the first repayment year is 2031.

You can use the FHSA and the HBP for the same home if you meet the conditions of each.

The First-Time Home Buyers' GST rebate on new homes

GST applies to newly built and substantially renovated homes, not generally to resale homes. The First-Time Home Buyers' GST/HST rebate, now law and open for applications, returns up to $50,000 of that GST: in full on homes valued at $1 million or less, then on a reducing scale to $1.5 million. A $1.25 million home qualifies for half, or $25,000. The main conditions:

• Age and status. You are at least 18 and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• First-time buyer. You have not lived in a home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner in the calendar year or the previous four, and neither of you has had this rebate before.
• Dates. The purchase agreement was signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, construction starts before 2031 and the home is substantially completed before 2036.
• First occupant. You are the first person to live in the home, as your primary place of residence.

A builder can credit the rebate at closing; otherwise you apply to the CRA, usually within two years, through your CRA account or on Form GST190 (GST191 for owner-built homes). Buying a presale? Check the contract's GST terms during the rescission period described in our guide to pre-sale condo disclosure and the 7-day rescission right.

Timing traps to plan around

• Value at registration. Property transfer tax uses fair market value on the date of registration, not the date you signed. On a presale that completes years later, that can matter for the thresholds.
• Withdrawal timing. An FHSA withdrawal made more than 30 days after you take ownership does not qualify.
• Renting it out. Renting the home out in the first year after registration can put the BC exemption at risk.

Your lawyer claims the BC exemption on the property transfer tax return at registration, one of the steps in what your real estate lawyer does before completion day. If you qualified but it was not claimed, you can apply for a refund from the first anniversary to 18 months after registration.

Buying your first home in BC? Check what you qualify for before you sign

Our real estate lawyers can review your purchase contract, confirm which exemptions and rebates may apply to you, claim the property transfer tax exemption when your purchase is registered and take you through completion.

Call 604-259-2844 or send us a message to arrange a consultation at our Vancouver office.