GST New Housing Rebate × BC

The rebate math, in 1 paragraph

Pre-tax price ≤ $350,000: full rebate of 36% × 5% × $350,000 = $6,300.

Pre-tax price between $350,001 and $450,000: linear phase-out using the formula ($450,000 - price) / $100,000 × $6,300. Example at $400,000: ($450K - $400K) / $100K × $6,300 = $3,150 rebate.

Pre-tax price ≥ $450,001: ZERO rebate. Buyer pays full 5% GST on the purchase price.

Worked examples

Frequently asked questions

• What is the GST New Housing Rebate?

  A federal rebate of up to 36% of the 5% GST paid on a new or substantially-renovated home, capped at $6,300 (i.e., 36% × 5% × $350,000). The full rebate applies on homes where the pre-tax purchase price is $350,000 or less. The rebate phases out linearly from $350,001 to $450,000, and is ZERO at $450,001 and above. The phase-out math: ($450,000 - purchase price) / $100,000 × $6,300 = rebate amount. For a $400,000 home: ($450K - $400K)/$100K × $6,300 = $3,150 rebate. Owner-occupier only — see the investor question below.

• How does the rebate apply on a $1.2M new Vancouver condo?

  It does not. The rebate is fully phased out at $450,000 and there is no rebate on any new home above that threshold. On a $1.2M new Vancouver condo, the buyer pays the full 5% GST = $60,000 with NO federal rebate. The $450K cap was set in 1991 and has not been indexed for inflation; it is now well below the median price of every form of new construction in Lower Mainland BC. The federal Department of Finance has flagged the cap as a known issue but no inflation indexation has been enacted as of 2026. Verify against the live CRA GST/HST New Housing Rebate page for the current state.

• Is there a BC provincial component to the rebate?

  No, not in the same form as Ontario. BC does not have HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) — it uses GST + PST separately. The federal GST New Housing Rebate is the only rebate available on the GST portion. The seller may have already netted the rebate into the listed price for ≤ $450K homes (you sign a credit assignment); above $450K, the buyer pays full 5% GST with no rebate. BC also has its own Newly Built Home Exemption from Property Transfer Tax (a different tax, different threshold, different rules) — see the PTT guide for that.

• Does the rebate apply to investors / rental properties?

  No, not the New Housing Rebate. The rebate explicitly requires the buyer (or a relation) to occupy the property as a primary place of residence. Investors purchasing new units for rental qualify instead for the GST New Residential Rental Property Rebate, which has the same phase-out math ($350K full rebate to $450K zero rebate) and the same cap, but requires a 1-year minimum tenancy at fair-market rent. The investor must self-assess and remit the GST, then file a rebate claim within 2 years. The two rebates are mutually exclusive — owner-occupier vs. investor.

• Does the rebate apply to presale assignments?

  Complicated. The GST treatment of presale assignments changed effective May 7, 2022 — every assignment of a new or substantially-renovated residential property is now subject to GST under the federal Excise Tax Act. The assignor charges 5% GST on the assignment fee (the consideration paid for the assignment over and above the original deposit refund). The original purchaser who eventually completes (the assignee) may still be eligible for the New Housing Rebate on the original purchase price if they will occupy the unit and the unit price is in the rebate range. The assignment fee itself is not subject to the rebate. CRA audits this area aggressively; consult a CPA before assigning.

• How do I claim the rebate?

  Two paths. (1) Most common: the builder credits the rebate against the purchase price, and you sign Form GST190 (Schedule "B") at closing assigning the rebate to the builder. The builder then claims the rebate from CRA. You see a single net-of-rebate price; no out-of-pocket on the rebate. (2) Less common: you pay full GST at closing and self-file Form GST190 within 2 years. CRA pays you directly. Path 1 is standard for most BC presale + new-construction sales; path 2 applies in some assignment scenarios or where the builder declines to assign.

• What if the home is between $450,000 and $477,000?

  The rebate is fully phased out at $450,000. There is no partial rebate or "smoothing" between $450,000 and $477,000 — at $450,001 the buyer owes the full 5% GST. The $477,000 reference some buyers see is a misunderstanding of the phase-out math; the legislative threshold is $450,000 flat. If the Lower Mainland presale you signed is at $462,000, you owe $23,100 of GST with no rebate at all. The cliff at $450,000 is sharp and well-known to BC presale veterans; first-time presale buyers are routinely surprised.

• How does the rebate interact with the BC Newly Built Home Exemption (PTT)?

  They are SEPARATE programs at different levels of government. The federal GST New Housing Rebate (this guide) applies to the federal 5% GST. The BC Newly Built Home Exemption applies to the provincial Property Transfer Tax (PTT), with a different threshold (full exemption ≤ $1.1M, phasing to $1.15M in 2026 — verify against current BC Government). A buyer of a $1M new condo qualifies for the BC Newly Built Home Exemption (zero PTT) but pays full 5% GST = $50,000 (no GST rebate at $1M). The two programs don't stack; they apply to different taxes. See the PTT guide for the BC side.

What to read next

• · BC Property Transfer Tax — the provincial newly-built exemption that most buyers conflate with the federal GST rebate
• · BC closing costs — full closing-cost reference (GST and PTT both land here)
• · BC closing process — buyer timeline — when the GST + rebate gets reconciled in the developer-assignment scenario
• · CMHC default insurance — most new-construction buyers under the $1.5M cap also touch CMHC; PST on premium adds another GST-confusion line
• · Foreign Buyer Ban — non-resident buyers face GST rebate clawback because they fail the occupancy test
• · GST New Housing Rebate, Newly Built Home PTT exemption, presale condo assignment, and PTT — the four glossary entries every BC new-build buyer should pull
• · Closing-day cash calculator and PTT calculators — model the GST + PTT layered cash plan for a specific purchase price
• · Willoughby and Cloverdale — two of the busiest BC submarkets dominated by new-construction product (where 5% GST is most often a closing-day surprise)
• · Codex — Presale assignment tax treatment
• · BC Real Estate Codex