How much GST do I pay on a new BC condo?

Direct answer

Goods and services tax on a new BC condo is 5% of the purchase price, and there is no provincial sales tax on the building. The same 5% covers a substantially renovated property. The GST is collected by the builder/developer at completion and remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency. Whether you pay any of it turns on one question: is this your first home? The First-Time Home Buyers' GST Rebate, in force since March 12, 2026, removes the entire 5% on a new home priced up to $1,000,000 and tapers to nothing at $1,500,000, capped at $50,000. On a $700,000 newly built Surrey condo that is $35,000 of GST reduced to zero. At $1,050,000 the rebate is $45,000 and $7,500 remains payable; at $1,200,000 it is $30,000 and $30,000 remains. One trap: the purchase agreement must have been signed on or after March 20, 2025, so a pre-sale contract signed in 2023 and completing now does not qualify, whoever the buyer is. If you are not a first-time buyer the only relief is the older New Housing Rebate, which returns 36% of the GST to a maximum of $6,300 on homes up to $350,000 and phases to zero at $450,000. Those thresholds were set in 1991 and never indexed, so in this market that rebate is almost always nothing: the $700,000 buyer who is not first-time pays the full $35,000. BC adds no provincial new-housing rebate; the old PST program ended. GST is in addition to the Property Transfer Tax (which is calculated on the GST-INCLUSIVE price for newly built homes).