Tax Breaks for First-Time Home Buyers in BC

A first home in BC can come with several separate tax breaks, and each one tests "first-time buyer" a little differently. Qualifying for one doesn't mean you get the rest.

How each program defines a first-time buyer

First Home Savings Account (FHSA)

To open one you must be a Canadian resident, 18 or older (19 where that's the legal age to sign a contract) and no older than 71 at the end of the year. You get $8,000 of room in the year you open your first FHSA, shared by contributions and RRSP transfers across all your FHSAs. Up to $8,000 of unused room carries forward, and the lifetime limit is $40,000.

Contributions are generally deductible in the year you make them or a later year, but RRSP transfers in are not. File Schedule 15 for the year you open your first FHSA, even if you put nothing in. If you've put in too much, see what happens when you go over your room.

A qualifying withdrawal to buy your home is tax-free and never has to be paid back. You need a written agreement to buy or build a home in Canada before October 1 of the year after the withdrawal, you can't have bought it more than 30 days before withdrawing, and you must intend to live in it within a year. Form RC725 goes to your FHSA issuer.

The account has a time limit. It ends on December 31 of the year of the 15th anniversary of your first FHSA, the year you turn 71, or the year after your first qualifying withdrawal, whichever comes first. If you don't buy, you can move the money directly to your RRSP or RRIF before then with no immediate tax. Other withdrawals are taxable, and anything still in the account at the end is added to your income.

RRSP Home Buyers' Plan

You can currently take up to $60,000 out of your RRSPs on Form T1036, with no tax withheld on $60,000 or less. The conditions look a lot like the FHSA's: a written agreement to buy or build (a pre-approved mortgage doesn't count), the home bought or built before October 1 of the year after your first withdrawal, and a plan to live in it within a year. You can use the HBP and an FHSA withdrawal for the same home. If your plans change, see what happens if you never move in.

You have up to 15 years to pay it back. Repayments used to start the second year after your first withdrawal. For first withdrawals from 2022 to 2025, they start in the fifth year after. The CRA's main HBP page says this relief now also covers first withdrawals from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028, so a 2026 withdrawal means your first repayment year is 2031. Its repayment page still only mentions the 2022 to 2025 window, so confirm before you plan around the later start.

To repay, you contribute to your RRSP during the year or the first 60 days after and designate it on Schedule 7. A shortfall from the minimum is added to your income. You can't repay into an FHSA, and you have to file a return every year until it's paid off.

Home buyers' amount

This is a non-refundable federal credit on line 31270. For a qualifying home bought in 2025, you can claim up to $10,000 on the 2025 return, filed in spring 2026. The CRA's page lists $10,000 for each year since 2022. It lowers federal tax owing but won't create a refund. Eligible spouses, partners or co-buyers can split it, up to the maximum in total.

BC property transfer tax exemption

These figures are from the province's page, last updated June 20, 2025. At registration you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who either lived in BC for at least the year before or filed at least 2 returns as a BC resident in the last 6 tax years, and you can't have had this exemption before. The home must be only your principal residence, 0.5 hectares or smaller, with only residential improvements and a fair market value of $835,000 or less (since April 1, 2024). If so, there's no transfer tax on the first $500,000 of the price. A partial exemption may apply if the value is over $835,000 but under $860,000, the lot is bigger, or there's another building on it.

Your lawyer or notary claims it on the transfer tax return. To keep it on an existing home, you must move in within 92 days of registration and live there until the first anniversary. If you qualified but didn't claim it at registration, you can ask for a refund between the first anniversary and 18 months after.

GST rebate on a newly built home

The CRA lists applications as open for the federal first-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate. It refunds all the GST (or federal part of the HST) on a new home valued up to $1 million and part of it between $1 million and $1.5 million.

You generally have to be at least 18 and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. If you buy the house and land from a builder, the agreement has to be signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, and construction has to start before 2031 and be substantially complete before 2036. Building your own home, buying a co-op share or a mobile home each come with their own version of these rules.

How we help

First-time home buyer claims are quoted on top of a personal tax return, and you get the number before any work starts. If you're still deciding, our property purchase analysis builds the forecast and stress-tests it.