Ontario Will Refund a Landlord’s HST on a New Rental Unit, If Construction Starts by March 2027
A landlord who buys or builds a new rental unit in Ontario can now get back the entire 13% HST on it, up to $130,000. On the housing this rebate is aimed at, which is condominium units, single-unit housing, duplexes and triplexes, the Ontario rebate used to cap out at $24,000, and at a $450,000 value or more there was no federal relief at all. The new Ontario enhanced new residential rental property (ENRRP) rebate puts a landlord on the same scale of relief an owner-occupier gets on a new home. It runs on its own trigger, its own deadlines and its own paperwork, and against someone buying the identical unit from the same builder to live in, the landlord’s clock closes two years earlier.
This morning we covered the owner-occupier side: Ontario relieving the full 13% HST on a new home up to $1,000,000, for agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027. If you are buying a unit to live in yourself, that is the piece you need. Ontario’s new home HST rebate for owner-occupiers runs on the date the purchase agreement was signed. The landlord’s version does not.
What the rebate pays
The relief stacks from two directions. On the 8% provincial part of the HST, the Ontario new residential rental property (NRRP) rebate has always existed: 75% of the provincial part, capped at $24,000 per qualifying rental unit, with no value threshold. The new ENRRP tops that up. Together, CRA says, the two provide a combined rebate of up to 100% of the 8% provincial part.
On the 5% federal part, the province pays its own top-up, the Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, generally up to 100% of the federal part to a maximum of $50,000, for housing valued at less than $1.85 million. That payment is reduced by any federal NRRP rebate the landlord is entitled to claim. The federal rebate is 36% of the federal part to a maximum of $6,300, it tapers away between a $350,000 and a $450,000 value, and at $450,000 or more it is nil. Above that value there is nothing to subtract and the provincial top-up carries the whole 5%.
CRA’s table sets the bands by fair market value at the time tax becomes payable, not by the price written into a presale contract years earlier. The rebate form asks for both figures on separate lines, and on a presale that closes above its contract price they are not the same number. The tax itself is 13% of the price. The bands, including the $1.85 million cut-off, are tested on the value. A unit bought at $1.4 million whose value at closing has run past $1.85 million loses the ENRRP, and the affordability payment with it, on appreciation the buyer never paid tax on. Every figure below takes the value and the price to be the same, which is the straightforward case and not the presale one.
| Fair market value of the home | Combined rebate amount |
|---|---|
| Up to $1 million | Maximum rebate of $80,000 up to 100% of the 8% provincial part of the HST |
| Above $1 million, up to $1.5 million | Maximum rebate of $80,000 |
| Above $1.5 million and below $1.85 million | Ontario ENRRP rebate is gradually reduced as the FMV increases |
| $1.85 million or more | Only the Ontario NRRP rebate of up to $24,000 may be available |
CRA’s own worked example shows the split. A landlord buys a new single unit residential complex with a fair market value of $1.25 million at the time tax became payable. No reduction applies until the value passes $1.5 million, so the landlord claims the Ontario NRRP rebate of $24,000 and the Ontario ENRRP rebate of $56,000, a combined $80,000. Add the affordability payment on the federal side and the stack reaches $130,000 on a unit worth $1,000,000, which is the entire HST. On a unit worth $500,000 it is $65,000, which is also the entire HST.
Between $1.5 million and $1.85 million the rebate is reduced as value rises. CRA’s form instructions put a floor under it at $24,000 for a single unit. For units inside a multiple unit complex the reduction is published outright, and it applies to the enhanced portion alone: take the provincial part, cap it at $80,000, subtract the $24,000 already claimed as the Ontario NRRP rebate, then multiply what is left by $1,850,000 minus the value, divided by $350,000. The $24,000 stays on top of the result. At $1.85 million the enhanced rebate is gone and only that $24,000 survives.
The same landlord with the same unit, where the ENRRP conditions are not met, collects $24,000 at each of those values, $500,000 through $1.25 million. That gap is what the window is worth: $41,000 on a $500,000 unit, $73,500 on a $750,000 unit, $93,000 on a $900,000 unit and $106,000 on a $1,000,000 unit.
Total HST relieved for a landlord of one new Ontario rental unit, by fair market value, where the unit qualifies for the Ontario ENRRP rebate and where it does not. Source: CRA, Ontario enhanced new residential rental property (ENRRP) rebate; GST/HST Info Sheet GI-093; Guide RC4231; ontario.ca, The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment. Our arithmetic.
The trigger is not the signing date, it is the first shovel
Here is where a landlord’s deal diverges from an owner-occupier’s. A landlord who buys qualifies if construction or substantial renovation began between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 inclusive, or if construction began before April 1, 2026 and the agreement of purchase and sale for a single unit residential complex or residential condominium unit was entered into inside that same period. A landlord who builds qualifies on the construction date alone.
CRA defines that date precisely. Construction is considered to have begun when excavation work relating to the complex began. Signing a purchase and sale agreement does not count. Neither does demolition, site or environmental testing, plan development, clearing, remediation, obtaining permits, contracting for excavation, or road construction. In CRA’s own example, excavation starting July 15, 2026 meets the test.
So a building that breaks ground after March 31, 2027 is outside the landlord’s rebate no matter when the purchase agreement was signed. An owner-occupier buying in that same building is not shut out on the same date: their rebate starts from the signing date, and their building has until the end of 2028 to begin. Signing in the window does not by itself put them inside, either. Their own conditions still have to hold, including substantial completion by the end of 2031 and consideration under $1,850,000.
The landlord’s clock closes two years before a new-build purchaser’s
The deadlines are not the same deadlines, and the gap is wide enough to decide whether a presale pays off. The comparison that matters is against an owner-occupier buying from a builder, which is the overwhelming case in a condo tower.
| Landlord, ENRRP | Owner-occupier buying from a builder, ENHR | |
|---|---|---|
| What puts you in the window | Construction began between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027. A landlord buying a single unit complex or a condominium unit also qualifies where construction began earlier and the agreement was signed in that period | The agreement of purchase and sale was signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 |
| Construction must begin by | March 31, 2027 | December 31, 2028 |
| Substantially complete by | December 31, 2029 | December 31, 2031 |
| HST payable by | December 31, 2032 | December 31, 2032 |
| Value ceiling | Fair market value less than $1.85 million | Consideration under $1,850,000 |
The construction start runs out 21 months earlier for a landlord and substantial completion 24 months earlier. A presale buyer counting on this money wants the projected substantial completion date in writing, checked against December 31, 2029 and not against December 31, 2031. Substantial completion is its own test, roughly 90% done and reasonably inhabitable, and it is not the occupancy date written into a presale agreement.
That gap closes entirely in one case. An owner-occupier who builds their own home rather than buying one claims under a separate set of conditions: construction beginning inside the same April 2026 to March 2027 window, and substantially complete before 2030. Those are the landlord’s dates. The two-year advantage belongs to the purchaser of a new build, not to owner-occupiers as a class.
The landlord’s deadlines against those of an owner-occupier buying from a builder. An owner-occupier who builds their own home is on the landlord’s dates. Source: CRA, Ontario enhanced new residential rental property (ENRRP) rebate, Who can apply; CRA GST/HST Notice 346, Homes purchased from a builder and Owner-built homes.
The money does not arrive at closing
On the owner-occupier side a builder is allowed to pay or credit the rebate straight against the purchase price, so the money can come off the closing statement without the buyer funding it. A landlord does not get that option. CRA’s rule is direct: a builder cannot pay or credit the Ontario ENRRP rebate to a purchaser or landlord. The landlord funds the full 13% at closing and claims it back afterwards, by mail. Electronic filing is not currently available for this rebate, with updates expected in the fall of 2026, so for now the application goes in on paper. A purchaser or landlord leasing both the housing and the land has to file within two years after the end of the month in which tax first became payable on the purchase.
On a unit worth $900,000 at the time tax becomes payable, taking its value and its price to be the same figure at closing, that means funding $117,000 of HST on closing day and waiting on a mailed claim to get it back. On a $750,000 unit it is $97,500. That receivable is the part of the deal a spreadsheet usually leaves out, and it is worth pricing: the money is not lost, but it is tied up from closing until the cheque arrives. Owning the asset class without a rebate to finance is the other route on the table, and Canadian REITs collect rent on housing somebody else built and financed.
Conditions that can void the claim
A handful of rules sit underneath the headline numbers, and any one of them can zero out a claim that looked solid.
- The unit has to be someone’s real home. The underlying NRRP rebate requires that the first use of the unit be as an individual’s primary place of residence, occupied continuously under one or more leases for at least a year, or for a shorter period if the unit is then sold to someone buying it as their own primary residence or a relation’s. A unit run as a short-term rental does not clear it.
- Selling within a year can trigger repayment. If the ENRRP is claimed and the housing is sold within one year after it is first occupied as a residence, the buyer generally has to be acquiring it as their own primary residence or a relation’s. If that condition is not met, the rebate may have to be repaid.
- An assignment needs both agreements inside the window. The original agreement with the builder and the assignment agreement both have to be entered into between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 inclusive. The GST treatment of the assignment itself is a separate question, and we covered it in GST on a presale condo assignment, which is the one that matters to anyone holding paper rather than the builder’s original contract.
- Re-signing an old contract to get into the window does not work on its own. Where a pre-April-2026 agreement is changed, or terminated and replaced, the ENRRP is available only if that was done for bona fide purposes other than obtaining the rebate.
- Purpose-built apartment buildings are barred from this rebate, because they are already on a better one. A landlord cannot claim both the ENRRP and the purpose-built rental housing rebate on the same housing, and if the housing qualifies for the latter the ENRRP is simply unavailable. That is not a loss. The purpose-built rebate returns 100% of the federal part with no reduction at any value, Ontario returns 100% of the provincial part alongside it, and the construction clock runs to a start before 2031 and completion before 2036. It applies to a building of at least four residential units each with a private kitchen, bathroom and living area, or at least ten units, with 90% held for long-term residential lease. It does not apply to condominium units, single-unit housing, duplexes or triplexes. So the line to work out first is which side of four units you are on: a fourplex built to that spec is on the longer, uncapped relief, and a condo is on the ENRRP.
What gets filed, and by when
Having already claimed the Ontario NRRP rebate on the property does not block an ENRRP claim on top of it. All claimants, purchasers and builders alike, submit the application directly to CRA on Form GST524, GST/HST New Residential Rental Property Rebate Application, together with Form RC7524-ON, the Ontario Rebate Schedule, and Form GST525 where the claim covers co-op or multiple units. Fill in the consent section so CRA can pass the file to the Province of Ontario, because there is no separate application for the affordability payment. The eligibility rules are set out on CRA’s page for the Ontario enhanced new residential rental property rebate, the mechanics of the underlying rebate in CRA’s Guide RC4231, and the provincial top-up on ontario.ca’s page for the New Home Affordability Payment.
Leased residential land carries its own, smaller version of the same relief, with a combined maximum of $26,400 on land worth up to $330,000.
A Toronto condo investor closing on a new rental unit in the next few years needs three answers, in this order. When did excavation start on the building. Will the fair market value at closing be under $1.85 million. Will the building be substantially complete by December 31, 2029. Get those right and the rebate is worth real money, funded at closing and refunded by mail. Get the completion date wrong and the deal reverts to the $24,000 that was always there.
Disclaimer: The content on bestcanadianstocks.ca is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The Ontario enhanced new residential rental property (ENRRP) rebate, its combined 100% relief of the 8% provincial part of the HST with the Ontario new residential rental property rebate, the four rebate bands for a home, CRA’s worked example at a $1.25 million fair market value, the eligibility limbs for a purchaser/landlord and a builder/landlord, the construction-start window of April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, the substantial-completion deadline of December 31, 2029, the HST-payable deadline of December 31, 2032, the fair market value ceiling below $1.85 million, the excavation definition of when construction begins, and the restrictions on assignment sales, changed agreements, new agreements, a sale within one year and the purpose-built rental housing bar are all from the CRA’s Ontario enhanced new residential rental property (ENRRP) rebate pages, page details 2026-09-01. The rule that a builder cannot pay or credit the ENRRP rebate to a purchaser/landlord, the absence of electronic filing, and the two-year filing deadline are from the same series, How to apply. The Ontario new residential rental property rebate at 75% of the provincial part to a maximum of $24,000 per qualifying rental unit with no fair market value thresholds, and the $7,920 maximum on leased land, are from CRA GST/HST Info Sheet GI-093. The federal new residential rental property rebate at 36% of the federal part to a maximum of $6,300, tapered between a $350,000 and a $450,000 fair market value and nil at $450,000 or more, the one-year primary-residence occupancy test for a qualifying residential unit, the purpose-built rental housing rebate terms and its exclusion of condominium units, single-unit housing, duplexes and triplexes, and Ontario’s separate 100% provincial purpose-built rental housing rebate are from CRA Guide RC4231. The Ontario new home affordability payment, its $50,000 maximum, its bands and its dependence on ENHR or ENRRPR eligibility are from the CRA ENRRP pages and from ontario.ca, The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment, Ministry of Finance. The owner-occupier comparison, the agreement-date trigger and the December 31, 2028 and December 31, 2031 deadlines are from CRA GST/HST Notice 346, Ontario Enhanced New Housing Rebate, August 2026, Homes purchased from a builder; the separate owner-built conditions, construction inside the same window and substantial completion before 2030, are from the Owner-built homes section of the same notice. The reduction between a $1.5 million and a $1.85 million fair market value, its $24,000 floor for a single unit and the multiple-unit factor are from the Form RC7524-ON instructions in Guide RC4231. HST is 13% in Ontario throughout, a 5% federal part and an 8% provincial part, per CRA GST/HST Notice 323. All relief totals, the gains the window is worth, the cash funded at closing and both charts are our own arithmetic, from one arithmetic model that reproduces CRA’s published worked example exactly.
