The Toronto first-time buyer's program stack.

The Canadian and Ontario governments designed five programs that, used together, can subsidize a Toronto first-time purchase by close to $50,000 in real money. The catch is that you have to know they exist, qualify in time, and use them in the right order. Most first-time buyers I work with came in thinking they only qualified for one or two. Most of them qualified for four or five.

Program 1: The FHSA, the closest thing to free money

If only one program survives this list in your memory, make it this one. The First Home Savings Account, introduced in 2023, is structurally the most powerful tool the federal government has ever given a first-time buyer, and most Toronto buyers I meet either haven't opened one or opened one too late to max it out before purchase.

Here's why it dominates: contributions are tax-deductible going in (like an RRSP), and withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are tax-free coming out (like a TFSA). It's both at once, with no requirement to pay anything back. The limits: $8,000 per year up to $40,000 lifetime, with carry-forward room of up to $8,000 per year. The account stays open for fifteen years or until you turn 71, whichever comes first.

Program 2: The HBP, useful but pay-back-required

The Home Buyers' Plan is the older sibling, in place for decades. It lets you pull up to $60,000 out of your RRSP tax-free toward a qualifying first home, with the catch that you have to repay it back into an RRSP over fifteen years starting two years after withdrawal. Couples can each pull $60,000, so together $120,000 is on the table.

The procedural details that trip people up: the funds need to have been sitting in the RRSP for at least ninety days before withdrawal, and any missed annual repayment becomes taxable income for that year. So if you draw $40,000 and the annual repayment is $2,667, missing one year adds $2,667 to your taxable income and you lose the deferral on that slice. Most clients set the repayment up as an automatic annual contribution and never think about it again.

FHSA and HBP, both at once

The most common question I get on this page: which one should I use? The answer is almost always both. They stack. A single buyer can pull $40,000 out of an FHSA and $60,000 out of an HBP for $100,000 in tax-free or tax-deferred down-payment. A couple can do $80,000 plus $120,000 for $200,000. In the Toronto market, that stack is often the difference between a starter condo and a starter freehold.

Program 3: Ontario LTT rebate, plus the Toronto bonus

Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of provincial land transfer tax to first-time buyers anywhere in the province. The City of Toronto adds a separate municipal LTT, and refunds up to $4,475 of that to first-time buyers buying inside city limits. Total rebate ceiling for a Toronto first-time buyer: $8,475. For a buyer in Mississauga, Vaughan, or Oakville: $4,000 (no municipal layer outside Toronto).

Program 4: HBTC, the small one that's still worth claiming

The Home Buyers' Tax Credit is a non-refundable federal credit of up to $1,500 (calculated as 15 percent of $10,000). It's claimed on your tax return for the year you buy. Not life-changing money, but free, and almost no work. Mention to your accountant that you bought; they'll claim it.

Program 5: GST/HST New Housing Rebate (new builds only)

If you're buying a new-construction condo or freehold (not a resale), you may be eligible for a partial GST/HST rebate that reduces the tax built into the purchase price. The amount and qualifying rules vary based on the price and whether the home is owner-occupied. Your real estate lawyer handles the application as part of closing, but it's worth knowing it exists when you're comparing new-build pricing to resale.

And one program that no longer exists

The federal First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) shared-equity program ended in March 2024 and stopped accepting new applications. If a website, agent, or article references it as currently available, the information is out of date. The remaining stack of five programs above is the full set.

Stacking it all: a typical Toronto first home

Here's how a couple buying a $750,000 East York semi or downtown condo might layer the programs together:

• FHSA (one each): up to $80,000 combined tax-free toward the down payment
• RRSP HBP (one each): up to $120,000 combined as additional down payment
• Ontario LTT Rebate: up to $4,000
• Toronto Municipal LTT Rebate: up to $4,475 (Toronto only; you don't get this in Mississauga, Vaughan, or Oakville)
• HBTC: $1,500 tax credit

That's up to $200,000 in down-payment ammunition plus close to $10,000 in rebates and credits, all reserved for first-time buyers. Most couples I work with don't have the full RRSP balance to draw on, but even a partial stack often unlocks a market segment they thought was out of reach.

What "first-time" actually means (it's not what you think)

Each program defines "first-time buyer" slightly differently, and the differences matter, especially for couples. Here's how the three biggest definitions differ in practice:

• FHSA. Neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner can have owned a home that was your principal residence during the current calendar year or the previous four calendar years. Five-year window total.
• HBP. Same four-plus-current calendar-year rule. So if you owned a place in 2019, sold in 2020, and you're buying in 2026, you qualify again.
• Ontario LTT rebate. Strictest of the three. You must have never owned a home, anywhere in the world, ever. And if your spouse owned property while you were married or common-law, even if you weren't on title, you're disqualified for life. This trips up couples where one partner owned a place internationally before immigrating.

Questions Toronto first-time buyers ask

The free part is using all of them

The cost of advice on this is zero, the cost of missing a program you qualified for is real money. When we work together on a first-time purchase, the program-eligibility audit happens in our first call, before we touch lender pricing. That way the dollar figures we're planning against already include every dollar you're entitled to.