Most buyers in Greater Victoria never think about GST, because most of what sells here is resale and resale is exempt. Then someone buys a new condominium, a new townhome, or a presale, and five percent lands on the statement of adjustments at a point in the process where it is far too late to plan around it.
On a new home in British Columbia, GST is the whole story. The sale of a home is not subject to provincial sales tax, and there is no provincial new housing rebate here, so the federal five percent is the only tax you will see on the purchase and the only rebate conversation worth having. PST can apply to materials used to build the home, but that sits in the builder's costs rather than on your statement.
The basic rule, in one line
A new home is taxable. A previously occupied home sold by someone who is not a builder is exempt. That exemption is in the law itself, in Part I of Schedule V of the Excise Tax Act, and it is why the vast majority of transactions on the local board never raise the question at all.
What counts as new
Three things are treated as new for GST purposes, and the third surprises people.
A home bought from a builder is new. A home you build yourself, or have built for you on land you own, is new. And a home that has been substantially renovated is generally treated as newly built, where substantially renovated means roughly ninety percent or more of the interior of the existing house has been removed or replaced. The Canada Revenue Agency calls that the ninety percent test. Stripping a house to the studs and rebuilding it is not a renovation in the eyes of the tax, it is construction.
That last one matters locally, because flipping a tired house into a nearly new one is a common play in the core. A renovation that crosses the ninety percent line changes the tax character of the sale.
When it comes due
GST on a new home is not payable when you sign. It is payable at completion.
For a presale that is the single most important sentence on this page. A contract signed two or three years ago completes at today's closing, under the rules and the rates in force then, with the tax calculated on the contract price. The deposit sitting with the developer's lawyer is not a tax payment. If you signed a presale in a different year from the one you will close in, the rebate rules that matter are the ones that apply to your agreement and your completion, not the ones that were being discussed when you signed.
Rebate one, the old new housing rebate
The original GST new housing rebate still exists. It returns thirty six percent of the GST paid, to a maximum of $6,300, and it is reduced as value rises.
FMV $350,000 or less full rebate, maximum $6,300
FMV $350,001 to $449,999 reduced on a sliding scale
FMV $450,000 and above no rebateThose thresholds have not moved in a very long time, and $450,000 does not buy new construction in Greater Victoria. For practical purposes this rebate is extinct in this market. It is worth knowing it exists only so that you recognise what someone is referring to when they tell you there is a GST rebate on new homes and then quote you a number in the hundreds of dollars.
Rebate two, the first time home buyers' GST rebate
This is the one that changed the arithmetic, and it is genuinely large.
A qualifying first time buyer can recover up to one hundred percent of the GST on a new home, to a maximum of $50,000, with the maximum reduced on a straight line between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 of value.
value $1,000,000 or less up to 100 percent of the GST, maximum $50,000
value $1,000,001 to maximum reduced proportionally
$1,499,999
value $1,500,000 and above no rebateWhat that means at real prices, where the tax is five percent of the price:
| Price | GST | Rebate | Net GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| $700,000 | $35,000 | $35,000 | nil |
| $900,000 | $45,000 | $45,000 | nil |
| $1,000,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | nil |
| $1,100,000 | $55,000 | $40,000 | $15,000 |
| $1,250,000 | $62,500 | $25,000 | $37,500 |
| $1,400,000 | $70,000 | $10,000 | $60,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $75,000 | nil | $75,000 |
Below a million dollars, a qualifying first time buyer pays no GST at all on a new home. That is the headline, and most new condominiums and townhomes in this region sit under that line.
The eligibility is narrower than the price range, though, and the dates are strict. You must be at least eighteen, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and you must not have owned and lived in a home as your primary residence, here or anywhere else, in the current calendar year or the four calendar years before it. Neither you nor your spouse or common law partner can have claimed this rebate before. It is once per person, for life.
For a purchase from a builder, the agreement of purchase and sale must be dated on or after 20 March 2025 and before 2031, construction must begin before 2031, and the home must be substantially complete and ownership transferred before 2036. For a home you build or substantially renovate yourself, construction must begin on or after 20 March 2025 and before 2031, with substantial completion and first occupancy before 2036.
The March 2025 date is the one that catches people. A presale signed in 2024 that completes next year does not qualify, however new the building is.
For details about this rebate and how it stacks with the provincial property transfer tax exemption, read the first-time buyer GST rebate guide.
Rebates three and four, for people buying to rent
If you are buying a new home to rent out rather than to live in, the new housing rebate is not yours, because it requires the home to be a primary place of residence for you or a relation. A different rebate applies instead.
The new residential rental property rebate returns thirty six percent of the GST to a maximum of $6,300 per unit, with the same reduction between $350,000 and $450,000 and nothing above it. Like the old new housing rebate, it is close to worthless at local prices.
The purpose built rental housing rebate is the one with real money in it, and it is aimed at buildings rather than buyers. It returns one hundred percent of the GST with no maximum and no reduction based on value, for new multiple unit residential complexes, additions to existing ones, and conversions of non residential buildings into residential ones. Construction must have begun after 13 September 2023 and before 2031, and the project must be substantially complete before 2036. It requires at least four private apartment units, or at least ten units, with at least ninety percent of the units held for long term residential leasing.
Condominiums, single unit homes, duplexes and triplexes do not qualify, and neither do substantial renovations of existing complexes. So the rebate that sounds most generous is the one least likely to apply to a single purchase by a single investor, and the most likely to apply to a development.
| Rebate | Rate | Maximum | Value limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| New housing | 36 percent | $6,300 | nil above $450,000 |
| First time buyer | 100 percent | $50,000 | nil above $1,500,000 |
| New residential rental | 36 percent | $6,300 | nil above $450,000 |
| Purpose built rental | 100 percent | none | none |
Where this goes wrong in practice
Four patterns account for most of the trouble.
Buyers assume the advertised price includes GST, and on a presale it very often does not. Read the contract rather than the brochure.
Buyers assume a rebate is automatic. It is a claim, with forms and deadlines, and on a builder purchase it is usually credited by the builder at completion only if the paperwork was done correctly and in time.
Buyers who are not quite first time buyers assume they are. Owning and living in a home four calendar years ago is disqualifying, and so is a spouse who has claimed the rebate before.
And buyers taking over someone else's presale contract assume the tax treatment follows the unit. It does not follow automatically, and an assignment brings its own GST question on the premium. A separate guide explains how presale assignment works in BC.
What to actually do
If you are looking at anything new, ask three questions before you write an offer. Is GST included in the price as stated. Which rebate, if any, applies to you specifically. And who is claiming it, you after closing or the builder as a credit at completion.
Then take the answers to an accountant before you remove subjects rather than after. The amounts here are large enough that getting the rebate question wrong is not a rounding error, and the one thing no rebate will do is apply retroactively because nobody asked.
FAQs
Does GST apply when I buy a resale home in Victoria?
No. A previously occupied home sold by someone who is not a builder is exempt from GST, and that covers the large majority of sales in Greater Victoria. The exemption is in Part I of Schedule V of the Excise Tax Act. The exception to watch is a house that has been substantially renovated, because that can be treated as newly built and therefore taxable.
How much is GST on a new home in BC?
Five percent of the purchase price. On a $800,000 new townhome that is $40,000. The sale of a home is not subject to provincial sales tax in British Columbia and there is no provincial new housing rebate here, so the federal five percent is the only tax on the purchase itself. PST can apply to the materials used to build the home, which reaches you through the price rather than as a separate charge.
Can a first time buyer really pay no GST on a new home?
Yes, below a million dollars of value, if you qualify. The first time home buyers' GST rebate returns up to one hundred percent of the tax to a maximum of $50,000, with the maximum reduced proportionally between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 and nothing above $1,500,000. The qualifying rules are strict, particularly the requirement that you have not owned and lived in a home in the current calendar year or the four before it.
My presale was signed in 2024. Do I get the new rebate?
For a purchase from a builder the agreement of purchase and sale has to be dated on or after 20 March 2025, so an agreement signed in 2024 does not qualify for the first time buyer GST rebate no matter when it completes. The older new housing rebate may technically be available but it disappears above $450,000 of value, which rules out most new construction here.
When do I actually pay the GST?
At completion, not at signing. For a presale that means the tax is calculated and paid years after the contract was signed, on the contract price. Your deposit is not a tax payment. This is also why the rebate rules that matter are the ones attached to your agreement date and your completion date.
I am buying a new condominium to rent out. Which rebate applies?
Not the new housing rebate, which requires the home to be a primary place of residence for you or a relation. The new residential rental property rebate applies instead, and it returns thirty six percent of the GST to a maximum of $6,300 per unit with nothing above $450,000 of value, so at local prices it is usually negligible. The purpose built rental housing rebate is far more generous but it is aimed at multiple unit buildings rather than individual condominium purchases, and condominiums are specifically excluded.
Sources
- Canada Revenue Agency, Guide RC4028, GST/HST New Housing Rebate: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4028/gst-hst-new-housing-rebate.html
- Canada Revenue Agency, First time home buyers' GST/HST rebate, who can apply: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/gst-hst-rebates/first-time-home-buyers-gst-hst-rebate/who-can-apply.html
- Canada Revenue Agency, First time home buyers' GST/HST rebate, what is the rebate: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/gst-hst-rebates/first-time-home-buyers-gst-hst-rebate/what-rebate.html
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST Memorandum 19-3-9, Purpose built Rental Housing rebate: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/19-3-9/purpose-built-rental-housing-rebate.html
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST Memorandum 19.2.1, Residential Real Property, Sales: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/19-2-1/residential-real-property-sales.html
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST and home construction: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/charge-collect-home-construction.html
- Province of British Columbia, Provincial sales tax frequently asked questions: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/sales-taxes/pst/faqs
All rates, thresholds and dates verified against the sources above on 2 October 2026.
This page is general information and not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rebate eligibility turns on facts specific to you and to your contract, and the amounts are large enough to be worth a professional opinion before you commit.
Buying new in Greater Victoria?
I can tell you before you write the offer whether GST is included, which rebate applies to you, and who should be claiming it. That conversation takes fifteen minutes and it is considerably cheaper than finding out at completion.
Book a call
