FAQ

A house, for the purpose of this rebate, includes a detached or semi-detached single-unit house, a townhouse, a mobile home or modular home, a duplex, a condominium unit, a unit in a co-operative housing corporation,, and a floating home. A house may also include, under particular circumstances, a recreational unit grounded to land and having the characteristics of a house.

Your primary place of residence is simply a residence that you own, or co-own, that you plan to live in permanently or for a significant length of time. If you own multiple homes, one of these homes will be considered your primary place of residence.

Note: If your primary place of residence is outside of Canada and you build or purchase a new home in Canada, your home in Canada will not be eligible for the rebate as it will be considered your secondary place of residence.

Payment could take as long as six months to process since all applications are subject to auditing. Payments could take longer if there is missing or incomplete paperwork, incorrect repayment calculation, inaccurate information, or requested documentation not included with your application.

Generally, you will not need to send supporting documentation with your application. However, if your vendor did not invoice you the GST/HST, you may need to include these invoices with your application. You may send photocopies of these invoices. You may have to submit proof of occupancy as well.

Like most applications, it is wise to retain copies of your completed application, and all invoices should be kept for as long as six years in the case of an audit.

Original invoices in the name of the individual or co-owner are the only acceptable invoices. The following documents are not accepted without the original invoices: photocopies, account statements, credit card or interac slips. Estimates and quotes will not be accepted either. All requested invoices will be returned.

As long as you originally planned to reside in a primary place of residence on a permanent basis, you may make an exempt sale of the house and transfer ownership while still claiming the rebate.

Exempt sales, for GST/HST consideration, usually require that the seller not be a builder of the house and that the seller did not claim any input tax credits (ITCs) for the GST/HST component of the building or renovation costs.

You may be the builder of the house and claim the rebate if you had a primary or secondary intention to sell the house instead of using it as your or your relation’s primary place of residence. However, consider that if you are the builder of the house, your sale of the house may be taxable and would therefore make you ineligible for the HST/GST rebate.