Canada & Ontario mortgage rule watch
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Often no. When opening an FHSA, living in a qualifying home owned or jointly owned by your spouse or common-law partner during the current year or previous four calendar years can prevent first-time-buyer status.
The withdrawal must meet CRA’s qualifying-withdrawal conditions, including first-time-buyer status at the required time, a written agreement for a qualifying home, Canadian residency, acquisition timing and an intention to occupy the home as a…
Yes. You may make a qualifying FHSA withdrawal and an eligible Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal for the same home if you satisfy each program’s conditions at the time of each withdrawal.
An excess FHSA amount can generally attract a 1% tax per month on the highest excess amount for that month until the excess is eliminated.
The general FHSA limit is $8,000 of new participation room per year and $40,000 over a lifetime. Unused room can carry forward, but the carryforward is generally capped at $8,000.
No. FHSA participation room starts only when you open your first FHSA. Waiting does not quietly accumulate room in the background the way many buyers expect.
An FHSA can combine a tax deduction for eligible contributions with a tax-free qualifying withdrawal. The first year’s participation room is $8,000 and the general lifetime limit is $40,000, but the account, contribution room,…
No. Up to $50,000 is the qualifying-expenditure ceiling for an eligible renovation—not the cheque amount. The refundable credit is a percentage of eligible costs and the rate can depend on the tax year.
No. Ontario NRST exemptions and rebates have specific purchaser, spouse, immigration, occupancy, registration, documentation and deadline conditions. Expecting future status does not by itself remove tax at closing.
Ontario’s NRST is generally a 25% tax on certain residential-property acquisitions by foreign nationals, foreign corporations and taxable trustees. Citizenship, permanent-resident status, ownership structure and exemptions must be checked before the offer becomes firm.
Generally, yes. CRA says all assignment sales of newly constructed or substantially renovated residential housing are taxable for GST/HST purposes when the agreement is entered into after May 6, 2022.
Yes. Toronto says an undeclared property can be deemed vacant, the tax forms a lien on the property and a purchaser can become responsible. Buyers and sellers should address the declaration and tax status…
Not always. Ontario’s first-time-homebuyer land-transfer-tax refund is capped at $4,000. It can eliminate provincial land transfer tax on a lower-priced home, but a buyer owes any amount above the refund.
An Ontario first-time-buyer refund application generally must be received within 18 months of the conveyance or disposition. The maximum provincial refund is $4,000 for qualifying transactions.
Yes. Ontario’s land-transfer-tax refund has spouse-related rules, so “I personally never owned” is not always enough. The maximum refund is $4,000 for qualifying transactions, but the lawyer should confirm eligibility before it is included…
How to read this centre
Sets laws, program requirements or prudential boundaries. FSRA regulates; it does not write every lender’s underwriting policy.
Applies only when the mortgage or client fits that insured product or program. It should not be generalized to every conventional deal.
Decides its own acceptable income, property, credit and exception policy inside the applicable rules.
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