How much HST can a Markham first-time buyer actually save?

Why the $80,000 Figure Confuses People

Ontario's HST is two taxes stacked: a 5% federal portion and an 8% provincial portion, 13% together. There is now a rebate available against each, and they are separate programmes with separate rules.

So the person telling you "$80,000 for first-time buyers" has the right number attached to the wrong programme. The Ontario rebate is available to any eligible individual buying a new or substantially renovated home as a primary place of residence, first-time buyer or not. And for someone who genuinely is a first-time buyer, $80,000 understates what is available.

Michael John Lau, a REALTOR® with the Kaizen Real Estate Team in Markham, Ontario and a two-time eXp ICON Agent, walks buyers through this early, because it changes the shape of a search. It is not a small adjustment to a budget. It is the difference between a new build and a resale home being the better value.

The Arithmetic on a $1,000,000 New Home

The clean case, because it is where both rebates max out:

• Pre-tax price: $1,000,000
• HST at 13%: $130,000
• Federal portion, 5%: $50,000 — fully rebated
• Provincial portion, 8%: $80,000 — fully rebated
• Total rebate: $130,000

That is the figure Ontario's own budget material and TRREB both use, and it is why this measure is being described as significant rather than incremental.

What It Actually Looks Like in Markham

Here is the part that general coverage skips, and the part that matters locally.

The $80,000 is a ceiling, not an entitlement. To receive $80,000 of provincial rebate you must pay $80,000 of provincial HST, which requires a pre-tax price of at least $1,000,000. Below that, you receive 8% of the actual price.

A new condominium at Markham's August 2026 average of $638,332

• Provincial portion at 8%: approximately $51,067
• Federal portion at 5%: approximately $31,917
• Combined maximum: approximately $82,983

Substantial, and considerably less than $130,000. The headline figure and the Markham figure are not the same number.

A new detached home at Markham's August 2026 average of $1,611,773

This one is worth sitting with. That price is above the federal $1,500,000 cut-off, which means a first-time buyer purchasing a new detached home at around Markham's average detached price receives no federal rebate at all, and a phased-down provincial one.

Markham's detached market sits in exactly the range where these programmes taper out. That is a local reality that national coverage of the rebate does not mention.

The Rule That Eliminates Most Markham Transactions

Neither rebate applies to resale homes.

This is not a restriction so much as a structural fact. A resale home does not carry HST on the purchase price, so there is no tax to rebate. The rebates apply only to newly built or substantially renovated homes, whether bought from a builder, owner-built, or acquired as a co-operative share.

The large majority of Markham purchases are resale. For those buyers, this programme changes nothing, and it is better to know that at the start of a search than after an offer.

The Federal Rules Worth Reading Closely

• First-time buyer definition: has not owned, or lived in a home owned by a spouse or common-law partner, in the current calendar year or the four preceding calendar years.
• Primary residence and first occupant: the buyer must intend it as their primary place of residence and be the first person to occupy it after construction.
• Once per individual: it cannot be claimed again, and cannot be claimed if a spouse or common-law partner has already claimed it.
• Eligibility: 18 or older, Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Construction deadlines: construction must begin before 2031, and the home must be substantially complete with ownership transferred before 2036.

The agreement of purchase and sale must also fall inside a defined window. Published sources give different start dates for that window, reflecting an amendment made as the legislation moved through Parliament. Anyone whose agreement dates from 2025 should have their lawyer confirm the enacted wording rather than rely on a summary, this one included.

The Ontario Rules

• Agreement window: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. This is the deadline most coverage omits.
• Builder purchases: construction must begin on or before 31 December 2028 and be substantially complete on or before 31 December 2031.
• Owner-built: work begins between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, complete by 31 December 2029.
• No double dipping within the provincial portion: the total of all rebates against the 8% provincial HST cannot exceed the lesser of $80,000 and the provincial HST actually payable. The older $24,000 Ontario rebate cannot be added on top.
• Primary place of residence is required.

The Land Transfer Tax Piece, and a Trap Inside It

Separate from HST, Ontario offers a first-time buyer land transfer tax refund of up to $4,000, which means no provincial land transfer tax on the first $368,000 of price. Unlike the HST rebates, it does apply to resale homes.

Markham buyers pay provincial land transfer tax only. There is no municipal land transfer tax in Markham. Only Toronto currently charges one.

Now the trap, and it is a good one to know.

The two programmes define "first-time buyer" differently.

• Land transfer tax refund: you cannot have ever owned an eligible home, anywhere in the world, at any time.
• Federal GST rebate: you must not have owned in the current calendar year or the four preceding calendar years.

Someone who owned a home and sold it five years ago can qualify for the $50,000 GST rebate and is permanently disqualified from the $4,000 land transfer tax refund. That is a genuine and under-discussed distinction, and it works in the buyer's favour on the larger of the two numbers.

The land transfer tax refund also requires occupancy as a principal residence within 9 months, and an application within 18 months of registration.

What Michael Tells Buyers to Do

1. Confirm which programme you are actually looking at before adjusting your budget. Ontario's $80,000 and the federal $50,000 are different rules with different eligibility.
2. If you are buying resale, set this aside entirely. It does not apply.
3. If you are considering a new build, get the rebate treatment in writing from the builder. Builders often assign the base rebates into the advertised price. How the enhanced rebates are handled should be explicit in the agreement, not assumed.
4. Watch the 31 March 2027 date if the enhanced Ontario route matters to your numbers.
5. Get advice from a real estate lawyer and an accountant before relying on any figure here. This is tax law, it changed recently, published sources currently disagree on some details, and the amounts are large enough that professional confirmation is worth its cost.

Michael John Lau, REALTOR® · Markham, Ontario · (416) 700-0286
Disclaimer. Michael John Lau is a licensed REALTOR® serving buyers and sellers in Markham, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area. Rebate details are current to September 2026 and reflect published federal and Ontario materials, which in places disagree with one another on dates and on how the programmes interact. Michael John Lau is not a lawyer, an accountant or a tax advisor, and this article is general information rather than tax or legal advice. Tax rules change and eligibility depends on individual circumstances, so buyers should confirm their own position with a real estate lawyer and a qualified tax professional before relying on any figure here.