Up to $130,000 back
Ontario's enhanced HST new housing rebate can return a significant amount on a new primary residence. The catch is the date, and it is earlier than most people assume.
Ask how it applies to your buildWhat qualifies, and how much you actually get back
If you're planning a new home in Muskoka, there's a real deadline attached to real money right now. Ontario's enhanced HST new housing rebate can return up to $130,000 in combined federal and provincial relief on an eligible new home. It applies to new homes purchased from a builder, and, with different timing rules, to homes you build yourself on land you already own. Both paths matter here, and they work differently enough that conflating them is where most people get this wrong.
What you get back, by home value
- Up to $1,000,000Full 13% HST rebated, to the $130,000 cap
- $1,000,000 to $1,500,000Holds at the $130,000 maximum
- $1,500,000 to $1,850,000Phases down toward $24,000
- Above $1,850,000The $24,000 base rebate
The $130,000 figure is the combined federal and provincial maximum. Above $1,850,000 the pre-existing $24,000 base rebate applies, unaffected by the enhanced program.
To be eligible, you need to be an individual, not a corporation or partnership, the home has to be your or a relation's primary residence, and every co-owner on title has to qualify individually. Investment purchases don't qualify under this rebate, though a separate rental rebate program exists for long-term rental properties.
Buying the lot and the home from us together
If you buy a lot at Deerhurst Highlands and the home from us together, on one agreement, this falls under the purchase-from-a-builder category of the rebate. Two dates matter here, and they're further apart than most people assume.
Agreement signed by 31 March 2027
Your agreement of purchase and sale has to be signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027. Miss it, and the enhanced rebate isn't available regardless of when construction happens.
Started by 2028, finished by 2031
Construction has to begin on or before December 31, 2028, with substantial completion required by December 31, 2031.
That gap matters. You don't need a shovel in the ground by March 2027, just a signed agreement. Design, permitting, and the normal lead time on a custom build can happen well into 2027 or 2028 and the home still qualifies, as long as the agreement itself was signed before the March 31, 2027 cutoff.
Building on land you own, including a lot you bought first
This is a genuinely different set of rules, and it's where a lot of general HST rebate content online gets sloppy. If you already own your land, including a lot you bought from us first, and hire us to build on it, that's an owner-built home for rebate purposes, not a purchase from a builder, and the timing works differently.
The owner-built timeline
- Construction must beginBetween 1 Apr 2026 and 31 Mar 2027
- Substantially complete by31 December 2029
There's no agreement-signing milestone that extends this the way the builder-purchase path does. The construction start date is the deadline, and completion falls two years earlier than the builder-purchase deadline.
In practice, the owner-built timeline is considerably tighter than the builder-purchase timeline. If you already own land in Muskoka and want to build your custom home under this rebate, the planning conversation needs to start now, not later this year, because construction begins for CRA purposes generally means actual work underway, not a signed contract or an issued permit. We'd recommend confirming exactly what qualifies as a construction start date for your specific project with your accountant before relying on a target date.
Why the lot-first, build-second structure still matters
Separately from the HST rebate, we default to a lot-first, build-contract-second structure for Deerhurst Highlands buyers rather than bundling the land and construction into a single purchase. This typically saves buyers $19,000 to $28,000 in land transfer tax, since the land and construction contract are taxed as two separate transactions instead of one combined purchase price. This structure and the HST rebate are two separate savings mechanisms that both apply to the same purchase. One thing to weigh: buying the lot first puts you on the owner-built rebate path, so construction has to begin by March 31, 2027, not just an agreement signed.
What this means for timing
Sign before 31 March 2027
Buying the lot and the home from us on one agreement: get it signed before March 31, 2027. Construction has real runway after that, to the end of 2028.
Break ground before 31 March 2027
Building on land you own, including a lot you bought from us first: construction needs to actually start before March 31, 2027, meaning excavation, not a permit or a contract. Frost season sits in between, so plan to be permitted and ready to dig in early spring.
If staying under the threshold matters to you, a home that lands under the line is the simplest route. The Glen Eagle comes in at $1,154,900 before tax with the lot included, which is $345,100 clear of the $1.5 million mark.
Where you stand, specifically
We can walk you through current lot availability at Deerhurst Highlands, our $635 per square foot plus HST construction pricing, and how the rebate and the lot-first structure interact for your specific situation, whichever path you're building on. Contact us to start that conversation.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rebate eligibility depends on your specific circumstances, and the rules involve federal legislation that was still being finalized as of this writing. Confirm your eligibility and exact figures with your own accountant or lawyer before making a purchase or construction decision based on this rebate.
Find out where you stand
Tell us where you want to build and roughly when. We will be straight with you about whether the rebate is realistically in reach on your timeline.