First-Time Home Buyer Mortgages in Ontario

Four, and they stack. The First Home Savings Account lets you put in $8,000 a year to a $40,000 lifetime maximum, deductible going in and tax-free coming out. The RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000, repaid over fifteen years. Ontario’s land transfer tax refund returns up to $4,000. And the thirty-year amortization available to first-time buyers lowers the monthly payment, which changes what you qualify for.

Most people use one of these. Used together, and in the right order, they are worth considerably more.

Yes. Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of the provincial land transfer tax for eligible first-time buyers, which covers it entirely on a home up to roughly $368,000 and reduces it above that. Buying in Toronto adds a separate municipal rebate on top.

You claim it at closing through your lawyer. It is not automatic, so make sure they know you qualify.

Budget 1.5 to 4 percent of the purchase price on top of your down payment. Land transfer tax is usually the largest piece, then legal fees, title insurance, the inspection, and adjustments for property tax the seller has already paid.

This is the number that catches people out. They save hard for the down payment and forget the rest. We give you the real figure early, so nothing lands as a surprise two weeks before closing.

Not really, and the honest answer matters here. The minimum is 5 percent on the first $500,000, 10 percent on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million, and 20 percent at $1.5 million and above.

What does exist is flexibility about where that money comes from: savings, a gift from an immediate family member, an FHSA or RRSP withdrawal, and in some cases a borrowed down payment. If someone is offering you zero down, look closely at what it actually is.