What Happened to the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive?

If you've been reading older articles, you may have come across the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive — a federal shared-equity program. The important thing to know in 2026: it has been discontinued and is no longer accepting applications. The good news is that the programs that actually move the needle for first-time buyers are still here. This guide explains what happened and where to focus now.

Key takeaways

• The federal First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (a shared-equity loan) has been discontinued.
• Today's most useful programs are the FHSA, the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, and tax rebates.
• The FHSA lets you save up to $40,000 lifetime with tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals.
• First-time buyers can claim land transfer tax rebates of up to $4,000 provincial and $4,475 in Toronto.
• A new-home GST rebate of up to $50,000 is available for qualifying first-time buyers.

What the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive was

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive was a federal shared-equity program. The government contributed a share toward your purchase to lower your monthly mortgage payment, and in return took a corresponding share of your home's value — meaning you repaid more if your home rose in value, or less if it fell. It was designed to ease affordability for first-time buyers.

Important: this program has ended

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive has been discontinued and is no longer accepting new applications. Don't build your plan around it — focus on the current programs below instead.

Why it was discontinued

In practice, the shared-equity structure saw limited uptake. Many buyers were uneasy about giving the government a stake in their home's future appreciation, and the qualifying limits often didn't stretch far enough in high-priced markets like the Greater Toronto Area. With take-up low, the program was wound down — and federal support shifted toward tools that buyers had embraced far more readily, such as the FHSA and an expanded RRSP Home Buyers' Plan.

What to use instead

These are the programs first-time buyers should be using today. Each is well-established and far more flexible than the discontinued incentive.

Dig deeper in our guides to the FHSA, the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, and the land transfer tax rebate.

Where the savings are biggest

Stacking the current programs can add up to far more than the old incentive ever offered. Here's the headline value of each lever a first-time buyer can pull.

The new-home GST rebate removes the full GST on qualifying new homes valued up to $1,000,000 (phasing out between $1M and $1.5M) where the agreement is signed on or after May 27, 2025 and before 2031. See our GST rebate guide for the details.

The HOMEH advantage

Government programs help on the margins — HOMEH helps on the bottom line. Eligible HOMEH buyers receive the industry's highest Cashback Rebate, which can dwarf any single federal incentive and goes straight back to you.

Get more back with HOMEH

Stack the FHSA, HBP, and rebates with HOMEH's Cashback Rebate, the industry's highest. Estimate yours with the cashback calculator, and explore every option in the first-time home buyer guide for Ontario.