Rebates, grants and tax help

Buying your first home

A couple buying together could use two FHSAs and two Home Buyers' Plan withdrawals: up to $200,000 toward a down payment, plus whatever it has grown. See what that buys with the mortgage calculator.

Sources: CRA, FHSA; CRA, Home Buyers' Plan; Ontario, land transfer tax refunds; CRA, home buyers' amount.

Buying a new home

Federal first-time buyer GST rebate. First-time buyers of a newly built home they'll live in can get back the GST: up to $50,000 on a home up to $1 million, shrinking to nothing at $1.5 million. The purchase agreement must be signed after March 19, 2025 and before 2031, and you can claim it once in your life. It became law in March 2026.

Ontario HST relief. In March 2026 Ontario announced relief of the full HST, up to $130,000, on new homes up to $1 million bought as a home to live in, with smaller amounts up to $1.85 million, for agreements signed from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027. Ontario has also proposed returning the 8% provincial part of the HST to first-time buyers of new homes. Parts of this were still waiting on legislation in the latest public summaries.

Builders often show prices with rebates already counted. Ask the builder, and have your lawyer check which rebates the agreement assumes, before you sign. Estimate the federal rebate on the mortgage page.

Sources: TaxTips.ca, GST/HST housing rebates; Osler, Ontario's new HST rebate.

Energy upgrades

Ontario's Home Renovation Savings program, run with Enbridge Gas, pays part of the cost of upgrades that cut energy use. Some of the current amounts:

• Heat pumps: up to $12,000
• Solar panels and battery storage: up to $10,000
• Insulation: up to $7,700, and windows and doors $100 per opening, when done with a home energy assessment
• Attic insulation on its own: up to $1,250
• Smart thermostats: $125, and efficient appliances up to $200

Amounts change often, and most need approval or an assessment before the work starts. A newer furnace, heat pump or insulation is also worth asking about when you buy: it lowers the heating line in your monthly budget.

Source: Home Renovation Savings program.

Protecting your basement from flooding

Halton Region pays for work that keeps sewer and storm water out of basements, for homes on city sewers in Burlington and the rest of Halton.

Apply within a year of finishing the work. Labour is covered only when a contractor does it. Buying an older home? Ask whether any of this has been done, and check the address for creeks and shoreline nearby.

Source: Halton Region, basement flooding prevention subsidies, amounts for work done after July 15, 2024.

Property tax help for seniors and people with disabilities

$575 off your tax bill. Burlington takes $575 off the property tax of homeowners who are 65 or older and receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, or who receive ODSP income support. You must have owned and lived in the home for at least a year, own no other property in Burlington, and be up to date on your taxes. Apply each year by December 31.

Put off tax increases. The same homeowners can instead defer the year's tax increase until the home is sold. Apply within 45 days after the final tax bill is mailed, usually in early summer. You can't take both in the same year.

Sources: City of Burlington, low-income property tax program; Halton community services directory.

Checking your assessment

Your property tax is based on MPAC's assessed value, which in 2026 is still what your home was worth on January 1, 2016. What matters is how your value compares with similar homes nearby, not today's prices. Look your home up on MPAC's AboutMyProperty and compare it with similar homes on your street.

If it looks too high, you can ask MPAC to look again with a Request for Reconsideration. It's free. The deadline is printed on your Property Assessment Notice. MPAC usually answers within 180 days, and if you still disagree you have 90 days to appeal to the Assessment Review Board.

Source: MPAC, Request for Reconsideration. Estimates on this site use Burlington's 2026 tax rate on about 60% of today's price.

Before you renovate or build

• Trees. Inside Burlington's urban area, removing or injuring a tree 20 cm or more across (measured 1.37 m up the trunk) needs a city permit first, even on your own lot.
• Heritage. Exterior changes to a designated home, or any home in the downtown heritage conservation district, need a heritage permit.
• Creeks, valleys and the lake. Near a creek or the shoreline, Conservation Halton's permit usually comes before the city's.
• Building permits. Additions, suites, finished basements with new walls or plumbing, most decks and larger sheds need a building permit. Ask the city's building department before you start, not after.
• Adding a unit. Ontario exempts a second and third unit on a house lot from development charges, which can save tens of thousands of dollars. See whether your lot can have one.

Check which rules apply to an address

Renting it out short-term

Since May 1, 2025, short-term rentals in Burlington (stays of up to 28 nights in a row, like Airbnb or VRBO) need a city licence, about $300 a year. A home can be rented this way for up to 183 days a year, and you need heating and electrical safety certificates before you're licensed. Summaries of the by-law say the rental must be in the operator's principal residence, so don't count on Airbnb income from a second property without checking with the city first.

Sources: By-law 01-2025; Burlington Gazette; Local News.