Qualifying
First-time home buyer
For most federal programs, someone who hasn't owned a home they lived in during the current year or the 4 preceding calendar years.
The definition is narrower than the phrase suggests, and it varies by program. For the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan and the FHSA, you generally qualify if neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner owned a home you lived in as your principal residence in the current calendar year or the 4 before it. If you sold 5 years ago, you can qualify again.
Being a first-time buyer matters in 3 places: access to the FHSA and the Home Buyers' Plan, the $1,400 First-Time Home Buyers' Tax Credit, and eligibility for a 30-year amortization on an insured mortgage.
Alberta has no provincial first-time buyer rebate, because there's no land transfer tax to rebate. The City of Edmonton runs a limited First Place Program for new townhomes on city-owned land.
Check each program separately. Qualifying for one doesn't mean you qualify for another.
Related terms
First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
A registered account for first-time buyers: $8,000 a year up to a $40,000 lifetime cap, deductible going in and tax-free coming out.
RRSP Home Buyers' Plan (HBP)
A program that lets a first-time buyer withdraw up to $60,000 from an RRSP tax-free for a home, repayable over 15 years.
Amortization
The total time it would take to pay your mortgage down to zero at your current payment, usually 25 or 30 years in Canada.
This definition describes how the term is used in Canadian residential mortgage lending. It’s general information, not advice on your file. Rules, thresholds and rates change. Where a figure is quoted, it’s current as of the date shown on the related guide.
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