Buying your first home in Alberta

For most programs, no. The tests usually look at both of you. The FHSA is the exception: it’s per person, with its own four-year rule, so one of you can often still open and use one. The federal GST rebate on a new build looks at both buyers.

Alberta has no land transfer tax rebate for your partner’s past ownership to disqualify you from, so that common problem doesn’t come up here. Tell us your situation and we’ll work out which programs you still qualify for.

Not at the provincial level. Alberta doesn’t have a first-time buyer program because the thing other provinces rebate, land transfer tax, doesn’t exist here.

There is one municipal program, and it’s narrow. The City of Edmonton’s First Place Program offers new townhomes on city-owned land and defers the land portion of the price for 5 years. To qualify, you must be a first-time buyer with household income under $130,000 and personal net worth of $25,000 or less (not counting RRSPs, your primary vehicle and your down payment). You also need a pre-approval with at least 5% down, and you have to live in the home full-time for those 5 years.

If you qualify, it can be worth a lot. If you don’t, focus on the federal programs above. City of Edmonton First Place Program.

Yes, in 2 ways, and both are in your favour. First, the First-Time Home Buyers’ GST Rebate applies to qualifying new builds. It gives full federal GST relief up to $1,000,000, phasing out to nothing at $1.5M, and it’s worth up to $50,000. It became law on 12 March 2026 and applies to purchase agreements dated on or after 20 March 2025. If you signed with a builder in the last 18 months, check whether you qualify.

Second, 30-year amortization is available to every buyer of a newly built home, first-time or not.

Plan for the wait. New-build possession dates in the Edmonton region are often 6 to 12 months out, which is longer than most rate holds. New-build mortgages.

Yes. Gifted down payments from an immediate family member are standard, and every insurer accepts them. The lender will want a signed gift letter confirming it’s a gift and not a loan, plus proof the money arrived in your account.

It lowers your payment and can raise what you qualify for, which helps in expensive markets. It also adds 0.20% to your insurance premium (on this page’s example, $23,730 instead of $22,600) and means substantially more interest over the life of the mortgage. Choose it if it’s the difference between buying and not buying, and make lump-sum prepayments when you can. Compare 25 vs 30.

There’s no single legal minimum. In practice, insured mortgages get better pricing from about 680 up. Below that, there are still options, but they cost more. Often the right first step is a 3-to-6-month credit repair plan instead of an application. We’ll tell you which one fits your situation.

Budget 1.5–4% of the purchase price. Alberta is at the low end of that range because 2 of the biggest costs in other provinces don’t apply here. There’s no land transfer tax, and no PST on the default insurance premium. You do pay legal fees, title insurance, an inspection, Land Titles registration fees of $1,000 on a $500,000 purchase, the Real Property Report and the adjustments.

Usually, yes. An FHSA withdrawal for a qualifying home purchase is fully tax-free, and the room doesn’t come back. The Home Buyers’ Plan is different. It’s a loan from yourself that you repay to your RRSP over 15 years, so it has an ongoing cost to your retirement savings. When you have both, we generally use the FHSA first.