First-time buyers

Everything the listing photos don't tell you

The purchase price is only the headline. This page covers the money that moves around it — down-payment rules, the registered accounts that can fund it, the land transfer tax, and the closing costs that surprise people at the lawyer's office.

Get pre-approved first What can I afford?

Step zero

The minimum down payment, by price

5% of the first $500,000, plus 10% of everything above that — until $1.5M, where insurance stops and 20% becomes the floor. Under 20% down you'll add a default-insurance premium (2.80%–4.00% of the loan) to the mortgage.

One quiet advantage you have as a first-time buyer: on insured purchases, first-time buyers (and anyone buying a new build) can stretch amortization to 30 years — lower payment, more total interest, and a 0.20% premium surcharge. The calculator models it.

Minimum down payment (insured space) — illustrative
Purchase price	Minimum down	How it's built
$400,000	$20,000	5% flat
$500,000	$25,000	5% flat — the threshold
$600,000	$35,000	$25,000 + 10% of the $100,000 above
$800,000	$55,000	$25,000 + 10% of the $300,000 above
$1,000,000	$75,000	$25,000 + 10% of the $500,000 above
$1,500,000+	20% of price	no longer insurable — 20% minimum

Funding the down payment

Two registered accounts do the heavy lifting

RRSP · Home Buyers' Plan

Borrow up to $60,000 from yourself, tax-free

$60,000 per person withdrawn from your RRSP without tax — $120,000 for a couple who both qualify.
Funds must sit in the RRSP at least 90 days before withdrawal — plan the contribution early.
It's a loan from your own retirement: repayments run over 15 years, and a missed year's repayment is added to your taxable income.
"First-time" is generous: you qualify if neither of you occupied a home you owned in the last four calendar years.

FHSA · First Home Savings Account

$8,000/year, $40,000 lifetime — and never repaid

Contributions deduct from taxable income like an RRSP; qualifying withdrawals are tax-free like a TFSA — the only account that does both.
Room accrues only after you open the account — open it early even with $50 in it.
Unlike the HBP, an FHSA withdrawal is not repaid. Ever.
Stackable with the HBP on the same purchase: up to $100,000 per person of registered money, $200,000 per couple.

Limits shown are the current published program limits and are the kind of detail that changes at budget time — on a real engagement we confirm against CRA rules at the moment you plan the withdrawal. (Sample site: treat as illustrative.)

The tax nobody budgets for

Land transfer tax — and your rebate

Ontario charges land transfer tax on a sliding scale — on a $600,000 home it comes to $8,475, due in cash at closing. It cannot be added to the mortgage.

First-time buyers get a rebate of up to $4,000, which fully covers the tax on homes up to about $368,000 — so on that $600,000 example you'd still owe $4,475. Buying in Toronto adds a second, municipal land transfer tax with its own first-time rebate of up to $4,475.

Figures illustrative as of July 2026; other provinces differ (BC, for example, runs a separate first-time-buyer exemption program).

A young couple holding up the keys to their first home, moving boxes stacked behind them

Cash you'll need beyond the down payment

The closing-costs table

Budget roughly 1.5%–4% of the purchase price on top of your down payment. Here's where it goes on a typical Ontario resale purchase — illustrative ranges.

Typical closing costs for an Ontario first-time buyer
Cost	Typical amount	Notes
Land transfer tax (Ontario)	$8,475 on a $600,000 home	First-time buyers get up to $4,000 back; Toronto adds a municipal LTT (with its own rebate up to $4,475).
Legal fees & disbursements	$1,200 – $2,200	Real-estate lawyer, title searches, registrations.
Title insurance	$250 – $500	One-time premium, usually arranged by your lawyer.
Home inspection	$450 – $700	Optional but rarely wise to skip on resale homes.
Appraisal	$350 – $600	Often covered by the lender on prime files — we'll tell you.
PST on default-insurance premium	8% of the premium, in cash	e.g. $1,339 on a $16,740 CMHC premium — cannot be added to the mortgage.
Interest & tax adjustments	varies	Reimbursing the seller for prepaid property tax, interim interest.
Moving, utilities, locks	$500 – $2,500	The unglamorous line everyone forgets.

Lenders also want to see the closing cash exists before approval — typically 1.5% of the price in provable liquid funds beyond the down payment. It's on the document checklist you'll get after the pre-approval wizard.

Parents and their young son sitting on the front steps of their new home, holding the house keys

The right order

Pre-approval before house-hunting. Always.

Open the FHSA today — even with a token deposit — contribution room only accrues once it exists.
Get pre-approved — so you shop with a real budget, a rate hold, and credibility with sellers.
House-hunt inside the number — the stress-tested one — not the one a listing agent suggests you could 'probably do'.
Keep your file boring — no new car loans, no job changes, no moving money in unexplained lumps between accounts until after closing.