New home tax relief welcomed by industry leaders
By Martin Slofstra
The Toronto Sun
March 26, 2026
A number of major home building organizations — BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) and OHBA (Ontario Home Builders’ Association) and RESCON —are celebrating a new government decision that makes buying new homes in Ontario more affordable
As announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford Wednesday morning, the government is reducing or removing the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on new homes. It will mean:
No HST on homes priced under $1 million.
Reduced HST on homes priced between $1 million and $1.85 million.
Homes over $1.85 million will still get a $24,000 rebate if they qualify.
This means people buying new homes will pay less tax upfront, making it easier to afford a home, and savings on a $1 million new home would, for example, amount to $130,000.
Further, the tax cuts are being made available to all new home buyers, not just first-time buyers.
The tax relief starts April 1, 2026 and extends to March 31, 2027.
In general, industry leaders say this is a big step toward making homes more affordable, especially during tough economic times. But the tax cut also provide a huge boost to a troubled new home construction industry, helping to support the jobs of construction workers and others in the housing industry.
“This is great news for both new home purchasers and the 100,000s of workers in our industry,” says Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of BILD, who is heralding Thursday’s announcement as “historic” and potentially a huge turning point for an industry that has been on a long slide..
How much it ‘moves the needle’ remains to be seen but expect that “we will see (lots more) people in new home sales offices,” he says.
“This is a critical step towards making new homes more affordable and demonstrates that Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney understand the severity of the housing downturn and the urgent need for decisive action to restore confidence in the market,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall.
“It is a necessary initiative given the depth of the market downturn and grim outlook for the industry. This will help revive residential construction and save industry jobs.”
RESCON wanted the HST eliminated on new homes because, without meaningful intervention, housing starts and sales were forecast to remain stagnant.
The association warns however that additional action will still be required to right the ship, such as reforming development charges, providing faster approvals and removing barriers to housing delivery.