Finance

Homeownership in Quebec in 2026

By Georges Matar · July 30, 2026 · 7 min read

In many families, homeownership is not an investment category. It is security: a home nobody can push you out of, and a cost that does not climb with every renewal letter. That reading is legitimate, but a conviction does not pay a down payment.

So here is the inventory, measure by measure, of what actually exists for a first-time buyer in Quebec in 2026, each one answering two questions: who is it for, and what does it not solve. I am a broker, not a tax specialist: have your plan reviewed by an accountant.

Let us be clear from the start: none of these measures makes a home affordable on its own. Some reduce tax, some speed up the down payment, some refund part of the costs. What matters is knowing which ones apply to your file, and in what order.

The FHSA: the account to open first

The First Home Savings Account lets you contribute $8,000 a year, up to $40,000 over a lifetime. Unused room carries forward, but never more than $8,000, which allows at most $16,000 in a single year. Contributions are deductible, a qualifying withdrawal is not taxable and never has to be repaid. The account lasts at most 15 years after it is opened.

Who it is for: anyone with any saving capacity at all.

What it does not solve: room only starts accumulating once the account is open. Opening early with $100 beats waiting until you have $8,000. And the FHSA does not create money: it shelters the money you set aside.

The HBP: a loan you make to yourself

The Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSPs tax free, per person. Repayment is spread over 15 years. For a first withdrawal made between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2028, the start of that 15-year period is deferred to the fifth year following the withdrawal instead of the second.

Who it is for: someone who already has a well-funded RRSP, often through an employer plan.

What it does not solve: this is not a grant. Every missed repayment is added to your taxable income for that year, and the money withdrawn stops compounding tax sheltered. The FHSA never has to be repaid, which is why I fill it first.

The two combine for the same home. An eligible couple can therefore assemble up to $200,000: $40,000 of FHSA and $60,000 of HBP each, plus the growth accumulated inside the FHSA. That is the theoretical ceiling and rarely the real number, but it is worth knowing where the ceiling is before deciding the project is impossible.

The two credits in the year of purchase

Federal (line 31270): $10,000 at the lowest tax rate, which is 14 % in 2026, so $1,400 (about $1,169 net in Quebec, because of the Quebec abatement).

Quebec (line 396): $10,000 at 14 %, so $1,400 as well.

Who they are for: any first-time buyer who owes tax.

What they do not solve: both are non refundable. They reduce tax payable and nothing more: with no tax owing, they are worth nothing. And they arrive the following spring, not on signing day.

Quebec’s refundable home access tax credit

This is the new one in 2026, and the only measure on this list that pays you even if you owe no tax. It refunds up to $5,875 of the transfer duty: 100 % of the first $5,000 and 25 % of the next $3,500 band. The credit is reduced by 2.35 % of the amount by which the home’s value exceeds $750,000, and disappears at $1,000,000. Advance payments are planned.

Who it is for: first-time buyers, and people acquiring a more accessible home because of a severe disability.

What it does not solve: the municipality still sends its bill, and you pay it first. Estimate it with the welcome tax calculator and read how the welcome tax is calculated.

The first-time buyers’ GST rebate, on new homes

Up to 100 % of the GST, capped at $50,000, on a new home of $1,000,000 or less, then a declining amount up to $1.5 million. You must be a first-time buyer, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the first occupant, and make it your principal residence. With a builder, the agreement must have been entered into on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, construction must begin before 2031 and be substantially completed before 2036.

Who it is for: the buyer of a new condo or house. See our new construction guide.

What it does not solve: it does not touch the QST, and it does not apply to resales, meaning the vast majority of Greater Montreal transactions.

The financing rules, often the real obstacle

The minimum down payment is 5 % up to $500,000, then 5 % on the first $500,000 and 10 % on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million. From $1.5 million up, it is 20 %. Below 20 %, mortgage loan insurance becomes mandatory: the CMHC premium runs from 2.80 % to 4.00 % of the loan amount depending on the loan-to-value ratio (4.50 % with a non-traditional down payment), and in Quebec provincial sales tax is added on top and cannot be rolled into the loan.

Since December 15, 2024, 30-year amortization is available to all first-time buyers as well as to buyers of newly built homes, and the ceiling for insured mortgages rose from $1 million to $1.5 million.

What it does not solve: a longer amortization lowers the monthly payment and raises the total interest paid. CMHC also adds 0.20 % to the premium for an amortization longer than 25 years. See also the 20 % down payment myth.

What none of these measures solve

None of them touch your borrowing capacity. That depends on your income, your debts and your credit file. A file at 650 usually needs a year of targeted work, not five years of resignation. Run the numbers with the affordability calculator and our article on the salary needed to buy in Montreal.

None of them cover the cash you need on closing day either. The welcome tax credit is refunded later, the two purchase credits arrive with your tax return, and the notary, the inspection and the adjustments are all paid in the weeks around the signature. A plan that leaves nothing for those weeks is not a plan, however well the down payment is assembled.

And one barrier no program funds: language. Quebec’s notarial system, OACIQ oversight, mortgage insurance rules and the mechanics of civil law are genuinely unfamiliar territory for a newcomer, however educated. Being able to handle these subjects in your own language is not a comfort: it is what makes it possible to ask the questions you would not otherwise dare to ask. Our newcomers' guide takes the path from the start.

When the gap is still too wide

Sometimes all of these measures added together are not enough. Three levers remain, and none of them is a government program.

The first is geography: the same budget does not buy the same thing in Montreal, Laval, Terrebonne or on the South Shore. The difference between “impossible” and “not yet” is rarely obvious when you look at your own file alone.

The second is the type of building: a duplex or triplex where you occupy one unit brings rental income into the lender’s calculation, which sometimes changes the whole equation.

The third is buying with others, a parent, a sibling or a friend. It works, but only properly structured: see buying property together in Quebec, because the legal setup matters as much as the financing.

The order I would take these in

The FHSA first, because it never has to be repaid. The HBP next, if the RRSP already exists. Then pre-approval to learn the real number, before looking at properties. The tax credits are claimed afterward, and the full budget is built with the true cost of a first purchase.

Want to know which of these apply to your situation? Write to me, we will go through it together.