Ontario Helping to Build More Rental Housing

November 1, 2023

Province removing the full provincial portion of HST on qualifying new purpose-built rental housing

The Ontario government is taking steps to remove the full eight per cent provincial portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on qualifying new purpose-built rental housing in order to get more rental homes built across the province.

The removal of the provincial portion of the HST would apply to new purpose-built rental housing such as apartment buildings, student housing and senior residences built specifically for long-term rental accommodation, that meet the criteria. The enhanced rebate would apply to qualifying projects that begin construction between September 14, 2023 and December 31, 2030, and complete construction by December 31, 2035.

Since fall 2022, Ontario has called on the federal government to remove the HST for certain purpose-built rental housing. Ontario welcomes the federal government’s decision to listen to Ontario. Together, the provincial and federal actions would remove the full 13 per cent HST on qualifying new purpose-built rental housing in Ontario, helping to get more housing built. Ontario will continue working closely with the federal government to implement this new measure.

As part of its ongoing work to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031, the government is also working on the development of a comprehensive modular home strategy. This strategy includes exploring the use of a Request for Qualification process that will transparently identify and pre-qualify companies that contribute to modular housing construction on the scale Ontario needs. The government is also working to leverage surplus provincial lands and partnering with municipalities to leverage surplus municipal lands in order to help reduce the cost of building attainable homes, including modular homes.