Canada Killed Its Shared-Equity Program. Six Replacements Beat It Anyway.
The CMHC First-Time Home Buyer Incentive closed in March 2024. If you're still looking for it in 2026, you've been searching for a program that no longer exists. That's not a problem. What replaced it is worth more money.
The shared-equity incentive let CMHC take a 5% or 10% stake in your home in exchange for lowering your mortgage payment. The government owned part of your house. When you sold, you paid back that percentage of the sale price. If your home appreciated, you paid back more than you borrowed. If it dropped, you paid back less. The pitch was payment relief. The cost was upside.
Ottawa ended it because uptake was low and the structure was complicated. Buyers didn't like giving up equity. Lenders didn't like the paperwork. The program peaked at 13,000 applications in 2022, then fell off. By early 2024, new applications stopped. Existing deals closed through 2024, but nothing new entered the pipeline.
That left a void for first A home in Barrie listed at $649,000 in August 2026 can be bought with $20,000 more in usable capital and $270 less per month than the same house in 2023, without giving the government a share of your equity. None of that comes from the shared-equity program everyone remembers. That program is gone.
Here are the six replacements that actually work, ordered by the size of the benefit they deliver.
1. First Home Savings Account (FHSA): Up to $40,000 tax-sheltered
Open an FHSA through any major bank. You contribute up to $8,000 per year. The contribution is tax-deductible, like an RRSP. The withdrawal is tax-free, like a TFSA. Maximum lifetime contribution is $40,000.
A buyer earning $75,000 saves roughly $2,400 in federal and provincial tax on an $8,000 contribution in Ontario. Do that for five years and you pull out $40,000 for a down payment while pocketing $12,000 in tax refunds. The old CMHC incentive gave you a 5% or 10% co-investment that you paid back with appreciation. The FHSA gives you $40,000 you never pay back.
One trap: the account expires 15 years after opening or the year you turn 71, whichever comes first. If you don't buy, the funds transfer to an RRSP or get taxed as income.
2. Home Buyers' Plan (HBP): $60,000 per person, $120,000 per couple
Withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP interest-free. If you're buying with a spouse or partner, that's $120,000 combined. You have 15 years to repay, starting two years after the withdrawal year.
This is liquidity, not free money. You're borrowing from your retirement. A 32-year-old withdrawing $60,000 in 2026 and repaying over 15 years loses roughly $140,000 in compounded growth by age 65, assuming 6% returns. But if the alternative is not buying at all or taking a smaller, more expensive mortgage, the math can still work.
Grace period matters. The repayment start date was pushed to 2027 for anyone who withdrew between 2022 and 2025. If you withdrew in 2024, you don't start repaying until 2027.
3. 30-year amortization on insured mortgages for first-time buyers
As of December 2024, first-time buyers can stretch their mortgage to 30 years instead of 25. That drops the monthly payment by roughly 11% on the same loan amount.
A $500,000 mortgage at 5.5% over 25 years costs $3,057 per month. The same loan over 30 years costs $2,721. That's $336 less per month, or $4,032 per year.
The cost is interest. Over 30 years you'll pay $479,560 in interest. Over 25 years it's $416,850. The difference is $62,710. You're trading total cost for monthly cash flow. If you need to qualify or if monthly budget is the constraint, it works.
4. GST/HST New Housing Rebate (updated March 2026)
If you're buying a newly built home as your primary residence, you can claim a rebate on the federal GST (5%) and, in some provinces, the provincial portion of the HST. The federal rebate maxes out at $6,300 for homes under $350,000, then phases out by $450,000.
Ontario has a separate provincial rebate of up to $24,000 for new homes under $400,000. British Columbia offers a rebate on the provincial portion of PST for new builds.
The rebate goes directly to the builder in most cases, reducing your purchase price at closing. You don't apply separately. The builder files and credits your account.
This only applies to new construction. Resale homes don't qualify.
5. Land Transfer Tax Rebate (Ontario and other provinces)
Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of the provincial land transfer tax for first-time buyers. Toronto has a separate municipal LTT, and first-time buyers get up to $4,475 back there too. If you're buying in Toronto, you can stack both rebates for a combined $8,475.
British Columbia exempts first-time buyers from the property transfer tax on homes up to $500,000, then offers a partial exemption up to $835,000. The full exemption is worth up to $8,000.
The rebate applies at closing. Your lawyer handles the paperwork.
6. Combine them
A couple in Ontario buying a $600,000 new-build condo in 2026 can use:
$80,000 from two FHSAs ($40k each)
$120,000 from two HBP withdrawals ($60k each)
A 30-year amortization to lower the payment by $300/month
The GST rebate (partial, depending on price)
The Ontario LTT rebate ($4,000)
That's $200,000 in down payment liquidity, a lower monthly payment, and roughly $10,000 in closing cost relief. The old CMHC incentive maxed out at a $50,000 co-investment on a $500,000 home and you gave up equity.
The CMHC First-Time Home Buyer Incentive closed in March 2024. If you're still looking for it in 2026, you've been searching for a program that no longer exists. That's not a problem. What replaced it is worth more money.
The shared-equity incentive let CMHC take a 5% or 10% stake in your home in exchange for lowering your mortgage payment. The government owned part of your house. When you sold, you paid back that percentage of the sale price. If your home appreciated, you paid back more than you borrowed. If it dropped, you paid back less. The pitch was payment relief. The cost was upside.
Ottawa ended it because uptake was low and the structure was complicated. Buyers didn't like giving up equity. Lenders didn't like the paperwork. The program peaked at 13,000 applications in 2022, then fell off. By early 2024, new applications stopped. Existing deals closed through 2024, but nothing new entered the pipeline.
That left a void for first A home in Barrie listed at $649,000 in August 2026 can be bought with $20,000 more in usable capital and $270 less per month than the same house in 2023, without giving the government a share of your equity. None of that comes from the shared-equity program everyone remembers. That program is gone.
Here are the six replacements that actually work, ordered by the size of the benefit they deliver.
1. First Home Savings Account (FHSA): Up to $40,000 tax-sheltered
Open an FHSA through any major bank. You contribute up to $8,000 per year. The contribution is tax-deductible, like an RRSP. The withdrawal is tax-free, like a TFSA. Maximum lifetime contribution is $40,000.
A buyer earning $75,000 saves roughly $2,400 in federal and provincial tax on an $8,000 contribution in Ontario. Do that for five years and you pull out $40,000 for a down payment while pocketing $12,000 in tax refunds. The old CMHC incentive gave you a 5% or 10% co-investment that you paid back with appreciation. The FHSA gives you $40,000 you never pay back.
One trap: the account expires 15 years after opening or the year you turn 71, whichever comes first. If you don't buy, the funds transfer to an RRSP or get taxed as income.
2. Home Buyers' Plan (HBP): $60,000 per person, $120,000 per couple
Withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP interest-free. If you're buying with a spouse or partner, that's $120,000 combined. You have 15 years to repay, starting two years after the withdrawal year.
This is liquidity, not free money. You're borrowing from your retirement. A 32-year-old withdrawing $60,000 in 2026 and repaying over 15 years loses roughly $140,000 in compounded growth by age 65, assuming 6% returns. But if the alternative is not buying at all or taking a smaller, more expensive mortgage, the math can still work.
Grace period matters. The repayment start date was pushed to 2027 for anyone who withdrew between 2022 and 2025. If you withdrew in 2024, you don't start repaying until 2027.
3. 30-year amortization on insured mortgages for first-time buyers
As of December 2024, first-time buyers can stretch their mortgage to 30 years instead of 25. That drops the monthly payment by roughly 11% on the same loan amount.
A $500,000 mortgage at 5.5% over 25 years costs $3,057 per month. The same loan over 30 years costs $2,721. That's $336 less per month, or $4,032 per year.
The cost is interest. Over 30 years you'll pay $479,560 in interest. Over 25 years it's $416,850. The difference is $62,710. You're trading total cost for monthly cash flow. If you need to qualify or if monthly budget is the constraint, it works.
4. GST/HST New Housing Rebate (updated March 2026)
If you're buying a newly built home as your primary residence, you can claim a rebate on the federal GST (5%) and, in some provinces, the provincial portion of the HST. The federal rebate maxes out at $6,300 for homes under $350,000, then phases out by $450,000.
Ontario has a separate provincial rebate of up to $24,000 for new homes under $400,000. British Columbia offers a rebate on the provincial portion of PST for new builds.
The rebate goes directly to the builder in most cases, reducing your purchase price at closing. You don't apply separately. The builder files and credits your account.
This only applies to new construction. Resale homes don't qualify.
5. Land Transfer Tax Rebate (Ontario and other provinces)
Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of the provincial land transfer tax for first-time buyers. Toronto has a separate municipal LTT, and first-time buyers get up to $4,475 back there too. If you're buying in Toronto, you can stack both rebates for a combined $8,475.
British Columbia exempts first-time buyers from the property transfer tax on homes up to $500,000, then offers a partial exemption up to $835,000. The full exemption is worth up to $8,000.
The rebate applies at closing. Your lawyer handles the paperwork.
6. Combine them
A couple in Ontario buying a $600,000 new-build condo in 2026 can use:
That's $200,000 in down payment liquidity, a lower monthly payment, and roughly $10,000 in closing cost relief. The old CMHC incentive maxed out at a $50,000 co-investment on a $500,000 home and you gave up equity.
The new stack is bigger and you keep the house.
Read Next
How Dual Citizens Can Claim RESP Tax Benefits Without Form 3520 Reporting
Bond Markets Are Pricing In Recovery, Not the 1970s Replay Already Underway
Why Fortress Tells Private Credit Lenders to Stop Chasing AI Data Centre Deals
Canada's Tax Code Punishes Work and Rewards Wealth Hoarding: Four Reforms That Would Actually Fix It