BC Home Owner Grant in your first year

Who qualifies

You need to be a registered owner, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, living in BC, and the home has to be your principal residence. The home’s assessed value also has to be under the yearly threshold. You have to pay at least $350 of property tax before the regular grant applies.

How much it’s worth

For 2026 the regular grant is $570, with an extra $200 for northern and rural homes. It drops by $5 for every $1,000 of assessed value over $2,075,000.

From January 1, 2027 the regular grant is $570 everywhere in BC. The threshold is set each year, so check the official page when your 2027 notice arrives. There’s a bigger additional grant for seniors, veterans and people with a disability.

The first-year catch

You can only claim for the year you buy if the previous owner hasn’t already claimed it. Plenty of sellers apply early in the year, before they sell, and only one grant is allowed per property per year. If they claimed, you start next year.

If they didn’t, you can claim this year as long as you didn’t get a grant on another home this year and you’re living in the new place when you apply.

How to apply

Apply online, by phone at 1-888-355-2700, or at Service BC. You need your jurisdiction and roll number, which are on your tax notice, your BC Assessment notice or the BC Assessment website, plus your SIN.

Best timing is after your tax notice arrives and before the tax due date. Apply after the due date and late payment penalties can apply. You can still apply until December 31 of the tax year, even if the tax isn’t paid. Your lender won’t do it for you, and you have to apply every year.

Missed it last year?

There’s a retroactive grant. If you qualified on December 31 last year, still own the home, didn’t get a grant on another property and the previous owner didn’t claim it, you can claim last year’s grant until December 31 this year. For a 2025 purchase, that means by December 31, 2026. The 2025 threshold was $2,175,000.

Budget for property tax

Property tax is part of your monthly cost of owning. The down payment planner includes it, and the closing costs calculator includes the tax you pay back to the seller at completion.

Sources

• Home owner grant, Government of BC. Checked October 2026.
• Apply for the home owner grant, Government of BC. Checked October 2026.
• Retroactive home owner grant, Government of BC. Checked October 2026.

Rules on this page last checked: October 30, 2026. Calculator rules last verified: October 26, 2026. See how the calculators work.