The city of Montreal has quietly renewed a program to encourage tenants and families to buy and stay on the island. The on-again, off-again home ownership program received a $136-million cash injection with little fanfare in April. As in years past, the city will take applications for up to three years, or until the cash runs out.
The cash tends to run out well before the three years are up.
Still, not a bad program if you fit the various criteria. For new homes, the incentives are on a sliding scale, depending on whether you are a single buyer, a couple without children or a household with children. The lump sum incentives range from $4,500 to $12,000 . Households with kids can also get a refund of the hated welcome tax.
Not bad! The program gets complicated when you look at the types of properties that are eligible. For single buyers, the maximum budget is $200,000, for a couple $250,000. If you're buying for a family, the budget can go as high at $360,000, but to qualify for the highest amount you must buy a three-bedroom unit.
The program will also refund the welcome tax on the purchase of a resale duplex or triplex, providing the purchase price is not more than $450.000 and $490.000 respectively.
Households with kids can also get six months of free public transit with the purchase of a one-year Opus card. It is not clear from the brochure whether this means a total of 18 months of public transit for the price of 12 or 12 months for the price of six.
As with any program, there's lots of small print. Still, worth looking into if it can save you several thousand dollars, right?
Here's the website, en anglais et en francais .
You can also download the brochure on the site.
Showing posts with label tax rebate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax rebate. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Monday, August 15, 2011
City of Montreal Offers Cash Incentives to New Buyers. Some Strings Attached
Did you know that Montreal offers financial incentives to encourage tenants to become home buyers? The incentives are even better for households with at least one child under the age of 18. You don't have to be a first-time buyer to be eligible, but you must prove that you have not owned a property for at least five years.
As with most government programs, this one is more than a little complicated. Still, it might be something worth investigating if you are looking at buyung either a single unit or a revenue property where you will reside.
Single Units, How Much?If you buy a newly built unit and are the first owner of that property, you can collect a rebate of $4,500, $10,000 or $12,500 depending on if you are a childless single buyer, two buyers, or a household with at least one child.
For a single buyer, the rebate is good for the purchase of a new unit costing not more than $200,000, taxes and extras like kitchen upgrades or a parking space included. (if my math is correct, that means a condo or house priced at not more than $175,554. Ce n'est pas beaucoup ça!)
For two-buyer households, the limit is $235,000.
For a household with at least one kid, the limit is $265,000 or $310,000 if the unit has three bedrooms.
The city will also refund 40 per cent of your property transfer tax (the hated welcome tax that you will be hit with about 30 days after you take possession.)
The welccome tax refund is 100 per cent for households with at least one kid.
This program has the twin aim of encouraging developers to build family-affordable housing in the city and encouraging young families to stay on the island instead of fleeing to the suburbs.
Revenue Properties, How Much?
If you buy a duplex and live in one unit while renting the other, the city will refund 40 per cent of your property transfer tax, as long as your duplex does not cost more than $400,000 (There's no sales tax of resale duplexes, so that $400,000 is a real market price.) If you buy a triplex, the maximum is $450,000.
For households with children, the maximum purchase price remains $400,000 for a duplex and $450,000 for a triplex but the city will refund the entire amount of your property transfer tax.
This program was designed to encourage owner occupancy. It has been proven that revenue properties where the owner lives on site are better maintained than those with absentee landlords.
As with any government program,there's a lot of fine print. For example, you have to commit to owning the property for three years or else you have to pay the money back.
You have to pay your property transfer tax up front and then apply to for the rebate.
This is a program partially funded by the Quebec government, so it lasts as long as there's money in the kitty. When the envelope is empty, as they say in French, ze program she ends. I can't see anything on the city website to indicate that the program has run out of funds.
You can find out more by visiting the City of Montreal's housing site and download the application form. You have six months after the purchase of your property to apply for the rebate. You can also visit your local borough office to find out more.
As with most government programs, this one is more than a little complicated. Still, it might be something worth investigating if you are looking at buyung either a single unit or a revenue property where you will reside.
Single Units, How Much?If you buy a newly built unit and are the first owner of that property, you can collect a rebate of $4,500, $10,000 or $12,500 depending on if you are a childless single buyer, two buyers, or a household with at least one child.
For a single buyer, the rebate is good for the purchase of a new unit costing not more than $200,000, taxes and extras like kitchen upgrades or a parking space included. (if my math is correct, that means a condo or house priced at not more than $175,554. Ce n'est pas beaucoup ça!)
For two-buyer households, the limit is $235,000.
For a household with at least one kid, the limit is $265,000 or $310,000 if the unit has three bedrooms.
The city will also refund 40 per cent of your property transfer tax (the hated welcome tax that you will be hit with about 30 days after you take possession.)
The welccome tax refund is 100 per cent for households with at least one kid.
This program has the twin aim of encouraging developers to build family-affordable housing in the city and encouraging young families to stay on the island instead of fleeing to the suburbs.
Revenue Properties, How Much?
If you buy a duplex and live in one unit while renting the other, the city will refund 40 per cent of your property transfer tax, as long as your duplex does not cost more than $400,000 (There's no sales tax of resale duplexes, so that $400,000 is a real market price.) If you buy a triplex, the maximum is $450,000.
For households with children, the maximum purchase price remains $400,000 for a duplex and $450,000 for a triplex but the city will refund the entire amount of your property transfer tax.
This program was designed to encourage owner occupancy. It has been proven that revenue properties where the owner lives on site are better maintained than those with absentee landlords.
As with any government program,there's a lot of fine print. For example, you have to commit to owning the property for three years or else you have to pay the money back.
You have to pay your property transfer tax up front and then apply to for the rebate.
This is a program partially funded by the Quebec government, so it lasts as long as there's money in the kitty. When the envelope is empty, as they say in French, ze program she ends. I can't see anything on the city website to indicate that the program has run out of funds.
You can find out more by visiting the City of Montreal's housing site and download the application form. You have six months after the purchase of your property to apply for the rebate. You can also visit your local borough office to find out more.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Quebec To Finance Residential Solar Panels

The provincial government today announced a pilot financial program to help residential property owners install solar panels on their homes.
The government hopes to help as many as 600 homeowners install solar-powered hot water heating systems on their roofs between now and October, 2010.
The subsidies vary from $2,700 to $4,250, depending on the size of the installation. That represents about 50 per cent of the cost, according to a press release from the Agence de l'efficacité énergetique.
That's good news for Energie Verte Benny Farm, the non-profit energy services company that organizes buyers' groups to steer consumers through the solar panel purchase and installation process.
EVBF expects its first buyers' group of about 20 to begin installing their roof-top solar panels this summer. It is currently holding workshops with a second group, which could result in another 30 or so buyers moving ahead this fall.
EVBF has been anticipating the subsidy plan for nearly 18 months.
The subsidies, combined with other federal and provincial incentives could reduce the cost of buying and installing solar panels by as much as 75 per cent.
The roof-top panels are used to preheat water for domestic use - bathing, dishes and laundry. Hot water consumption accounts for about 30 per cent of a home's total energy consumption. Using renewable solar power results in lower energy bills and eases the strain on the environment.
You can read the Agence de l'efficacité énergetique press release, in French only for the moment, here.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Home Renovation Tax Rebate Calculator
Both the Quebec and Canadian governments are offering home-renovation tax rebates this year as an economic stimulus measure. Now the Quebec government has an on-line calculator to help you figure out how much you could get back.
Cool tool, though I have to say the disclaimer at the bottom of the page is a bit of a buzz kill:
The calculator can be used to estimate the assistance you may be entitled to, based on certain assumptions designed to reflect the most common situations. The exact amounts will be determined by the responsible departments and organizations on the basis of the specific characteristics of each measure and depending on the specific situation of each household.
It kinda reminds me of those perscription ads on TV. "If you experience double vision after applying for the Quebec home-renovation tax credit, or persistent itching, should you grow hair on your tongue or develop a third eye in the middle of your forehead, consult a professional. The Quebec home-renovation tax credit may not be suitable for all users."
Cool tool, though I have to say the disclaimer at the bottom of the page is a bit of a buzz kill:
The calculator can be used to estimate the assistance you may be entitled to, based on certain assumptions designed to reflect the most common situations. The exact amounts will be determined by the responsible departments and organizations on the basis of the specific characteristics of each measure and depending on the specific situation of each household.
It kinda reminds me of those perscription ads on TV. "If you experience double vision after applying for the Quebec home-renovation tax credit, or persistent itching, should you grow hair on your tongue or develop a third eye in the middle of your forehead, consult a professional. The Quebec home-renovation tax credit may not be suitable for all users."
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Not To Bite The Hand That Feeds Us But. . .
So the federal government is offering up to $1,350 in tax rebates to home owners who spend $10,000 on home improvement projects this tax year. Nice, right? Sure, but when you stop to think of it, what does it really mean? How much will $10,000 buy you? A bare-bones reno of a small kitchen with off-the-shelf cabinetry, maybe. Certainly not a professionally installed dream kitchen.
I can't help but think that Ottawa could have been bolder. If the point was to get people to invest in their homes and keep the cash registers at the big box stores ringing, they could have gone two ways. A higher spending limit would have been an option. Why not boost the limit to $20,000, as Quebec has done with its recent home renovation tax scheme?
Another idea would have been to keep the limit at $10,000 but increase the tax rebate to 20 per cent. As it is, you have to shell out for purchases and pay sales tax of 12.87 per cent in order to get a 15 per cent income tax rebate. Nice, but not a huge incentive. Boosting the tax rebate would encourage more owners to invest in things like paint, wood for decking, landscaping, flooring of all kinds. It might not create construction or renovation jobs, but would certainly make it more interesting for DIY types to get busy with home improvement projects.
But then, maybe that's the point. Perhaps the aim isn't to help Canadians keep more money in their pockets. Perhaps the aim is to strike a blow against under-the-table contractors.
I can't help but think that Ottawa could have been bolder. If the point was to get people to invest in their homes and keep the cash registers at the big box stores ringing, they could have gone two ways. A higher spending limit would have been an option. Why not boost the limit to $20,000, as Quebec has done with its recent home renovation tax scheme?
Another idea would have been to keep the limit at $10,000 but increase the tax rebate to 20 per cent. As it is, you have to shell out for purchases and pay sales tax of 12.87 per cent in order to get a 15 per cent income tax rebate. Nice, but not a huge incentive. Boosting the tax rebate would encourage more owners to invest in things like paint, wood for decking, landscaping, flooring of all kinds. It might not create construction or renovation jobs, but would certainly make it more interesting for DIY types to get busy with home improvement projects.
But then, maybe that's the point. Perhaps the aim isn't to help Canadians keep more money in their pockets. Perhaps the aim is to strike a blow against under-the-table contractors.
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