First-Time Home Buyer Incentive in Alberta: What Replaced It

Searching for a first time home buyer incentive in Alberta produces a lot of pages describing a programme that no longer exists. The federal First-Time Home Buyer Incentive closed to new applicants in 2024, Alberta never ran a provincial equivalent, and no provincial replacement has appeared since. That is the honest answer, and it is more useful than a list of expired links, because what an Alberta buyer can actually use in 2026 is a different and reasonably generous set of tools.

What happened to the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive in Alberta

The Incentive was a federal shared-equity mortgage administered by CMHC and launched in 2019. The government contributed 5% or 10% of the purchase price toward the down payment and took a corresponding share of the change in the home's value.

CMHC's own page now states that the programme is no longer accepting applications. The deadline for new submissions was midnight on 21 March 2024, and no new approvals were granted after 31 March 2024. It was closed rather than replaced, with the federal position being that the first home savings account is the better instrument.

If you are already in it, nothing has changed for you. The Incentive is repayable after 25 years or when the property is sold, whichever comes first, and can be repaid in full at any time without a prepayment penalty. Repayment is calculated on the market value at the time of repayment, capped at a maximum gain or loss of 8% a year, not compounded, on the Incentive amount. Porting your mortgage or a partial release of security also triggers repayment, so speak to your lender before you restructure anything.

Is there an Alberta first-time home buyer incentive instead?

No, and it is worth saying plainly rather than implying one is hidden somewhere. Alberta's provincial housing programmes are rental: community housing, rent assistance, seniors lodges and special-needs housing, delivered through local housing providers. There is no provincial grant, no down payment assistance programme and no purchase rebate for a first-time buyer.

What Alberta does have is structural rather than programmatic. There is no land transfer tax here, which is why Alberta has no first-time buyer rebate on one: Ontario and British Columbia both offer such rebates because both charge the tax. On a $500,000 purchase, an Alberta buyer pays roughly $1,000 in Land Titles registration fees where an Ontario buyer pays $6,475 in land transfer tax before any rebate. Set against a missing incentive programme, that is not a bad trade.

What an Alberta first-time buyer can actually use in 2026

Four federal measures are live, and they stack with each other on the same purchase.

Two of those deserve a note. The FHSA and the Home Buyers Plan can both be used for the same qualifying home, which is why most buyers fill the FHSA first, since an FHSA withdrawal is never repaid and an RRSP Home Buyers Plan withdrawal is. And the GST rebate only touches new construction, which in Canmore means the pre-construction condo releases rather than resale stock.

On the financing side, CMHC Home Start allows a 30-year amortisation for a borrower who is a first-time buyer or is purchasing a newly built home, on high-ratio loans above 80% loan-to-value, where the purchase price is below $1.5M and the home is owner-occupied. That is not a grant, but a longer amortisation lowers the monthly payment, which is often what actually decides whether a Canmore purchase qualifies.

What that reaches at Canmore prices

Canmore's 2025 average sold prices were $814,000 for an apartment condo, $1.15M for a townhouse and $2.15M for a detached home. The federal minimum down payment is 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% above, so on an $814,000 condo the minimum is $56,400, and at $1.5M and above it becomes a flat 20% because mortgage insurance is not available.

A single first-time buyer who has filled an FHSA ($40,000) and can use the full Home Buyers Plan ($60,000) has $100,000 available, which covers the minimum down payment on a condo with room for closing costs, and covers the $90,000 minimum on a townhouse at the 2025 average. That is the practical ceiling of what the federal tools do here. They do not reach the detached market, where 20% of $2.15M is $430,000.

The order to do this in

Because the tools stack, sequence matters more than it used to when a single incentive did the work.

1. 1Open an FHSA now, even if you are years awayContribution room only begins once the account is opened, so an empty account opened this year is worth more than a plan to open one later. $8,000 a year, $40,000 lifetime.
2. 2Get pre-qualified before you shopIt tells you which Canmore price band you are in, whether you are under the $1.5M insured ceiling, and whether a 30-year amortisation through CMHC Home Start changes the payment enough to matter.
3. 3Sign the purchase agreement, then withdrawThe Home Buyers Plan requires a written agreement to buy or build at the time of withdrawal. A pre-approval does not satisfy it, and withdrawing early makes the money ordinary taxable income.
4. 4Check the GST position if the home is newThe first-time home buyers' GST rebate is claimed through the builder or by application, and the agreement date matters. Ask before signing, not after possession.
5. 5Claim the home buyers' amount on your returnA $10,000 claim on line 31270 in the year you acquire the home, split between eligible buyers if more than one qualifies.

What the missing first-time home buyer incentive in Alberta means if you are buying

Stop looking for the programme and start stacking the ones that exist. Open an FHSA even if a purchase is years away, because the contribution room only starts once the account is open. Plan the RRSP Home Buyers Plan withdrawal around a signed purchase agreement rather than a pre-approval. If you are buying new, check whether the GST rebate applies before you sign the builder's agreement. And if you live or work in Canmore, get on the Vital Homes waitlist now rather than when you are ready. The absence of a first time home buyer incentive in Alberta is real, but so is the absence of land transfer tax, and the federal tools are worth more than the Incentive was to most buyers. Work the numbers in the buyer cost calculator and take the financing structure to a licensed mortgage broker.