What is the FTHBI?
The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) is a program that’s sponsored by the Government of Canada. It allows first-time home buyers to finance a portion of a home purchase through a shared equity mortgage. If a first-time home buyer meets the criteria, they can apply for a 5% shared equity mortgage on an existing home. Or a 10% shared equity mortgage on a new construction home.
The result….
First-time home buyers can reduce their monthly mortgage payments without increasing their down payment. This initiative is designed to help young Canadians access homeownership in a fiscally responsible and affordable way.
Here’s how it works…
Through the FTHBI program, a homeowner shares home equity with the Government of Canada. This means the Government shares in the upside and downside of the property value at the time of repayment. The incentive must be repaid at the earlier of 25 years from the date of purchase or the sale of the property.
The incentive is a second-ranking mortgage, which is registered immediately following the first insured mortgage. It’s not interest-bearing, with no regular principal payment and is repayable in full at any time without a pre-payment penalty.
Here’s a list of helpful FTHBI tools:
- Eligibility Calculator to test and evaluate different financial scenarios and view their impact on mortgage payments.
- Product Highlight Sheet (PDF) including a summary of key program details in a format that is easy to download, print and share.
- Journey Map breaking down the FTHBI application process step by step.
- Application Process diagram (PDF) showing the interactions between all of the parties involved (available on desktop only).
For all this and more, visit www.placetocallhome.ca.