Home owner grant

The home owner grant reduces the amount of property tax you pay for your principal residence.

The grant is available to homeowners who pay property taxes to a municipality, or to the province if they live in a rural area. If you pay your property taxes to a First Nation, contact the First Nation directly.

What do you want to do?

Learn about the grant

Learn about claiming a retroactive grant

Apply for your grant

Submit documents online

Check your application status

Change your application

About the home owner grant

In 2021, the home owner grant application process changed, but program details and eligibility requirements have not changed.

Most eligible property owners qualify for the regular grant (also called the basic grant). 

On top of the regular grant, you may qualify for an additional grant if you are:

Regular grant

The regular grant amount is $570 for properties located in the Capital Regional District, the Metro Vancouver Regional District and the Fraser Valley Regional District. For all other areas of the province the amount is $770.

If your property is assessed below the threshold and you meet certain requirements, you will receive the full regular grant amount. Properties assessed over the threshold may receive a partial grant (learn about the grant threshold).

Property owners must pay at least $350 in property taxes to help fund services such as road maintenance and police protection. This amount may be less if you qualify for the home owner grant as a senior, veteran or person with a disability. Your grant amount may be adjusted to ensure the minimum amount of annual taxes are paid. 

Do I qualify?

To qualify for the grant:

If you are buying or selling your property, ensure you meet all requirements before claiming the home owner grant. 

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Your principal residence

For the purpose of claiming the home owner grant, you can have only one principal residence.

If you own more than one home, you can't designate which one is your principal residence.

Your principal residence is the usual place that you make your home. It’s where you live and conduct your daily affairs, like paying bills and receiving mail, and it’s generally the residence used in your government records for things like your income tax, medical services plan, driver's licence and vehicle registration.

To qualify for the home owner grant, your principal residence must be taxed as an improvement.

You must occupy your principal residence when you apply for the home owner grant. However, if you meet certain requirements you may still be able to apply for the grant if you:

 

Grant threshold and partitioning your property

​The grant threshold is the maximum value of an assessed or partitioned property where home owners are eligible to claim the full home owner grant.

The grant threshold for 2021 is $1,625,000. You may be able to claim the full regular grant amount if your property has an assessed or partitioned value of $1,625,000 or less.

If you meet all requirements but your property’s assessed or partitioned value is over $1,625,000, you may qualify for a grant at a reduced amount.

The grant is reduced by $5 for each $1,000 of assessed value over $1,625,000. This means properties assessed up to $1,739,000 ($1,779,000 in a northern and rural area) can receive a partial regular grant. Properties assessed higher than $1,739,000 ($1,779,000 in a northern and rural area), are not eligible for a home owner grant.

Partitioned value

Partitioning your property value may enable you to claim the home owner grant if:

  • You previously couldn’t, or could only claim a reduced grant, because of the high assessed value of your property, and
  • Your property consists of your principal residence and at least one separate residence

You can apply to have the assessed value of your property partitioned using the Home Owner Grant Partitioning application.

The partitioned value of a property is the property’s assessed value divided by the number of residences on that property. To qualify, each residence must have cooking, sleeping, bathroom and living room facilities.

Laneway homes and multi-family dwellings like a duplex, triplex and fourplex qualify as separate residences. A suite in your principal residence doesn’t qualify as a separate residence.

 

Buying or selling your property

If you are buying or selling a property, there are other factors that will determine the amount you can claim for the home owner grant.

If you purchased your property during the current tax year, you may be eligible for the home owner grant if you meet the following requirements:

  • The previous owner didn’t claim the grant
  • You didn’t receive a grant this year for another home
  • You’re occupying the property when you apply for the grant

 

Apply for the home owner grant

You must apply for the home owner grant each year to receive it. Only one grant can be claimed for a property each year.

Find out when and how to apply for the home owner grant. You may also be able to apply for a retroactive grant if you qualified last year but didn't apply. 

Apply for the multiple home owner grant

If you’re the registered owner of a land co-operative or multi-dwelling leased parcel, you can work together with eligible occupants living in your building or on your property to apply for the multiple home owner grant.

Notice of disentitlement

If you have received a Notice of Disentitlement that indicates you're not eligible for a home owner grant, find out how to pay your outstanding balance.

Auditing

Grant applications are audited for up to 7 years to make sure taxpayers are eligible for the grants they receive.

Get help

Contact us if you have any questions about the home owner grant.

Toll Free: 1-888-355-2700

Office: 250-387-0555

Mailing: PO Box 9446 Stn Prov Govt Victoria BC V8W 9R7