How to Fill Out and Submit Form GST191: Worksheet, Deadline, and Filing

Form GST191, the GST/HST New Housing Rebate Application for Owner-Built Houses, is the form individuals in Canada use to recover part of the GST or federal portion of the HST paid when they build, substantially renovate, or convert a building into their home. To fill it out, you first complete Form GST191-WS (the Construction Summary Worksheet) by listing every construction invoice and totaling the GST/HST paid, then transfer those totals to Form GST191, which calculates a rebate equal to 36% of eligible GST up to $6,300 for homes with a fair market value of $350,000 or less. Both forms, together with proof of occupancy, must reach the CRA within two years of the earlier of your move-in date or the date the home is substantially complete.

Confirm You Qualify Before You Start

Only individuals can file Form GST191. Corporations and partnerships cannot, even if the building will house someone.¹ You qualify in one of four situations:

You built, or hired someone to build, a house on land you owned or held under a long-term lease.
You substantially renovated an existing home, meaning 90% or more of the interior that existed before work began was removed or replaced. The CRA excludes the foundation, exterior walls, interior supporting walls, floors, roof, and staircases from that 90% test.²
You built a major addition as part of a broader renovation.
You converted a non-residential building you own into a residence.¹

The home must be intended as the primary place of residence for you or a qualifying relation. This is an intention test: vacation homes and rental properties don’t qualify.³ A “relation” under the Excise Tax Act means someone related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, or a former spouse or common-law partner.⁴ The property must be a single-unit residential complex: a detached house, semi-detached house, townhouse, or mobile home on a permanent foundation.

Gather Your Documents First

Open the form only after you have everything in front of you. The worksheet asks for a figure from every invoice, and a missing receipt can stall the whole calculation.

Every construction invoice, showing the vendor’s name, GST/HST business number, invoice date and number, and the tax charged. Originals in the claimant’s name only. The CRA will not accept photocopies, credit card slips, bank statements, or estimates as substitutes.
The building permit number and the name of the municipality that issued it.
Proof of occupancy: a homeowner’s insurance policy showing the new address and coverage dates, a vehicle insurance certificate or registration for the new address, or a utility hookup invoice for telephone, electricity, or natural gas.
Evidence supporting the fair market value of the land and completed building. The worksheet asks how you arrived at this figure, so an appraisal or comparable sales data helps.
Copies of invoices from any vendor who did not charge GST/HST. Send these with the application. Do not send invoices where tax was charged.

Keep all original invoices and supporting documents for six years after filing, even the ones you don’t submit. The CRA can request them at any point during that window.⁵

Filling Out Form GST191-WS, the Construction Summary Worksheet

Most of the work happens on the worksheet. Download the current version from the CRA website alongside Form GST191.⁶

Part A, Claimant Information

Enter your legal name, Social Insurance Number, the address of the new house, and your previous address. Record the date you first moved in and the date construction or renovation became substantially complete. If you lived in the house during construction, indicate that too. It affects which date starts the two-year filing clock.

Part B, Construction Information

Fill in the building permit number, the issuing municipality, and the construction start and end dates. Report the fair market value of the land and building at substantial completion and explain how you determined it. For a substantial renovation or major addition, describe the work and give the dimensions of both the renovated area and the total house in square metres.

Part C, Construction Details

This is the invoice-by-invoice section. For each vendor, list the goods or services, the vendor’s name and GST/HST business number, the invoice date and number, whether the charge was for labour or materials, the invoice total, and the GST/HST paid. The worksheet separates tax amounts by rate because different rates affect the rebate ceiling.

Part D, Construction Summary Totals

Add up the GST/HST columns from Part C and transfer the totals into Part D. The worksheet walks you through extracting the federal (5%) portion of the HST where applicable, using built-in formulas. These Part D totals carry over to Form GST191.

Filling Out Form GST191

Form GST191 itself is shorter than the worksheet. Transfer the summary totals from Part D of the worksheet into the corresponding lines on the form.⁷ The form then calculates the rebate:

Add up the eligible GST amounts and enter the total.
Multiply that total by 36%.
Compare the result to the applicable maximum ($6,300 for the standard 5% rate) and enter the lesser figure.
Enter the fair market value of the home. If it is $350,000 or less, your rebate is the full calculated amount. If it falls between $350,001 and $449,999, the form applies a formula that reduces the rebate proportionally. If it is $450,000 or more, the federal rebate is zero.

Check that dates, dollar amounts, and the fair market value match exactly between the worksheet and the form. Mismatches are a common reason for processing delays.

What You’ll Actually Receive

The federal rebate equals 36% of eligible GST paid, capped at $6,300 when the finished home’s fair market value is $350,000 or less. Between $350,001 and $449,999 the rebate phases out proportionally. At $450,000 or more, no federal rebate is available.⁸ Fair market value means the land and building combined at the time of substantial completion.

A provincial new housing rebate may also apply if you live in an HST province, but it uses a separate form, not Form GST191. In Ontario the provincial rebate goes up to $24,000 regardless of fair market value.¹ In Nova Scotia it equals 18.75% of the provincial portion of the HST, up to $3,000.⁹ Check the CRA’s new housing rebate page for the provincial form that applies to you.

The Two-Year Filing Deadline

You have two years from the earliest of three trigger dates: the day you or a relation first occupies the home after construction begins, the day construction is substantially complete, or the day ownership transfers if you sell before anyone moves in.¹⁰ “Substantially complete” means the home is livable for its intended purpose, roughly the point where you could reasonably move in even if some finishing remains.

Miss the deadline and the rebate is almost always gone. The CRA rarely grants exceptions, so track both the occupancy date and the substantial completion date and file based on whichever came first.

Submitting the Forms

You have two options:

Online through CRA My Account. Individuals can file Form GST191 through their CRA individual account by uploading the completed form, the worksheet, and proof of occupancy. Online filing gives you a confirmation number and lets you track the application’s status.¹¹
By mail to the Sudbury Tax Centre: GST/HST Rebates Processing, 1050 Notre Dame Avenue, Sudbury ON P3A 5C1. Include the completed GST191, GST191-WS, proof of occupancy, and any invoices from vendors who did not charge GST/HST.¹²

Either way, do not send your other original invoices with the application. Keep those in your records. Only invoices from vendors who failed to charge GST/HST need to be included.

After You File

The CRA issues a notice of assessment indicating whether your rebate was approved, adjusted, or denied. Processing times vary through the year; check the CRA’s processing times page for the current estimate.¹³ Common reasons for follow-up include missing proof of occupancy, invoices that lack the vendor’s GST/HST registration number, and a fair market value the CRA considers unsupported.

If you disagree with an adjustment, you can request a review or file a formal objection. Approved rebates arrive by direct deposit or cheque depending on your CRA account settings. Keep your copies of both forms and all original invoices for six years from the end of the tax year the rebate relates to; the CRA can audit the claim within that period.⁵

1
Canada Revenue Agency. GST/HST New Housing Rebate
2
Canada Revenue Agency. Substantial Renovations and the GST/HST New Housing Rebate
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Primary Place of Residence – GST/HST Policy Statement P-228
4
Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act – Section 256.2
5
Canada Revenue Agency. Keeping Records
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Canada Revenue Agency. GST191-WS Construction Summary Worksheet
7
Canada Revenue Agency. GST191 GST/HST New Housing Rebate Application for Owner-Built Houses
8
Parliamentary Budget Officer. Introducing GST Rebates for First-Time Home Buyers
9
Province of Nova Scotia. Apply for a First-Time Home Buyers’ Rebate on a Newly-Built Home
10
Canada Revenue Agency. Amounts Eligible for Section 256 GST New Housing Rebate
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Canada Revenue Agency. Filing an Electronic GST/HST Return, Rebate or Election Electronically
12
Canada Revenue Agency. General Application for GST/HST Rebates
13
Canada Revenue Agency. Check CRA Processing Times