First thing we have to do is determine if you qualify as a first time homebuyer. A first-time home buyer in Ontario is generally someone who has never owned a home before—anywhere in the world. This strict definition applies to programs like the Ontario Land Transfer Tax rebate, which requires that neither you nor your spouse have ever owned a home. However, for some federal programs like the First Home Savings Account (FHSA) or the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP), you may still qualify as a first-time buyer even if you’ve owned a home in the past, as long as you haven’t owned a property in the last four years.