The rebate arrives as a cheque after closing and scales with price — about $6,200 on a $900K townhouse, $15,000 at $2.4M, $29,000+ at $5M.
Commission rebates — cash paid back to home buyers by a cash back realtor out of their commission — are legal in British Columbia and worth real money at Vancouver prices. But the advertised numbers are nearly useless for comparison: one site quotes a percentage of the commission, another a flat dollar figure, a third makes you inquire to learn anything. And the best-known name in discount real estate, Redfin, no longer offers what most buyers assume it does.
We compared the cash back options actually available to Metro Vancouver buyers in 2026 — what each pays, what it asks of you, and what the fine print says.
First, how the money flows
In a typical BC transaction, the seller pays the total commission, and a portion — the cooperating commission — goes to whichever brokerage brings the buyer. In Greater Vancouver, the buyer's agent side is usually graduated: roughly 3.2% on the first $100,000 of the price and about 1.15% on the balance. On a $900,000 townhouse, that's roughly $12,400; on a $1.3M half-duplex, about $17,000.
That commission is the pool every rebate is drawn from. A cash back program returns part of it to you after closing — usually a cheque within days or weeks of completion — without changing the purchase price or costing the seller anything. The rebate comes entirely out of the buyer agent's earnings.
The commission is paid by the seller either way — a rebate redirects part of it to the buyer.
The Top 5 cash back and rebate programs, compared
All figures below come from each company's published materials as of July 2026. Programs change — verify current terms directly before relying on any of this.
Website | Advertised cash back | On a $900K purchase* | The catch |
1. EstateBlock.com | Up to 50% of the buyer's agent commission | Up to ~$6,200 | You earn it through “missions” — self-directed search steps |
2. OneFlatFee.ca | Flat 25% of the buyer's agent commission | ~$3,100 | None to speak of — smaller number, zero conditions |
3. One Percent Realty | Varies by agent: $5,000–$7,000 on $1.5M+ purchases in Vancouver; up to $6,500 tiered in Victoria | Varies — confirm with the specific agent | Agent-level programs with caps and showing limits, not a company guarantee |
4. CaptainVancouver.com | Cash back for sellers — paid on completion, calculated on the final sale price | n/a (seller-side) | You must list and sell with them; the only seller program on this list |
5. Redfin.ca | None currently in Canada | $0 | Its rebate era ended in 2022 — see below |
*Approximate, assuming a standard Greater Vancouver cooperating commission of ~$12,400.
Published buyer cash back on a $900,000 Metro Vancouver purchase.
1. EstateBlock.com — highest ceiling, effort-based
EstateBlock publishes the highest buyer rebate of any BC program we reviewed: up to 50% of the full buyer's agent commission, with the dollar amount calculated and displayed directly on every listing page — the only program on this list where you see your specific number on a specific home before talking to anyone.
The mechanism is unusual. Instead of a flat rate, the rebate is split across a menu of missions — self-directed steps of a home search, each unlocking a defined slice of the total. You don't need to grind through the whole list: missions are weighted, and completing a few of the substantial ones can unlock the full 50% on their own. The logic is simple: the more of the search workload you carry, the more of the commission comes back to you, while the agent still handles the offer, subjects, negotiation, and closing. The caveat: this model is priced for self-directed buyers.
2. OneFlatFee.ca — the predictable one
The established discount model in the Lower Mainland. One Flat Fee publishes a fixed 25% rebate on the buyer's agent commission: no missions, no negotiation, and a cheque — net of brokerage expenses — roughly ten business days after closing. Per its published terms, no buyer's agency agreement is required, though presales and for-sale-by-owner purchases are excluded and the rebate applies to regular commission only, not bonus commissions. It's the smallest guaranteed number among the active programs, but it asks nothing of you beyond standard buyer representation, and it pairs with their flat-fee listing service if you're selling at the same time.
3. One Percent Realty — agent-level programs, read the caps
One Percent Realty built its brand on discount listings, but a number of its BC agents run published buyer cashback programs on top — and they're a useful lesson in reading fine print. (A side note on a common mix-up: discount-commission brands like 2 Percent Realty save the seller on the listing fee — a different mechanism — and we found no published buyer cash back program from 2 Percent Realty in BC.) One Vancouver-area agent advertises $5,000–$7,000 cash back on purchases over $1.5 million; the Victoria office publishes a tiered schedule ranging from $1,000 to a $6,500 maximum ($2,000 back on an $800K home, $3,000 on $1.2M), conditional on the seller offering a full cooperating commission and the buyer needing no more than 20 showings. These are genuine, documented programs — but they're dollar-capped, agent-specific, and conditional rather than a company-wide guarantee, so the offer needs to be confirmed in writing with the specific agent before you sign anything.
4. CaptainVancouver.com — cash back when you're the seller
Cash back isn't only a buyer's game. Captain Vancouver — the site of Vancouver realtor Ian Brett — publishes the seller-side version: list and sell your home through him and receive a cash back rebate on the completion date, calculated on the final selling price. Notably, the rebate comes out of the listing side only — it doesn't touch the cooperating commission offered to the buyer's agent, so it doesn't make your listing less attractive to buyer agents. The conditions: the rebate must be requested before the sale, and it applies when you both list and sell through the program. For anyone pairing a seller rebate on one side of a move with a buyer rebate on the other, it's the missing half of the cash back picture.
5. Redfin.ca — the famous name that pays nothing
Redfin is licensed as a brokerage in BC and Ontario, and it's still the name most buyers associate with commission rebates — which is exactly why it needs to be on this list, at zero. The Redfin Refund, the buyer rebate that built the brand's discount reputation, was discontinued in 2022. Its US replacement, Sign & Save (launched 2024), pays 0.25% of the purchase price — 0.5% on luxury homes through Redfin Premier — and only if you sign an exclusive buyer agency agreement before your second tour and go under contract within 180 days. Even at full value that's about $2,250 on a $900K home, below every active program above — and the published terms cover Redfin's US markets, with no Canadian program stated in the company's materials. If a Redfin agent offers you a rebate in Vancouver, get it in writing; nothing on the website promises one.
What the models pay at different price points
Because the commission is graduated, the rebate scales with price. Approximate figures, assuming a standard Greater Vancouver cooperating commission:
Purchase price | Buyer's agent commission (approx.) | 25% flat program | Up to 50% (effort-based or well-negotiated) |
$600,000 condo | ~$9,000 | ~$2,200 | ~$4,500 |
$900,000 townhouse | ~$12,400 | ~$3,100 | ~$6,200 |
$1,300,000 half-duplex | ~$17,000 | ~$4,200 | ~$8,500 |
Even at condo prices, the gap between doing nothing and using a rebate program is a few thousand dollars — roughly a year of strata fees. At detached and duplex prices, the 50% tier reaches five figures.
The fine print that applies to every program
Reduced cooperating commissions shrink every rebate. All figures above assume a standard cooperating commission. Some listings — and most presale developments — offer less, and every rebate drops proportionally. Ask any program, before signing, exactly how a reduced-commission listing is handled.
Your lender must know. Any rebate has to be disclosed to your mortgage lender, since it can affect how the lender views your funds at closing. Disclosed rebates are routine paperwork in BC; an undisclosed one is a genuine problem you do not want.
Tax treatment is friendlier than people assume. For a personal-use home, the CRA generally treats a rebate as a reduction of your purchase cost rather than taxable income; for an investment property it adjusts your cost base, which matters when you sell. Some brokerages issue a T4A slip regardless — large rebate or rental, confirm treatment with your accountant.
Get the formula in writing. The percentage, the base it applies to, payment timing, and the reduced-commission scenario should all appear in the buyer's agency agreement or the program's written terms — not in a text message.
Bottom line
The five sites map a spectrum of how much work you're willing to do — and which side of the deal you're on. A flat 25% program asks nothing of a buyer and pays the least. The effort-based model pays roughly double — about $6,200 versus $3,100 on a $900K purchase — for search work most prepared buyers were doing free anyway, while keeping full representation for the offer and closing. The capped agent programs are worth a look at their price thresholds, and the seller-side rebate pairs with any buyer program on the other end of your move.
The only clearly bad options are the two defaults: assuming Redfin still pays a rebate in Canada, and signing a buyer's agency agreement without asking about cash back at all. The published programs above are the floor, not the ceiling — CBC has reported on Canadian buyers negotiating rebates approaching $35,000 on a single purchase. At Vancouver prices, staying silent typically costs three to eight thousand dollars — money that was always inside the transaction, going to whoever thought to ask.
Sources: oneflatfee.ca/cash-back-commission-real-estate · onepercentrealtyvictoria.com/buying/buyers-cash-back-program · bc.onepercentrealty.com/agents/1504 · captainvancouver.com/cash-back-realtor · cbc.ca, “Cashback rebates can save thousands” (Nov 2024).
Figures based on each company's published program terms and typical Greater Vancouver cooperating commission rates, reviewed July 16, 2026. Programs and terms change; confirm directly with each brokerage or agent. Disclosure: the author is a licensed BC realtor.
