BC & Federal Foreign Buyer Rules

Federal Act prohibiting most non-Canadians (and entities controlled by non-Canadians) from purchasing residential property in Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and Census Agglomerations (CA). Originally effective January 1, 2023 with a 2-year sunset (expiry January 1, 2025); extended once on February 4, 2024 to January 1, 2027. Applies to most BC urban areas including the Vancouver CMA (covering Metro Vancouver) and the Abbotsford–Mission CMA (covering the Fraser Valley urban core). Excludes residential property of 4+ units. Penalty: up to $10,000 fine plus court order to sell.

BC regions where the 20% foreign-buyer additional PTT applies. The list expanded geographically Feb 21, 2018 from Metro Vancouver only to include four additional regional districts.

Categories of non-Canadian persons who are exempted from the federal Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act. The two temporary-resident routes carry conditions read straight from section 5 of the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Regulations: a work permit is tested on validity remaining at purchase, not on time already spent in Canada, and the student route carries a $500,000 purchase-price ceiling. Both are capped at one residential property. Always confirm eligibility with a real estate lawyer before any offer where status is in question.

The federal Underused Housing Tax charged 1% a year on the taxable value of vacant or underused Canadian residential property, mostly against non-resident non-Canadian owners, and required an annual return even from owners who owed nothing. Budget 2025, tabled November 4, 2025, announced its elimination. Bill C-15, the Budget 2025 Implementation Act No. 1, received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026 and ended the tax for the 2025 calendar year and every year after. Both the tax and the filing obligation are gone from 2025. The 2022, 2023 and 2024 years are untouched: tax, returns, penalties and interest for those three years remain assessable and enforceable, including against corporations, partnerships and trusts that never filed. The Underused Housing Tax Act itself is not struck from the statute book until January 1, 2035, which is housekeeping so the Canada Revenue Agency can still assess and collect the open years, and does NOT mean the tax runs until 2035. Provincial and municipal vacancy taxes are unaffected: the BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax and the City of Vancouver Empty Homes Tax both continue.