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Guide · Sellers · BC

Selling a presale assignment in BC

Last reviewed by Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR®Sources: BC Government, Canada Revenue Agency, BC LawsCC BY 4.0How we verify

A note from me: I’m Bronson Job, a REALTOR® (PREC) with Momentum Realty Inc., so I earn a commission when I help someone buy or sell. I write these guides to be genuinely useful — general information, not advice on your specific situation — and I take no payment from any third party named in them. How I verify.

An assignment sells the contract, not the home. The buyer, called the assignee, steps into your purchase agreement with the developer. They pay you back the deposit plus any premium, and complete when the building does. It needs the developer’s consent, it is reported to a provincial register, and it is taxed three ways.

In one screen

Consent
The contract decides. Most require the developer’s written consent and charge a fee for it. Many open assignments only after a point in sales or construction, and some bar public marketing.
Price
Deposit back plus a premium, or minus a discount. The assignee’s alternatives set it: the developer’s unsold homes and finished resales nearby.
GST
5% on the premium, collected and remitted by you, since May 7, 2022. The deposit you are repaid carries none.
Income tax
Business income by default for an assignor who never meant to live there; within 365 days the federal anti-flipping rule deems it so.
BC home flipping tax
20% of the profit on a contract held under 365 days, sliding to zero at 730 days; it reaches presale assignments from January 1, 2025.
The register
The developer files the parties, the terms and the amounts in CSAIR (the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register). The Canada Revenue Agency checks returns against it.

Can you assign, and on what terms

Start with the assignment clause in your purchase agreement. The disclosure statement describes it. Four things sit there, and the standard BC assignment form (the BC Real Estate Association and Canadian Bar Association form for new developments) asks for the first two on its front page:

The four terms to read in a presale contract's assignment clause
TermWhat it usually saysWhat it means for the sale
ConsentRequired in writing; the developer may withhold it on the terms the clause gives it.No consent, no sale. The form records whether consent is required and the date it must be obtained by.
FeeNone, a dollar amount plus GST, or a percentage of the price plus GST; paid with the consent by certified cheque or bank draft.On file: one Surrey developer’s contract sets 2% of the total price plus GST for a sale to a third party, and a $250 administration fee for a transfer to a spouse, child, parent, grandparent or sibling. Two others charge $1,500 and $2,500 plus GST for a change of purchaser (2023 to 2025).
TimingOften closed until a share of the building is sold, or until completion is near; name changes may stop 30 days before completion.Ask in writing whether assignments are open before you price anything.
MarketingMany contracts bar advertising the assignment in any media or listing service, the MLS named, without written consent.Where it is barred, the contract sells privately; where allowed, the board feed carries it flagged as an assignment.

A developer can withhold consent on the terms the clause gives it. One common clause, on file: consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, and it is expressly not unreasonable to refuse while the developer still has homes unsold in the development. Some open assignments only once a share of the building is sold or completion is near.

Two consequences follow. The developer reviews an assignment only once the offer is firm and subject-free, so the assignee’s financing and due diligence come first. And the seven-day rescission period under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act belongs to the original purchaser. It does not restart for the assignee.

Where the clause bars public marketing, the contract sells privately: to the developer’s waitlist, through the agent’s network, or to a buyer already watching the building. Where it allows marketing, the board feed carries assignment listings, flagged as such. The presale pages on this site show them beside the developer’s inventory.

On a resale, the standard BC contract says the buyer may not assign without the seller’s written consent and that any profit on an assignment goes to the seller. An offer missing either term comes with a regulator’s notice to the seller (the BC Financial Services Authority’s Notice to Seller Regarding Assignment Terms).

What it sells for

The assignee pays two sums: your deposit back, and a premium above the contract price or a discount below it. The premium is not a right. The assignee’s alternatives set it: the developer’s unsold homes at today’s release price, and finished homes of the same size nearby. In a rising market the contract carries a premium. In a falling one it trades below the original price; distressed assignments in 2025 and 2026 closed well under it.

So the valuation is three numbers read together: your contract price and remaining deposit schedule, the developer’s current sheet for the same plan, and the resale band in or beside the building. Each presale page on this site carries the live listings at the address; signed-in readers see the sold history. The Langley rent reference answers the investor’s second question.

The three taxes, on one example

A Langley one-bedroom bought on a presale at $700,000 with 10% down, assigned a year later at $740,000. The assignee pays $110,000 on assignment: the $70,000 deposit back and a $40,000 premium, then completes with the developer for the contract price.

  1. Assignee to Assignor: $70,000 deposit back + $40,000 premium ($110,000)
  2. Assignor to Canada Revenue Agency: 5% GST on the premium ($2,000)
  3. Assignor to Developer: the consent fee, plus GST (per the contract)
  4. Assignor to Province and Canada Revenue Agency: income tax on the premium; BC flipping tax at 20% if under a year ($8,000 + income tax)
  5. Assignee to Developer, at completion: the contract price; then the property transfer tax to the Province ($700,000)
The worked example, as money moves. Blue arrows are the sale; coral is tax. The developer’s consent fee is set by the contract; the standard BC assignment form records it as none, a dollar amount plus GST, or a percentage plus GST.
Taxes on a presale assignment: the worked example
TaxWho paysOn the exampleThe rule
GST on the premiumThe assignor collects and remits$2,0005% of the amount above the deposit, on every assignment of a new home since May 7, 2022. The deposit portion is excluded.
Income taxThe assignorAt your marginal rate on $40,000Business income by default, fully included, for an assignor who never intended to occupy; under 365 days the federal anti-flipping rule deems it business income unless a listed life event applies.
BC home flipping taxThe assignor$8,000 at 20%20% of the profit on a contract held under 365 days, sliding to zero at 730 days; the Province applies it to presale contracts from January 1, 2025.
Property transfer taxThe assignee, at completionOn the total paidPaid when title registers, on the total amount paid for the home, upgrades included, as the Province states it. The calculator runs the figure.
Speculation and vacancy taxNobody, yetNoneExempt while the home is uncompleted; it applies in later years only if the finished home is left empty under the tax’s rules.

Rates and thresholds render from the Fact Bank (sources at the foot of the page). An estimate from public rules, not tax advice; the income-tax line depends on your facts and your accountant.

The register, and why the numbers must match

Since January 1, 2019 every assignment of a presale strata lot in BC goes into CSAIR (the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register). The developer that consents keeps a signed copy of the assignment agreement. It records every party’s identity and contact details, the terms and the amounts paid, and files them quarterly, within 30 days of the period’s end. From September 30, 2025 a missed or wrong filing must be corrected within set days of the developer noticing.

The Province states the purpose plainly: the Canada Revenue Agency checks the profit you report against the register. The premium in the agreement, the GST you remit and the income you declare should be the same number seen three ways.

How the sale runs

  1. Read the clause

    Consent, fee, timing and marketing terms, from your contract and disclosure statement.

  2. Ask the developer in writing

    Whether assignments are open, the fee, the form it wants, and whether public marketing is allowed.

  3. Price it

    Your contract and deposit schedule against the developer’s current sheet for the plan and the resales nearby.

  4. Find the assignee

    Privately where the clause requires it; on the board feed, flagged as an assignment, where it allows it.

  5. Firm the offer

    The assignee’s financing and reading of the disclosure statement come first; developers review firm, subject-free offers.

  6. Sign the assignment agreement

    The deposit repayment, the premium, the GST on it, who pays the developer’s fee, and when the assignee pays.

  7. Completion

    The assignee completes with the developer and pays the property transfer tax; you report the income, remit the GST and keep the register figures consistent.

Langley, now

Three Willoughby pages on this site carry the live listings at each address, assignments flagged, beside the developer’s own inventory: Solana, completing from 2027; Townside Village; and The Hive 2, complete and selling its last homes. An assignor at any of them is pricing against the developer’s current sheet on the same page.

Bronson has sold presale homes and assignments in Langley and Surrey, including two assignments at Quinn in Surrey. A valuation request brings back a range the same day: the contract, the building’s remaining inventory and finished resales, read together.

Questions assignors ask

  • Can a developer refuse to let me assign?
    Yes, if the contract says so, and most do. The assignment clause sets whether consent is needed, what it costs and when assignments open. One common clause makes it expressly reasonable to refuse while the developer still has homes unsold. It also says whether the contract can be marketed in public. Read that clause first; the disclosure statement you received describes it.
  • Does the buyer of my assignment get the seven-day rescission period?
    No. The Real Estate Development Marketing Act gives the rescission period to the original purchaser. Developers review an assignment only once the offer is firm and subject-free, and the assignee steps into your contract as it stands.
  • Do I charge GST on an assignment?
    Yes, on the premium: since May 7, 2022, every assignment of a new home carries 5% GST on the amount above the deposit being returned, and the assignor collects and remits it. The deposit portion is excluded. In the example on this page, $40,000 of premium carries $2,000 of GST.
  • Is the profit a capital gain?
    Usually not. The Canada Revenue Agency treats an assignor who never intended to live in the home as earning business income, taxed in full at your marginal rate. The federal anti-flipping rule deems a sale within 365 days business income unless a listed life event applies. Separately, the BC home flipping tax takes 20% of the profit on a contract held under 365 days, falling to zero at 730 days.
  • Who pays the property transfer tax?
    The assignee, at completion, on the total paid for the home: the contract price, any upgrades and the premium, as the Province states it. You paid no transfer tax when you bought the contract, and you pay none when you assign it.
  • What does the Province record about my assignment?
    The developer must collect the parties, the terms and the amounts paid and file them quarterly in CSAIR (the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register). The Canada Revenue Agency checks income tax returns against it, so the figure on your return has to match the agreement.

What to read next

Sources, with the date each was read

Sources: CRA · Government of Canada · BC Government
Verified sources (4)· re-verified 2026-08-02Click to expand

Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.

Fact ID: bc.presale.assignment_tax_treatment · v1View in Codex →
Spot an issue? Report an inaccuracy · How we verify
Sources: BC Government
Verified sources (2)· re-verified 2026-08-02Click to expand

Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.

Fact ID: bc.flipping_tax · v1View in Codex →
Spot an issue? Report an inaccuracy · How we verify
Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® at Momentum Realty Inc. — Langley + Fraser Valley + Greater Vancouver
Bronson Job PRECREALTOR® · Momentum Realty Inc.GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR