How does the BC PTT 20% Foreign Buyer Additional Tax stack with the federal Foreign Buyer Ban?
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Direct answer
Both can apply to the same purchase, because the federal rule is a prohibition on buying and the BC one is a tax on buying. A non-Canadian who is not exempt cannot enter into a new purchase contract for covered residential property in CMAs/CAs at all. The penalty for breach is up to $10,000 and a court-ordered sale at no profit. BC's 20% Additional Property Transfer Tax (APTT) is a TAX: it applies at registration to a non-Canadian who is otherwise federally permitted to purchase (e.g., a presale signed before January 1, 2023 that completes today; a Canadian-citizen-spouse joint purchase prorated to the foreign spouse's share; or any covered exemption holder). Worked example: a non-Canadian with a Canadian-citizen spouse buys a $1.5M Vancouver condo 50/50. The federal exemption permits the purchase (no fine), but BC APTT applies on the 50% foreign share = 20% × $750K = $150K, on top of standard PTT of $28K. Total tax: $178K. Worked example #2: a non-Canadian with no exemption breaches the federal Act and somehow registers. They face the $10K fine and court-ordered sale AND BC APTT of 20%. The federal and provincial regimes do not "credit" each other; they layer.
Primary sources
- Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act · Government of Canada · retrieved
- Additional Property Transfer Tax for Foreign Entities · BC Government · retrieved
Backed by Fact Bank entries
- Federal Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — 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).
- BC Foreign Buyer Additional Property Transfer Tax — 20% additional PTT in specified BC areas (Metro Vancouver, Capital Regional, Fraser Valley, Nanaimo Regional, Central Okanagan) on residential property purchased by a foreign national, foreign corporation, or taxable trustee.
- Federal Foreign Buyer Ban exemption categories — Categories of non-Canadian persons who are exempted from the federal Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.
Verified sources (3)· re-verified Aug 2, 2026Show sources
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.
- CMHCretrieved May 8, 2026Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Acthttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act
- Government of Canadaretrieved May 8, 2026Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, S.C. 2022, c. 10, s. 235https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/p-25.2/
- Government of Canadaretrieved Aug 2, 2026· published Feb 4, 2024Government extending the ban on foreign ownership of Canadian housinghttps://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/02/government-announces-two-year-extension-to-ban-on-foreign-ownership-of-canadian-housing.html
ca.foreign_buyer_ban · v3View in Codex →Verified sources (1)· re-verified Sep 5, 2026Show sources
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.
- BC Governmentretrieved Sep 5, 2026Additional Property Transfer Tax for Foreign Entitieshttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/property-transfer-tax/additional-property-transfer-tax
bc.ptt.foreign_buyer_additional · v1View in Codex →Verified sources (2)· re-verified Sep 5, 2026Show sources
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.
- Justice Canadaretrieved Sep 5, 2026Section 5 of the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Regulations: temporary-resident conditionshttps://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2022-250/FullText.html
- CMHCretrieved Sep 5, 2026Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — Exemptionshttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act
ca.foreign_buyer_ban.exemptions · v2View in Codex →Related questions
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