Buying property in Canada as a foreigner

Canadian citizens, registered Indians under the Indian Act and permanent residents are outside the federal definition of non Canadian (Act s.2). Provincial rules keyed to residence (for example PEI Lands Protection Act, Nova Scotia non resident taxes) can still apply to a Canadian living outside that province.

• Permanent residents are not caught.
• Temporary residents on a work permit with at least 183 days of validity left at the purchase date, who have not bought more than one residential property, are within an exception in the Regulations (s.5).
• Students in an authorised program at a designated institution may buy one property up to CAD 500,000 if they filed returns and were present at least 244 days in each of the previous five years.
• Protected persons and refugee claimants found eligible, and diplomats, have separate exceptions (s.6).
• Other temporary residents, including visitors, are caught by the ban.

• Residential property means a detached house or similar building with not more than three dwelling units, or a separate unit in a semi detached house, rowhouse or condominium.
• Property outside a census metropolitan area or census agglomeration is excluded (Regulations s.3), so the ban does not reach it.
• Corporations incorporated outside Canada, and Canadian corporations not listed on a Canadian exchange that are controlled by a non Canadian, are also non Canadians.
• Exceptions exist for acquisition through death, divorce, separation or gift, renting the unit to a tenant, pre Act trusts, security interests and development purposes (Act s.4(2)).
• Offence: fine up to CAD 10,000 for the buyer and anyone who knowingly aids, plus a court order that the property be sold, with proceeds capped at the price paid (Act ss.6 to 8).
• The Act and the Regulations carry no calendar end date of their own: section 236 of S.C.
• 2022 c.10 repeals the Act, and section 237(2), as amended by S.C.
• 2024 c.17 section 149, brings section 236 into force on the fourth anniversary of 1 January 2023, which is 1 January 2027.
• The Regulations are repealed on the same day (section 9).
• The Justice Laws pages (current to 30 September 2026) show no later amendment.

• The federal Act covers only residential property as defined.
• Commercial, agricultural and industrial land are outside it.
• Provincial limits exist, for example on farmland and on PEI land.

From 1 January 2027, under the statute as it stood on 29 October 2026, the federal Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non Canadians Act and its Regulations are repealed and no federal purchase ban applies, unless Parliament changes the law first. Provincial rules continue regardless: British Columbia additional property transfer tax, the Ontario Non Resident Speculation Tax, the Nova Scotia non resident deed transfer tax, and farmland and land holding limits in several provinces.

• Foreign citizens and foreign controlled corporations may own up to 2 parcels of controlled land totalling no more than 20 acres.
• Controlled land is rural land; land inside a city, town, village or summer village is outside it.
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents are not affected.
• A corporation is foreign controlled at 50% or more foreign ownership (for publicly traded companies only holders of 5% or more count if two thirds of directors are Canadian citizens or permanent residents).
• Leases up to 20 years are exempt if registered within 60 days; options to purchase may run up to one year; succession on death is not affected; a mortgagee that forecloses must divest within 3 years.
• Others may apply for an Order in Council as a last resort (4 to 8 months in 2024).

• Individuals who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and entities wholly or partly owned or controlled by non Canadians, must apply to the Farm Land Security Board for an exemption before acquiring an interest in more than 10 acres of farmland.
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents and 100% Canadian owned corporations that are not publicly traded are eligible.
• The Board can order divestment and fines.
• A comprehensive review of the Saskatchewan Farm Security Act was announced in April 2026.

• The Farm Lands Ownership Act limits non Canadian individuals and organizations owned or controlled by non Canadians to 40 acres of farm land.
• The Manitoba Farm Industry Board can grant an exemption for more, considering public interest and benefit to Manitoba.
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents are not affected.

• A person or company that is not a Quebec resident needs authorisation from the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Quebec to buy agricultural land of 4 hectares or more (one lot or contiguous lots).
• A person counts as resident if a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who stayed in Quebec at least 1,095 days in the 48 months before the acquisition; a share company counts if more than 50% of voting shares and more than half of directors are Quebec residents.
• Buying shares that make a landowning company non resident also needs authorisation.
• The Commission can authorise up to 1,000 hectares a year for buyers who do not intend to settle in Quebec.

• Under the Lands Protection Act, non residents and corporations need approval from the Lieutenant Governor in Council, with the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission reviewing, to acquire a parcel over 5 acres or with more than 165 feet of shore frontage.
• Residence means a Canadian citizen or permanent resident with a principal residence in the province for at least 365 days in the 24 months before acquiring the land who files a Prince Edward Island return, so a Canadian living in another province is also a non resident.
• Aggregate caps are 1,000 acres for a person and 3,000 acres for a corporation.
• Gifts, devises and inheritances from a spouse, sibling or direct ancestor or descendant are exempt from applying.
• Fee for corporations: the greater of CAD 550 or 1% of the price; decisions generally take 3 to 4 weeks.