Does the foreign buyer ban still apply to Toronto homes?

Yes. Canada's ban on non-Canadian buyers runs until January 1, 2027. Some work permit holders are exempt, and Ontario's 25 per cent tax still applies.

Yes, and it applies right across the Greater Toronto Area. The federal ban on non-Canadians buying homes came into force on January 1, 2023 and is due to be repealed on January 1, 2027. The useful question is not whether it exists. It is whether it catches you, because the exceptions are wider than most people expect, and Ontario runs a separate 25 per cent tax that has nothing to do with the federal ban.

Does the foreign buyer ban still apply?

Yes. The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act states that "it is prohibited for a non-Canadian to purchase, directly or indirectly, any residential property". It came into force on January 1, 2023.

It was first set to run out on January 1, 2025. On February 4, 2024 the Department of Finance Canada announced that the ban, "which is currently set to expire on January 1, 2025, will be extended to January 1, 2027". CMHC publishes the federal guidance on how the Act works.

A non-Canadian means anyone who is not a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a person registered under the Indian Act. It also reaches companies. A company formed outside Canada is caught, and so is a Canadian company that is not listed on a Canadian stock exchange and is controlled by a non-Canadian. The regulations set control at 10 per cent or more of equity value or voting rights, or control in fact. Ten per cent is a low bar, and it catches ownership structures nobody thinks of as foreign.

What counts as residential property?

Buildings with three or fewer dwelling units, and individual condominium units. That means detached houses, semi-detached houses, row house units and condos, together with the land that goes with them.

Two things sit outside the definition. A building with four or more dwelling units is not caught at all. And the regulations exclude "a property that is located in an area of Canada that is not within either a census agglomeration or a census metropolitan area".

That second exclusion is no help here. Toronto and the municipalities around it sit inside census metropolitan areas, so the ban applies across the GTA in full. It is cottage country and small town Ontario that fall outside it.

Who is exempt from the ban?

Four groups, and the conditions are specific. From the regulations:

Work permit holders. A temporary resident holding a valid work permit or work authorization with 183 days or more of validity remaining on the date of purchase, who has not already bought more than one residential property.

Students. A student enrolled at a designated learning institution who has filed all required income tax returns for the five preceding taxation years, has been present in Canada for at least 244 days in each of those five calendar years, is buying one property, and is paying no more than $500,000 for it.

Refugee claimants and protected persons. A foreign national whose claim for refugee protection has been referred to the Refugee Protection Division, and people already granted protection.

Anyone buying with an eligible spouse. A non-Canadian purchasing jointly with a spouse or common law partner who is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, a registered Indian, or otherwise exempt.

Purchases by foreign states for diplomatic purposes are dealt with separately in the Act.

What does not count as a purchase?

Several transfers fall outside the word "purchase" altogether, so the ban never engages. The regulations list acquisition resulting from death, divorce, separation or a gift, the rental of a dwelling unit to a tenant, a transfer under a trust created before the Act came into force, a transfer arising from a secured creditor exercising a security interest, and acquisition by a non-Canadian for the purposes of development.

The rental line matters more than it looks. A non-Canadian who already owns a GTA property can keep renting it out. The Act is aimed at buying, not at owning.

What happens if a non-Canadian buys anyway?

The sale stands, and then it gets expensive. The Act says that "the contravention of section 4 does not affect the validity of the sale of the residential property", so a closed deal is not unwound by the breach itself.

It is an offence carrying a fine of not more than $10,000, and that liability is not limited to the buyer. Anyone who counsels, induces or aids a non-Canadian to buy is liable to the same fine, and so are the officers and directors who directed it. In practice that reaches the salesperson, the lawyer and the lender.

On conviction, a superior court can order the property sold. The order is written so the non-Canadian cannot profit from it. The proceeds paid out to them cannot exceed the price they paid.

Does January 1, 2027 remove Ontario's 25 per cent tax?

No. The Non-Resident Speculation Tax is provincial and sits entirely outside the federal Act. The Ontario Ministry of Finance publishes the rate as 25 per cent, effective October 25, 2022, on residential property purchased anywhere in Ontario by a foreign national, a foreign corporation or a taxable trustee.

That 25 per cent is charged on top of the ordinary land transfer tax, and in Toronto there are two of those, provincial and municipal. Our guide to Toronto land transfer tax sets out how the ordinary tax is worked out.

The province also publishes a rebate. A permanent resident rebate may be available where the buyer becomes a permanent resident of Canada within four years of the date the conveyance is registered. The conditions are on the ministry's page and they are strict, so read them before counting on the money.

Everything above is general information as published by those bodies and read on September 7, 2026. It is not legal or tax advice, and anyone whose status sits close to a line should get advice on their own facts before signing.

What this means if you are buying or selling here

If you are a temporary resident, work out which exception you fit before you write an offer rather than after. The 183 day work permit test is measured at the date of purchase, so a permit running down can move you across the line while you are still shopping.

If you are selling, a buyer's eligibility is a closing risk like any other. It is a question for the buyer's lawyer, and it is better asked during the conditional period than on the closing date.

If you are planning around the repeal date, plan around what has actually been published. The Act is repealed on January 1, 2027. What the rules look like after that has not been published by any of the bodies above, so an offer written today is written against the rules as they stand today.

And if you are working out what a purchase here would cost, our buying page walks through the steps and the land transfer tax calculator gives you the provincial and municipal figures in one place.