Buying a house in Canada: until January 2027 your residence status is the key

First the order that is fixed on this site: in your first year you don't buy — you rent, you get to know your city and province, and only then do you decide. In Canada that order isn't advice but law: without the right status you aren't even allowed to buy.

The ban: no PR, no purchase — with one important opening

Since 2023 the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act has prohibited the purchase of homes (buildings with at most three dwelling units in urban areas) by whoever isn't a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. The ban has been extended to 1 January 2027 — and at the time of writing no new extension has been announced, so whoever buys in 2027 checks the current state of play first.

For emigrants the practical opening lies in the exceptions:

• Work permit holders may buy if their permit is still valid for at least 183 days at the time of purchase and they haven't already bought a home under the ban. So whoever emigrates via a work route can often go ahead.
• Students at recognised institutions may buy under strict conditions (including tax returns, physical presence and a price cap of CAD 500,000).
• Outside the urban areas (Census Metropolitan Areas and Agglomerations) the ban doesn't apply — CMHC has a map on which you check per address whether it falls under it.

The royal route remains your permanent residence via Express Entry: with PR this whole chapter lapses.

The bill: the province decides — Ontario as the example

Canada has no national transfer tax; each province levies its own land transfer tax. In Ontario you pay it at closing, calculated on the purchase price (Toronto levies a municipal one on top of that). First-time homebuyers can get a rebate in Ontario — apply within 18 months. And then the levy that makes status count again: the Non-Resident Speculation Tax of 25% province-wide, for buyers without citizenship or PR. Even where the federal ban allows an exception (such as the work permit route), this provincial surcharge can therefore still make the purchase unaffordable — although rebate schemes exist for whoever becomes PR afterwards. Other provinces have comparable surcharges with their own rates; check your province before you count on a bargain.

And after that

As an owner you pay the municipal property tax annually, based on the assessed value — the amount varies greatly per municipality, so ask for the latest assessment for a specific house. What the first months look like beyond that, you can read in your first weeks in Canada.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Canada.