On Monday, the Government of Canada announced a series of amendments to the foreign buyer ban — officially called the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — to expand the exceptions to the regulations, some of which have become an unintended thorn in the sides of developers across the country.
The four amendments to the foreign buyer ban are effective immediately, as of March 27, 2023, and are as follows.
The Foreign Control Threshold is Now 10%
While the foreign buyer ban was originally created with individual Canadians and the resale market in mind, a less-discussed aspect of the ban was its effect on the development industry, particularly with the legislation deeming an entity as foreign if non-Canadians owned 3% or more of it.
In the short months since the ban came into effect on January 1, this 3% has been repeatedly cited by developers as