Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
Since January 3, 2023, every accepted residential purchase contract in BC gives the buyer a mandatory 3-business-day right of rescission — a cooling-off period during which the buyer can walk away from the deal with no reason required. The catch: a 0.25% rescission fee is payable to the seller, and the rescission must be exercised in writing within the statutory window.
The Home Buyer Rescission Period (HBRP) was introduced by the BC government through the Property Law Act amendments in 2022 and came into force on January 3, 2023. Craig tracks the practical side: which offers actually get rescinded, how brokerages handle the deposit, and how sellers should price in the risk.
4.9 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesQuick Answer
What is the BC home buyer rescission period?
Since January 3, 2023, every accepted residential purchase contract in BC gives the buyer a mandatory 3-business-day right of rescission — a cooling-off period, subject to a 0.25% rescission fee. Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
Once the seller accepts the buyer's offer in writing, the BC Home Buyer Rescission Period starts. The buyer has until 11:59 PM on the third business day after acceptance to deliver a written rescission notice to the seller. If they do, the deal is dead — and the buyer owes a 0.25% rescission fee, calculated on the purchase price. On a $1.2M home, that fee is $3,000, and it is deducted from the buyer's deposit on the way back.
Every figure on this page is drawn from primary BC and federal sources listed below. For a live, government-maintained version of each rule, click through — the internet can drift, the official source is always authoritative.
| Purchase price | 0.25% rescission fee | Deposit at 5% (example) | Deposit returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $1,500 | $30,000 | $28,500 |
| $900,000 | $2,250 | $45,000 | $42,750 |
| $1,200,000 | $3,000 | $60,000 | $57,000 |
| $1,800,000 | $4,500 | $90,000 | $85,500 |
| $2,500,000 | $6,250 | $125,000 | $118,750 |
The HBRP is not a free look. You pay 0.25% to walk away — and in a $1.5M market, that's almost $4,000 — so you need to treat those three days as a real deadline to finish inspection, financing, and strata review. I usually recommend keeping a subject-to-inspection clause on top of the HBRP, because subjects are still the cleaner tool for bigger contingencies like financing.
— Craig Johnston, REALTOR® · Royal LePage Elite West · Tri-Cities resident 47+ years
Whether you're a first-time buyer trying to master the rules or a move-up family planning your next step, a 20-minute strategy call maps out exactly what applies to your situation.
It starts when the seller accepts the offer. The buyer then has until 11:59 PM on the third business day after acceptance to deliver written notice. Weekends and statutory holidays don't count as business days, so confirm the exact deadline with your REALTOR® and BCFSA's guidance.
A business day is any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, statutory holiday in BC, or Remembrance Day. It is defined in the Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation.
No. The HBRP applies to every residential offer on resale and most new-construction homes in BC and cannot be waived by buyer or seller. The fee can be waived by mutual agreement but the right itself cannot.
Residential sales at auction, residential leaseholds on First Nations or Crown land, sales in a court-ordered foreclosure, and sales of recreational land without residences are exempt. Presales under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA) are also exempt because REDMA already provides a 7-day rescission right.
The rescission fee is 0.25% of the purchase price. On a $1,000,000 home the fee is $2,500. It is deducted from the buyer's deposit on the way back to the buyer.
No. Subject-to clauses (financing, inspection, insurance, strata review) remain the primary due-diligence tool. The HBRP is an additional, non-waivable right that runs in parallel with any subjects.
No — it is the buyer's statutory right. The seller's only remedy is keeping the 0.25% rescission fee, which is set by the regulation.
You have two options: exercise the rescission to kill the deal (and pay 0.25%), or keep the contract alive via the subject-to-inspection clause if one was written in. The HBRP and subject clauses are independent protections.
No. The HBRP applies only to residential property. Commercial and industrial sales are governed by standard contract law with no statutory cooling-off period.
In writing, through the contract's notice clause (usually email or fax to the listing brokerage and seller's lawyer), and delivered before 11:59 PM on the third business day. Most buyer's agents use a BCREA standard rescission form to make the notice unambiguous.
BCFSA-licensed REALTOR® (V99960). 47+ years Tri-Cities. Top 2% Team — Royal LePage nationwide, 2023–2025. Specialist in Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam transactions across resale, new construction, and strata. The same rules above apply on every single deal — the difference is having someone who works with them regularly in your corner.
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