Canada's Foreign Buyer Ban Ends January 1, 2027. Is an Australian-Style "New Builds Only" Rule Next?

Where the ban stands today

The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act took effect on January 1, 2023 as a two-year measure. In February 2024 the federal government extended it to January 1, 2027. It bars most non-Canadians (people who aren't citizens, permanent residents, or registered under the Indian Act) and foreign-controlled companies from buying homes in Canada's cities and larger towns. That includes all of Metro Vancouver, so Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam are covered. It already has exceptions, including work-permit holders, some students, refugees, vacant land, and buildings with four or more units. I go through all of them in Can US citizens and foreigners buy property in BC?

Here's what has happened since:

• December 2025: Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said the government would use 2026 to review the ban and study models used elsewhere, including Australia's (reported by Bloomberg).
• July–August 2026: Industry and legal commentary (including a July 2026 analysis by law firm BLG) described a framework that would steer foreign money toward new construction as under active consideration. Commentators widely reported that a straight extension wasn't the plan. That is their reading, not a government statement.
• October 7, 2026: Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters, "We're looking at all the options that we have in front of us," and said the government wants "a higher stock of housing opportunities for Canadians." He didn't name an option or a decision date.

So the honest status is that the ban is fully in force today, it's scheduled to lapse on January 1, 2027, and no replacement has been announced or passed. Three outcomes are realistic: let it expire, extend it again, or rewrite it, most likely along Australian lines.

How Australia's foreign buyer rules work

Australia didn't ban foreign buyers outright. It separated new supply from existing homes:

The established-home ban was announced in February 2025 as a two-year measure. In the May 2026 federal budget, Australia extended it by two years and three months, to June 30, 2029.

Australia also charges foreign owners an annual vacancy fee if a home sits empty, i.e. isn't lived in or genuinely rented, for 183 days or more in a year. For vacancy years starting on or after April 9, 2024, the fee is double the original foreign investment application fee. Most Australian states also add their own foreign-purchaser surcharges on top.

The scale is small, just as it is here. In 2022/23, foreign investors made about 5,360 residential purchases in Australia, roughly a third of them existing homes. Australia sees around 670,000 property sales a year. After the ban took effect, Australia's Productivity Commission reported foreign investment approvals down more than 22%, to 5,284 in 2024/25. Almost all of that drop came from residential real estate, and the full effect will only show in the next year's figures. It's still too early to say how much the ban has changed Australian prices.

The key difference from Canada's rules

Canada's ban already exempts vacant land, some purchases for development, and buildings with four or more units. But it doesn't allow foreign buyers to purchase a new home. A presale condo in a Coquitlam Town Centre tower or a new Burke Mountain townhome is covered by the ban just like a 30-year-old house.

An Australian-style rule would change exactly that. Non-Canadians could buy new homes and presales, while resale homes (the detached houses, townhomes and existing condos most families compete for) would stay off-limits.

Is this just help for developers?

It's a fair question, and the honest answer is partly yes, by design. Whether that's a problem depends on what you think the housing system needs most right now.

The case for a new-build-only rule

• Presales fund construction. Lenders typically want a large share of a project's units presold before they'll release construction financing. Developers argue that without offshore presale buyers, some projects simply don't start. Fewer projects means less supply later, which hurts affordability for everyone.
• Foreign buyers don't compete with families for existing homes. A family trying to buy a resale townhouse in Port Coquitlam wouldn't be bidding against a non-resident.
• Economists have questioned the current ban. RBC's Robert Hogue described his preliminary read of the ban's effect as "minuscule." CIBC's Benjamin Tal has called for it to expire ("It doesn't make any sense"). Mike Moffatt of the University of Ottawa's Missing Middle Initiative suggested letting it expire or amending it to allow new-home purchases as Australia does, noting "one of the costs is blocking construction." In 2024, Royal LePage (the national brokerage network I'm part of) also said the ban had had "virtually no impact" on prices.

The case against

• It mostly helps one segment: investor-oriented presale condos. Critics say this is a policy tool to clear unsold or slow-selling condo inventory, much of it small units designed for investors rather than families. They argue it doesn't solve the family-sized housing shortage.
• New prices feed into resale prices. Presale pricing sets the comparables that nearby resale condos are judged against. Extra demand at the top of the new-build market doesn't stay entirely separate from the resale market.
• The public backs the ban. An April 2025 poll cited by MoneySense found 76% of Canadians supported the ban and 13% opposed it. With many younger Canadians priced out, reopening any door to foreign buyers is contentious. Moffatt called it "a political challenge for the government," and he also sees merit in keeping the ban, reformed to help builders get capital for new projects.
• The numbers are small either way. If foreign buyers are only a few percent of sales, a carve-out for new builds may not unlock as much construction as developers hope.

My framing for clients: a new-build-only rule is a supply-financing policy, not an affordability policy. It's aimed at getting cranes moving. Whether it does that depends on how much offshore demand actually comes back once BC's taxes are added in, which is the next section.

How big was foreign buying in BC before the ban?

Smaller than most people assume. BC has tracked buyer citizenship through property transfer tax filings since mid-2016. According to BC Ministry of Finance data reported by Business in Vancouver:

The point matters. By the time Ottawa's ban arrived, BC's own taxes had already pushed foreign buying down to the low single digits. You'll often hear "about 3%" for BC. That's roughly right for 2017–2018, but the share was closer to 1–2% in the years just before the federal ban.

Ownership is a different measure. Statistics Canada estimated non-residents owned about 3.8% of BC residential properties in 2024, down from about 4.5% in 2021. That counts everyone who lives outside Canada, including Canadian citizens abroad, so it overstates the group the ban targets.

What foreign buyers pay in BC, whatever Ottawa decides

This part gets lost in the headlines. The federal ban is about who is allowed to buy. BC's taxes decide what it costs, and none of them are tied to the January 1, 2027 date.

1. BC's 20% Additional Property Transfer Tax

Foreign nationals, foreign-controlled corporations and taxable trustees pay an extra 20% of fair market value when they buy residential property in Metro Vancouver and the other specified BC regions. That's on top of the regular property transfer tax everyone pays. Transfer tax is paid when title transfers, so for a presale it's due at completion, not when the contract is signed.

2. Regular property transfer tax

1% on the first $200,000, 2% up to $2 million, 3% above that, plus an extra 2% on residential value over $3 million. BC's first-time buyer and newly built home exemptions are only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

3. GST on a new home

New homes carry 5% GST. The First-Time Home Buyers' GST Rebate (up to $50,000 on new homes up to $1 million) requires a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, so a foreign buyer pays the full GST. The older GST New Housing Rebate is effectively nil at Tri-Cities new-home prices because it phases out completely above $450,000.

4. The Speculation and Vacancy Tax

The SVT applies across the Tri-Cities and is charged yearly on assessed value unless an exemption applies. The main exemptions are living in the home as your principal residence, or renting it out for at least six months of the year in tenancies of a month or more. For foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners the rate is 3% for the 2026 tax year. BC Budget 2026 raised it to 4% from the 2027 tax year. Canadian citizens and permanent residents pay 1% if the tax applies to them. More detail is on my BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax guide.

One federal change worth knowing: Budget 2025 eliminated the Underused Housing Tax, the 1% federal tax that mainly hit non-resident, non-Canadian owners, as of the 2025 calendar year. In the Tri-Cities, the yearly vacancy cost that remains is BC's SVT.

A worked example: an illustrative $900,000 new Tri-Cities condo

That's about 27% of the purchase price in tax before the buyer gets the keys, plus a steep yearly charge if the unit isn't lived in or rented. Even if Ottawa reopens the door to new builds, BC has already made foreign purchases expensive, and it pushes owners to keep units occupied, which tends to add rental supply. That's a big reason I don't expect a rush of buyers in January.

What it could mean in the Tri-Cities

If you own a resale detached home or townhome: under an Australian-style rule, foreign buyers still couldn't buy your home, so expect little to no direct effect. Even if the ban lapses completely, the 20% tax and the SVT keep foreign demand for family homes modest. What matters more for your price is interest rates, local move-up demand and inventory.

If you own or are buying a presale condo: this is where a change would show up. The Tri-Cities apartment market has been the softest segment. As of September 2026, Coquitlam apartment benchmark prices were down about 7.3% year over year and Port Coquitlam apartments about 9.0%. More presale demand could help absorb new completions and steady pricing over time. If you're assigning a presale contract, note that an Australian-style rule would likely treat a never-occupied new unit as "new," but the details would depend on how Ottawa writes it.

If you're relocating from abroad: if you're on a qualifying work permit, the current exceptions may already let you buy. Otherwise, a new-build-only rule could mean your first Tri-Cities home is a new townhome or condo rather than a resale house. Budget for the 20% tax. There is a refund if you become a permanent resident or citizen within a year of the transfer being registered (for a presale, that's completion) and live in the home as your principal residence, but conditions apply and permanent residence within that window isn't guaranteed. Confirm it with your lawyer before counting on it.

If you're a local buyer: an Australian-style rule leaves the resale market you're most likely shopping in unchanged. In the presale market, you could see a bit more competition for the best floor plans in new launches.

My take: what I'm watching

This section is my opinion as a local REALTOR®, not a fact, a guarantee, or investment advice.

I've said publicly that I expect the ban not to be extended as it stands. A rewrite that opens the door to new construction only fits what Ottawa has been signalling, especially with "housing supply" as the stated goal. Whichever way it lands, I don't see a flood of buyers. BC's 20% tax and a 4% vacancy tax from 2027 take care of that. I see a gradual return of some offshore presale buyers, concentrated in new condo towers near transit, while Burke Mountain, Westwood Plateau and Heritage Mountain detached homes keep moving on local demand. I still expect the Tri-Cities market to find firmer footing through mid-2027, as I outlined in my 2027 Coquitlam forecast. I could be wrong: a late extension or a stricter rewrite would change the picture.

If you're deciding whether to list, buy a presale, or wait, don't plan around a headline. Base it on your timeline, your numbers and your neighbourhood. That's the conversation I have with clients every week.

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