Canada's Foreign Buyer Ban Extended to 2029, But New Homes Are Exempt: What Budget 2026 Means for Tri-Cities Presales

What Budget 2026 actually says

Three things stand out:

• The ban isn't ending. For resale homes it's being extended two more years, from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2029.
• New homes are being carved out. The stated goal is "unlocking additional investment in new housing supply." In plain terms: let offshore money help fund construction, and keep it away from the existing homes local families compete for.
• Nothing has changed in law yet. A budget proposal isn't a statute. Until Parliament passes the amendment and the regulations are published, the current Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act applies as written, including its existing exceptions for some work-permit holders, students and others. I cover those in Can US citizens and foreigners buy property in BC?

What we don't know yet

The budget gives this one short paragraph. The details that actually decide who can buy what will come in the bill and the regulations. These are the questions I'm getting from clients, and none of them have official answers yet:

• What counts as "new"? A home that's never been occupied? Anything completed after a certain date? The budget doesn't say.
• Are presales included? Some commentators expect presales (pre-construction contracts) to qualify, since funding construction is the whole point. Australia's rules include "off-the-plan" purchases. But Ottawa hasn't confirmed it.
• What about assignments? If a Canadian presale buyer assigns their contract before completion, is the unit still "new" for a foreign assignee? Unknown.
• What about completed, unsold inventory? A finished unit that's sat empty in a developer's hands for a year has never been lived in. Whether it stays "new" will matter a lot for the 14,000-plus unsold units in the region.
• When does it start? No effective date has been announced. The government says legislation will come "in short order," and the current law expires January 1, 2027.
• Will there be conditions? Australia requires approval, charges application fees and adds an annual vacancy fee. Canada could add its own anti-avoidance rules. We don't know yet.

My advice until the rules are published: don't sign anything on the assumption that a foreign buyer can close on it. If you're a seller or assignor counting on an offshore buyer, make sure your lawyer reviews any contract against the law as it stands on the day you sign.

This is the Australian model

On October 27 I wrote about Australia's "new builds only" approach and why it was the option Ottawa kept circling. Budget 2026 lands almost exactly there, and even the end dates line up:

The logic is the same in both countries: offshore buyers don't compete with local families for existing homes, but their deposits can help new projects reach the presale numbers lenders require before construction financing is released.

Why now: the presale market needed help

The budget frames this as supply policy, and the numbers explain the timing. According to Rennie's Fall 2026 report, as reported by Daily Hive:

• More than 14,000 new condos were unsold across Metro Vancouver at the end of June 2026.
• About 56% of those (nearly 8,000) were under construction, about 15% hadn't started, and the rest were already completed.
• Only 1,340 new condos sold region-wide in the first half of 2026, a record low.

When presales stall, projects don't start, and the homes we'll need in 2029 and 2030 don't get built. That's the problem this exemption is aimed at. Closer to home, 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%.

Is this another federal bailout for developers?

It's the first question I asked myself when I read the budget, and it's a fair one. The honest answer is partly yes, by design. The budget says the goal is "unlocking additional investment in new housing supply," and the people holding unsold new housing are developers and their lenders. Critics will say Ottawa is using foreign buyers to clear condo inventory that was built for investors, not families, and that it does little for family-sized affordability.

Here's why I still think it's a step in the right direction. Inventory has to move before prices can recover. When thousands of new units sit unsold, they set the comparables for every resale condo and townhome around them, and that holds back pricing for ordinary sellers too, not just developers. Getting new units sold helps clear the overhang that's been weighing on the whole apartment segment.

And the cost of projects not moving is real. Right here in the Tri-Cities, Portwood in Port Moody is the clearest example. On October 13, 2026, the B.C. Supreme Court approved the sale of its three remaining future phases (The Hub, The Mews and The Terraces) to the project's lender through a $127.1 million credit bid. According to Howard Chai's reporting on the court record, about 30 potential buyers were approached and none put in a bid. Portwood's trouble was debt and financing in a tough market, not foreign buyers. But it shows what happens when new projects stall: what gets built, and when, becomes an open question. The parts already under construction, The Creek rentals and Umbra, were excluded from that sale.

So yes, developers benefit. But a market where new homes keep getting built and sold is better for Tri-Cities homeowners than one where projects end up in court.

What doesn't change: BC's foreign-buyer taxes

The federal ban decides who is allowed to buy. BC's taxes decide what it costs, and Budget 2026 doesn't touch them. In fact, the budget says Ottawa "will continue to support" measures "levied by other levels of government" that address speculation. Here's what still applies:

• 20% Additional Property Transfer Tax on fair market value for foreign nationals buying residential property in Metro Vancouver, on top of the regular property transfer tax. On a presale it's due at completion, when title transfers.
• Regular property transfer tax: 1% on the first $200,000, 2% up to $2 million, 3% above that. BC's newly built home exemption is only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
• 5% GST on new homes, with no First-Time Home Buyers' GST Rebate for a non-Canadian.
• Speculation and Vacancy Tax of 3% of assessed value in 2026 and 4% from 2027 for foreign owners, unless the home is a principal residence or rented out for at least six months of the year. More on my BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax guide.

That's about 27% of the price in tax before the buyer gets the keys, plus a steep yearly charge if the unit sits empty. So even with the federal door open on new homes, I don't expect a flood of offshore buyers into the Tri-Cities. I expect a steady trickle, concentrated where the math still works.

What it means in the Tri-Cities

If you own a resale detached home or townhome: very little changes directly. Foreign buyers stay out of the resale market to 2029, so your buyer pool is the same local move-up and relocating families it was last month. Rates, inventory and local demand matter far more to your price than this.

If you own a presale or are trying to assign one: this is the group with the most at stake. If presales and assignments end up qualifying as "new," you could have a wider pool of buyers for your contract, and more absorption could help steady presale pricing over time. But until the definition is published, plan your sale around buyers who can close under today's rules. Read up on Coquitlam presale assignment rules before you list.

If you're buying a presale: in popular launches, especially condo towers near SkyTrain in Coquitlam Town Centre and Port Moody, you could see more competition for the best floor plans once the rules are in place. Developers with stalled projects may also find it easier to start construction, which matters if you're waiting on a project that hasn't broken ground.

If you're relocating from abroad: if you're on a qualifying work permit, the existing exceptions may already let you buy. Otherwise, your first Tri-Cities home will likely be a new townhome or condo rather than a resale house, once the exemption takes effect. Budget for the 20% tax. A refund may be available if you become a permanent resident or citizen within a year of the transfer and live in the home, but conditions apply, so confirm with your lawyer.

If you're a local buyer: the resale market you're most likely shopping in stays closed to foreign buyers. That's the "keeping the vast majority of the market available for Canadians" part of the budget.

My take: I called this one, and here's what I'd do now

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

I said this was coming

On October 27, nine days before the budget, I published a full breakdown of Australia's model and wrote:

Budget 2026 does exactly that: an Australian-style split, with resale protected and new construction opened up. It wasn't luck. The signals were there all fall, from the federal housing minister naming Australia's model as one to study to Ottawa's constant focus on supply.

How big an effect? Small overall, real in presales

Before the ban, from what I saw, offshore buyers were under 3% of purchasers in Tri-Cities presale launches. That lines up with BC's own data, which showed foreign nationals involved in roughly 1–3% of BC transactions in the years before 2023. So this isn't going to change the whole market.

But the share isn't the whole story. By the time this exemption takes effect, foreign buyers will have been shut out for about four years. That's a lot of pent-up demand pointed at one segment, and unlike in 2022, a lot of the product is already built and move-in ready. Rennie's figures put roughly three in ten of Metro Vancouver's unsold new condos in completed buildings. A buyer from abroad doesn't have to wait three years for a tower to go up. They can buy a finished unit now. That's why I expect the effect to show up in presales and completed new inventory faster than people think, even if it never shows up in resale detached prices.

What my clients are saying

Right now, many buyers are still skeptical of presales. They see too much risk if the market keeps falling, and they're right to weigh it. Many people who bought presales around 2023, near the peak, are now looking at completion values below what they agreed to pay. If you're in that position, you're not alone, and it's the main reason I'm cautious about anyone rushing into a presale on the strength of a budget headline.

If I owned a presale right now, I'd hold

Here's my reasoning:

• Selling now locks in the low point. The apartment segment is the softest part of the Tri-Cities market, and an assignment today competes with developers' own unsold units.
• The buyer pool may be about to grow. Once the rules are written, new homes could open up to a group of buyers who've been locked out for four years. Selling before that happens means selling into the smallest possible market.
• The details aren't written yet. Whether assignments qualify, and when the exemption starts, is still unknown. Waiting a few months for clarity costs little if you can close.

The big caveat: holding only works if you can complete. If your lender's appraisal comes in below your contract price, or your finances have changed since you signed, the plan is different. Talk to your mortgage broker and lawyer early, and book a call with me so we can look at your actual numbers and completion date.

Is it good policy?

It's a start in the right direction. We need properties moving and inventory coming down before sellers see pricing recover, and this gives new homes another pool of buyers without opening the resale homes local families compete for. Resale detached homes on Burke Mountain, Westwood Plateau and Heritage Mountain will keep trading on local demand, the same as before. I still expect the Tri-Cities market to find firmer footing through 2027, as I laid out in my 2027 Coquitlam forecast.

I could be wrong on the details. A narrow definition of "new," or conditions stricter than Australia's, would shrink the effect. I'll update this post when the legislation is tabled.

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