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Canada's Foreign Buyer Ban Has a Little-Known Exception for Work Permit Holders
As the federal ban on non-Canadians buying homes heads toward its 2027 expiry, newcomers with the right immigration status may already qualify for an exemption
Published: July 16, 2026
Since 2023, Canada has barred most non-Canadians from purchasing residential property nationwide, and the government confirmed this summer that the freeze will remain in place through January 1, 2027. But the rule was never absolute, and confusion over who is exempt has only grown as the ban's expiry date approaches.
Permanent residents are fully outside the ban's reach, since the law applies only to people who hold neither citizenship nor permanent residency. The more surprising carve-out involves temporary residents: immigration lawyers note that a foreign national holding a valid work permit can buy a home if they have worked in Canada for a set period and lived in the country for at least 183 days in one of the prior years, among other conditions.
Other exemptions cover vacant land, recreational and rural properties, and buyers moving through refugee or spousal sponsorship pathways, according to guidance published by immigration and real estate law firms that track the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.
The distinctions matter for a growing pool of prospective buyers. Housing advisers say American professionals relocating to Canada on work permits, along with international students transitioning to post-graduate work status, are increasingly asking whether they qualify under the existing exemptions rather than waiting for the ban to lapse entirely.
With the expiry date now just over a year away, real estate professionals expect scrutiny of these exemptions to intensify, particularly in hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver, where the ban was originally meant to cool speculative foreign demand.
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