Foreign Buyer Ban Extended to 2029 — and Resale Sellers Seem not to Matter?

Nov 6, 2026 · Brad & Theo

Ottawa finally touched the foreign buyer ban in yesterday's federal budget. Just not in the way most homeowners were hoping.

What was announced

Budget 2026, tabled November 5, does two things:

• Extends the ban on existing (resale) homes by two more years, to January 1, 2029. It was set to expire this coming January.

• Exempts new homes from the ban, so non-Canadians will be able to buy newly built residential property.

The details still aren't out. The budget doesn't say exactly what counts as a "new home" or when the exemption takes effect, and legislation and regulations still have to follow. Until then, the current rules apply to everything.

Who this actually helps

Developers. They've been lobbying for this for months, and it shows. The government is openly modelling the change on Australia, where foreign buyers can only purchase new dwellings — the idea being that foreign money helps projects hit the presale targets lenders require before construction can start.

In Metro Vancouver, that matters. A coalition of local developers pushed hard this summer to loosen the rules, pointing to thousands of unsold condos sitting on their books. This exemption is aimed squarely at that backlog.

Who got overlooked: everyone selling an existing home

Here's the part we can't quite make sense of. If foreign demand is welcome for a brand-new condo, why is it still off-limits for a five-year-old unit in the building next door?

Resale owners are competing with that same oversupply of new product. Now the developers have access to a buyer pool that resale sellers are legally shut out of for another two-plus years. That's not a level playing field — and nobody in Ottawa seems to have explained why resale was left out.

The BC catch nobody is mentioning

Even when the federal exemption kicks in, Metro Vancouver still has its own 20% provincial foreign buyers tax (the Additional Property Transfer Tax). The two rules stack. So a foreign buyer looking at a new $800,000 condo here would still face roughly $160,000 in extra tax on top of the usual costs.

That alone will keep a lot of would-be foreign buyers on the sidelines, new home or not.

Our take

As we predicted in our previous article Nov 6, 2026 · Brad & Theo

Ottawa finally touched the foreign buyer ban in yesterday's federal budget. Just not in the way most homeowners were hoping.

What was announced

Budget 2026, tabled November 5, does two things:

• Extends the ban on existing (resale) homes by two more years, to January 1, 2029. It was set to expire this coming January.

• Exempts new homes from the ban, so non-Canadians will be able to buy newly built residential property.

The details still aren't out. The budget doesn't say exactly what counts as a "new home" or when the exemption takes effect, and legislation and regulations still have to follow. Until then, the current rules apply to everything.

Who this actually helps

Developers. They've been lobbying for this for months, and it shows. The government is openly modelling the change on Australia, where foreign buyers can only purchase new dwellings — the idea being that foreign money helps projects hit the presale targets lenders require before construction can start.

In Metro Vancouver, that matters. A coalition of local developers pushed hard this summer to loosen the rules, pointing to thousands of unsold condos sitting on their books. This exemption is aimed squarely at that backlog.

Who got overlooked: everyone selling an existing home

Here's the part we can't quite make sense of. If foreign demand is welcome for a brand-new condo, why is it still off-limits for a five-year-old unit in the building next door?

Resale owners are competing with that same oversupply of new product. Now the developers have access to a buyer pool that resale sellers are legally shut out of for another two-plus years. That's not a level playing field — and nobody in Ottawa seems to have explained why resale was left out.

The BC catch nobody is mentioning

Even when the federal exemption kicks in, Metro Vancouver still has its own 20% provincial foreign buyers tax (the Additional Property Transfer Tax). The two rules stack. So a foreign buyer looking at a new $800,000 condo here would still face roughly $160,000 in extra tax on top of the usual costs.

That alone will keep a lot of would-be foreign buyers on the sidelines, new home or not.

Our take

As we predicted in our previous article The Big Bad Ban- Does it even matter? , this is shaping up to be a non-event for most home sellers. Detached, townhouse and resale condo owners will see no change in who can buy their home until at least 2029.

The one possible upside: if it helps clear some of the unsold new condo inventory, that removes a bit of competition and price pressure that has been weighing on the resale condo market. Whether it actually moves the needle — with a 20% provincial tax still in place — remains to be seen. We're not holding our breath.

What this means for you

• Selling a resale home? Nothing changes. Your buyer pool is the same as it was last week.

• Selling a resale condo? Watch new-condo absorption over the next year. If the backlog shrinks, that could firm up pricing for you.

• Buying? Don't expect foreign competition to suddenly show up on resale listings. The ban holds.

• Holding a presale or assignment? Wait for the final rules before assuming this applies to you. The definitions aren't out yet.

We'll update you once the legislation and regulations are released. In the meantime, if you're wondering what this means for your home specifically, give us a call. this is shaping up to be a non-event for most home sellers. Detached, townhouse and resale condo owners will see no change in who can buy their home until at least 2029.

The one possible upside: if it helps clear some of the unsold new condo inventory, that removes a bit of competition and price pressure that has been weighing on the resale condo market. Whether it actually moves the needle — with a 20% provincial tax still in place — remains to be seen. We're not holding our breath.

What this means for you

• Selling a resale home? Nothing changes. Your buyer pool is the same as it was last week.

• Selling a resale condo? Watch new-condo absorption over the next year. If the backlog shrinks, that could firm up pricing for you.

• Buying? Don't expect foreign competition to suddenly show up on resale listings. The ban holds.

• Holding a presale or assignment? Wait for the final rules before assuming this applies to you. The definitions aren't out yet.

We'll update you once the legislation and regulations are released. In the meantime, if you're wondering what this means for your home specifically, give us a call.