Foreign buyers on the rise
Purchases of property by foreign buyers rose markedly in Montreal in 2018 – a bump of 21.5%.
I’m curious: I spoke recently with a colleague who’s here on a work visa from Europe. She wants to stay here, and is waiting to see if she gets permanent residency, because she can’t buy a place if she doesn’t get it.
Another colleague said afterwards: if she can’t buy, how do all these foreign buyers get in? I suspect her problem is more about getting a mortgage than technically being allowed to buy property, and that if you came to buy a condo with cash up front, nobody would care about your citizenship status. But obviously I didn’t grill her. Am I correct?
Blork 10:33 on 2019-04-02 Permalink
I don’t know the actual rules/laws, but I suspect you are correct. There is also the self-imposed restriction of not wanting to commit to a mortgage if you don’t know if you’ll be allowed to stay here and live in the place.
Patrick 12:01 on 2019-04-02 Permalink
Does personal residency matter if you can buy property in the name of a corporation (would it have to be Canada-registered?). People with a lot of assets they want to protect tend to do things like that.
John B 13:08 on 2019-04-02 Permalink
There’s no law preventing a foreign citizen, resident of Canada or not, from owning property in Canada. However, it is harder to get a mortgage if you’re not considered a Resident, (info in the same link).
I’m guessing your colleague is being responsible, and may not have the cash flow to finance a second home if she gets the boot from Canada.