Non-Resident Speculation Tax NRST Ontario

The Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) is a 15% tax charged on the purchase of a residential property located in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region (GGH) by individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of Canada or to foreign corporations (foreign entities) and taxable trustees.
The geographical areas covered in the GGH include:

Barrie	Dufferin County	Brantford	Dufferin County	Durham Region
Guelph	Haldimand County	Halton Region	Hamilton	Kawartha Lakes
Niagara Region	Northumberland County	Orillia	Peel Region	Peterborough County
Simcoe County	City of Toronto	Waterloo Region	Wellington County	York Region

The NRST applies in addition to the general Land Transfer Tax in Ontario. The NRST came into effect on April 21, 2017.

A rebate of the NRST may be available in the following situations:

A Foreign National who becomes a Permanent Resident of Canada: The foreign national becomes a permanent resident of Canada within four years of the date of the purchase or acquisition.
International Student – The foreign national is a student who has been enrolled full-time for a continuous period of at least 2 years from the date of purchase or acquisition in an “approved institution” at a campus located in Ontario. Full-time means enrolled in at least 60% (if the individual does not have a disability) or 40% (if the individual has a disability) of what the approved institution considers to be a full course load for the academic year)
Foreign National working in Ontario – The foreign national has legally worked full-time under a valid work permit in Ontario for a continuous period of at least one year since the date of purchase or acquisition. Full-time means an employment position that requires no fewer than 30 hours of paid work per week over a 12-month period and no fewer than a total of 1,560 hours of paid work over that period.

To qualify for a rebate, the foreign national must exclusively hold the property, or hold the property exclusively with his or her spouse. The property must also have been occupied as the foreign national’s (and if applicable his or her spouse’s) principal residence for the duration of the period that begins within 60 days after the date of the purchase or acquisition.

*NRST applications are subject to audit. Since these applications have strict requirements, we recommend calling us as soon as possible.

Non-Resident Speculation Tax

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