A reel titled "Mark Carney allows foreign buyers back to Canada to buy new homes in 2027" is doing the rounds in Vancouver. We read the budget text before repeating it.
What Budget 2026 (Nov 5, 2026) proposes:
- Extend the ban on foreign purchases of existing residential property by two years, to Jan 1, 2029.
- Exempt new residential properties from the ban.
- Legislation and a regulatory process to follow.
What it does not say: a 2027 start date, or what counts as "new". None of it is law yet.
What does not change in BC: the 20% additional property transfer tax for foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver and other specified areas, and the speculation and vacancy tax for foreign owners, which rises from 3% to 4% for the 2027 tax year.
Takeaway for small builders and SSMUH owners: if a presale or multiplex pro forma depends on foreign buyers, it is relying on a proposal with no date, a definition still to come, and a 20% provincial tax on top. Underwrite on local buyers and renters; treat foreign demand as upside.
Send the address and we’ll run a free desktop check of what it appears to allow, within two business days.
Request a lot check →Budget 2026, Chapter 3, Department of Finance Canada (budget.canada.ca, Nov 5, 2026); Province of BC, "Additional property transfer tax for foreign entities" (gov.bc.ca); Province of BC, speculation and vacancy tax rates; BC Budget 2026 (SVT rate change).
General information, checked Nov 9, 2026. Rules change and differ by municipality; confirm for your lot before relying on it. Not legal, tax or financial advice.