can you buy a house if you don't have a PR or citizenship

The Canada Constitution Act - 1982 and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are quite clear that they apply to ALL people, not just to citizens of Canada.

The right to own property (i.e. to purchase property) is guaranteed under both Common Law and Statute Law in Canada. However, this does not mean "property rights" are absolute. You can own property, but for example if your ownership rights were absolute then property could not be expropriated, we all know that it can be expropriated by law.

So yes, you can buy real estate in Canada, citizen or not. Just know that nobody, citizen or non-citizen alike ever owns that property "absolutely".

The real question I think you should concern yourself with is whether or not you can finance the purchase of property without being a citizen or at the very least a permanent resident. The answer there is probably not. It would be highly unlikely that any Canadian financial institution would finance a purchase made by a non-resident, perhaps under exceptional circumstances one could obtain financing.

You should also be aware that the mere fact that you own a home or any other kind of property in Canada, will have no legal effect on your immigratory status. It would neither improve nor lessen your chances to obtain PR status in the country.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Sorry William but if you are here on a work visa and have an ongoing job offer not just temporary work offer you can apply for a mortgage under the new to Canada programme you just have to check in banks to see who offers this solution. But you will be looking at 10% down payment not 5% and you will have to prove where the money came from.

Its also possible to obtain a car loan the same way.

Hi Scott,

Good to know that information. Nice to see that the financial institutions have relaxed a bit since I left Canada.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi,

For your information TD canada trust aggreed  to give us a mortgage and we have only a two year visas. They just ask you to have 20% of downpayment.

It is more complicated to get finance for a house without PR.  We bought our place in Dec 2010 and we did not have PR at the time. You will need to shop around as each bank/finance institution have different rules and use different mortgage default insurers . We were very disheartened when we first looked at a mortgage because the bank wanted 10% down. We tried a couple of others and they also wanted that or more as a down payment. We then had given up all hope of buying our own place until we became a PR. Eventually our Realtor put us in touch with Scotia who used a different mortgage default insurer to CHMC. With Scotia we were able to secure a mortgage with only 5% down.

My advice is make sure you have all the info about your salary and finances and shop around.

Good Luck

You can buy a house but there are different set of rules if you are not PR ... if you are a PR there are ways to buy your own house. Generally commercial bank are not much interested but financial banks can be and their rates are as competitive as the commercial bank. You may access the institutional financial bank through the help of Brokers at no charge. I would suggest you visit this web site www. Lecom. ca and make an inquiry . Hope this is useful

Best to create a relationship and open accounts with financial institutions that have business in Canada such as Royal Bank.
Foreigners can buy what ever they like.
Financing depends on the ability to repay so the banks look at your capacity.   Even without employment it is possible to secure a mortgage.

Selling creates a with holding tax on the sale for potential capital gains taxes.

Please deal with or interview reputable people, research their references and call, ask.

David Pylyp