Can an American Buy a House in Ontario?

Whether an American can buy a house in Ontario depends on status, not on where they were born. A Canadian citizen or permanent resident can buy a house in Ontario with no restriction and no extra tax, no matter where they currently live. A foreign national faces two separate rules: a federal ban on purchasing residential property, in effect until January 1, 2027, and Ontario’s 25% Non-Resident Speculation Tax. Here is what applies to each situation if you are looking at Oakville, Mississauga, Milton, or Burlington.

Current as of September 2026. These rules change, and the federal prohibition is scheduled to expire January 1, 2027. Confirm your own situation before you act on it.

Can an American buy a house in Ontario right now? Quick answer by status

Your status	Can you buy here now?	25% NRST?
Canadian citizen (including dual citizens living in the US)	Yes, no restriction	No
Permanent resident	Yes, no restriction	No
Valid work permit, 183+ days remaining	Yes, one property	Yes, unless a specific exemption applies
Applied for PR, status not yet granted	Only if you separately qualify, such as a work permit	Yes at closing, with a rebate available later
Foreign national with no Canadian status	No, not in these four cities, until January 1, 2027	Yes

What is the federal ban on foreign buyers?

The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act took effect January 1, 2023 and was extended to January 1, 2027. It prevents non-Canadians from purchasing residential property, defined as buildings with three or fewer dwelling units, which includes detached homes, semi-detached homes, townhouses, and condominium units.

The Act has a geographic limit that surprises people. It applies inside Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, and not outside them. Oakville, Mississauga, and Milton sit inside the Toronto census metropolitan area, and Burlington sits inside the Hamilton one. So the rural exemption does not help anyone buying in these four cities. It applies to cottage country and smaller centres, not here.

Can I buy if I am a Canadian citizen living in the United States?

Yes. A Canadian citizen can buy a house in Ontario with no restriction and no Non-Resident Speculation Tax. Ontario is explicit that where a citizen or permanent resident happens to live is not relevant, and neither is whether they are a non-resident for income tax purposes. A Canadian citizen buying alone, or with other citizens and permanent residents, is not subject to the tax.

This is worth checking carefully rather than assuming. Canada removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent, and a large number of Americans have since confirmed citizenship through a Canadian parent or grandparent. In the first five months of 2026, Americans accounted for nearly half of everyone who qualified for a citizenship certificate. If one of your parents or grandparents was Canadian, you may already hold citizenship without having claimed it, and that single fact changes both the ban and the tax question.

Can I buy on a work permit?

Usually yes for the purchase itself, and the tax is a separate question. Under the federal Act, a temporary resident holding a valid work permit is exempt if the permit has at least 183 days remaining and they have not already purchased a residential property under that exemption. The exemption covers one property.

Ontario does not mirror that exemption. The province taxes foreign nationals, defined as anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, so a work permit holder can be permitted to buy federally and still owe the 25% Non-Resident Speculation Tax at closing. The transitional rebates that once existed for international students and for foreign nationals working in Ontario have been phased out. They only ever applied to agreements of purchase and sale entered into on or before March 29, 2022, and the application deadline of March 31, 2025 has passed, so those routes are closed.

I have applied for permanent residence. Can I buy?

Applying is not the same as holding status. Until permanent residence is granted you remain a foreign national for both rules, so the purchase depends on qualifying another way, most often a valid work permit or being the spouse of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

On the tax side, Ontario states it plainly: if you have applied for permanent residence but do not have that status when the transaction closes, the Non-Resident Speculation Tax is payable unless you qualify for an exemption. Exemptions are narrow, and cover a provincial nominee, a protected person, or the spouse of a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, nominee, or protected person.

How does the NRST rebate work?

The Permanent Resident rebate refunds 100% of the tax paid. To qualify you must become a permanent resident of Canada within four years of the purchase, hold the property alone or with your spouse only, and occupy it as your principal residence, starting within 60 days of the transfer being registered and continuing until the rebate is applied for.

The deadline is where claims are lost. The application must reach the Ministry of Finance within 180 days of becoming a permanent resident. Ontario flags a specific trap here: the date on your Permanent Resident Card is not the date you became a permanent resident. The card is usually issued later, sometimes well past the 180 days, so waiting for it can void an otherwise valid claim. Use your Confirmation of Permanent Residence or the letter from IRCC as the date, and file from there.

Two more conditions worth knowing before an offer is written. If you buy with another person, the two of you must already be spouses on the day of closing. Marrying afterward does not fix it, and the rebate is denied. And the tax is payable at registration regardless of eventual eligibility, so not paying it at closing on the expectation of a rebate exposes you to penalty and interest.

What do buyers most often get wrong?

Two things, and both are expensive.

The tax is not prorated. If any one buyer on title is a foreign national, the 25% applies to the entire purchase price, not to that person’s share. Ontario’s own example uses three buyers on a $1.5 million purchase where one holds a 34% interest, and the tax is $375,000. Every buyer on title is liable for it, including the Canadian ones, if it goes unpaid. That makes the decision about who goes on title a planning question to settle before an offer is written.

The second is cash flow. In my experience the conversation that needs to happen early is not about the tax rate, it is about where that money sits on closing day. Lenders generally will not finance the Non-Resident Speculation Tax, so it has to be available as cash alongside the down payment, land transfer tax, and legal fees, and it is not recovered until permanent residence is granted and the rebate is processed. Buyers who map that out at the pre-approval stage do not get surprised at the lawyer’s office.

What changes on January 1, 2027?

The federal ban is currently scheduled to expire on January 1, 2027. As of August 2026 the federal government had not announced a further extension, and has indicated it is examining a different framework for foreign investment in housing rather than renewing the prohibition as written. That is a signal, not a certainty, and the position could change before the date arrives.

What does not change on that date is Ontario’s Non-Resident Speculation Tax. The ban and the tax are separate measures from different levels of government, and the expiry of one has no effect on the other. Anyone planning a purchase around that timing should confirm the status of both closer to the date.

What does this look like in Oakville, Mississauga, Milton, and Burlington?

An American who can buy a house in Ontario has all four of these markets open to them today, and each attracts a different kind of move.

Oakville draws the largest share of cross-border interest, particularly the established southern neighbourhoods. Old Oakville and Morrison hold the heritage streets and lakefront properties, while Bronte offers harbour access with a village feel. In Mississauga, Lorne Park and Mineola are the mature, treed pockets that tend to appeal to buyers relocating from comparable US suburbs. Burlington pairs a walkable waterfront downtown with quieter established streets, and Milton offers newer housing stock at the lowest detached benchmark of the four, with the Niagara Escarpment at its edge.

Benchmark prices move, so rather than quote a number that dates quickly, the useful step is a current read on the specific neighbourhood and housing type you are considering. See the latest GTA market update for where each of the four markets sits now.

What should you do first?

If you are asking whether an American can buy a house in Ontario, sort out status before you shop. It determines whether you can buy at all, what the purchase costs, who should be on title, and how much cash you need on closing day. In order:

• Confirm whether you or your spouse already hold Canadian citizenship, including by descent.
• If not, confirm what permit or application you hold and what it entitles you to.
• Speak with a Canadian real estate lawyer, and an immigration lawyer where status is in progress, before making an offer.
• Work out the full cash requirement at closing, including the Non-Resident Speculation Tax if it applies.
• Then look at homes, with a clear budget and a clear structure.

If you are also selling property in Canada as a non-resident, the cross-border selling checklist covers the clearance certificate process on that side. For the purchase process generally, the guide to buying in the GTA and the GTA buyer guide walk through the steps, and relocating to Canada covers the wider move.

Planning a move from the US and not sure which rules apply to you? Reach out and we will work through it together, no pressure.

Written by Damir Strk, Broker with RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage, serving Oakville, Mississauga, Milton, and Burlington since 2000. A steady part of my work is cross-border, including buyers relocating from the United States and non-resident sellers. This page is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change, and the federal prohibition is scheduled to expire January 1, 2027. Confirm your own situation with a real estate lawyer and, where status is involved, an immigration lawyer before you sign anything. Sources: Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act (CMHC), and Ontario Ministry of Finance, Non-Resident Speculation Tax and NRST rebates and refunds (ontario.ca, last updated November 21, 2025). Both reviewed September 1, 2026.