Thanks to the principal-residence exception, generations of Canadians have enjoyed tax-free capital gains when selling their homes. However, housing and investment gurus have noted that a pandemic-indebted government may consider taxing profits on the sale of principal residences. Housing guru Ozzie Jurock points to a Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation study into making homeownership more affordable for the so-called Generation Squeeze of younger Canadians as one red-flag indicator. He muses, “In the last seven years we have seen a lot of gains [in housing]. If you are sitting on a $500,000, a million or two–think about how long it would take you to earn this tax-free?”
