Capital Gains on Housing Sale - Canadians

[Sputnik]

Okay Canadians, who can answer me this question - do I have to live in my primary residence for x number of years before I can sell it and not pay capital gains tax on the sale? I read in the States that you have to live in your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years before the sale to be exempt from paying taxes on any capital gains from the sale... but what about Canada? I can't find any easy answer online. Some people have told me one year but today a cowork says you have to live in your primary residence for 2 years. We are thinking of selling our condo to buy a house (and we just bought the condo March 31st).

[VibeSalsa]

I think if your condo is your principal residence, you'll never be considered doing a capital gain when selling it. But I'm not sure. Maybe you can find the answer there Sputnik: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub....html

[StampedeVibe]

I don't think there's a minimum in Canada for getting capital gains excemption for selling your home (of course, if you keep swapping homes every 2 weeks, you can probably expect an audit).Here's the link to the CRA website (you probably looked anyways).http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.htmlIf you just bought your condo in March, unless it went up by more than 5-7%, the agent fees, lawyer fees, and property transfer fees just might eat up any appreciation in property that you have.

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by StampedeVibe »I don't think there's a minimum in Canada for getting capital gains excemption for selling your home (of course, if you keep swapping homes every 2 weeks, you can probably expect an audit).Here's the link to the CRA website (you probably looked anyways).http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.htmlIf you just bought your condo in March, unless it went up by more than 5-7%, the agent fees, lawyer fees, and property transfer fees just might eat up any appreciation in property that you have.Thanks. I looked at the link as well. It didn't specify any time limits on owning your house. The condos that are identical to mine (layout wise) are selling for about 20 to 23K more than what we paid. Now ours when we bought it was in its 30 year old condition, and had no upgrades done. Since then we've done the floor, paint, bought 3 new appliances, replaced the baseboards and are currently upgrading the bathroom (paint and a new tub surround). But its just too small.