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The Global Insight

Do I have to pay capital gains when I sell my house in Canada?

Author

Sarah Garza

Updated on March 09, 2026

When you sell your home or when you are considered to have sold it, usually you do not have to pay tax on any gain from the sale because of the principal residence exemption. This is the case if the property was solely your principal residence for every year you owned it.

How much tax if I sell my house?

It depends on how long you owned and lived in the home before the sale and how much profit you made. If you owned and lived in the place for two of the five years before the sale, then up to $250,000 of profit is tax-free. If you are married and file a joint return, the tax-free amount doubles to $500,000.

How much can you sell your home without paying capital gains tax?

You can sell your primary residence and be exempt from capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 if you are single and $500,000 if married filing jointly. This exemption is only allowable once every two years. You can add your cost basis and costs of any improvements you made to the home to the $250,000 if single or $500,000 if married.

What makes up the gain on sale of a home?

Your gain is actually your home’s selling price, minus deductible closing costs, selling costs, and your tax basis in the property. (Your basis is the original purchase price, plus purchase expenses, plus the cost of capital improvements, minus any depreciation and minus any casualty losses or insurance payments.)…

How long does it take to sell a house for$ 250, 000?

Let’s assume you lived in the house for 2 years starting January 1, 2009. You then converted it to a rental for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. Then you moved back in for 2016 and 2017 and then sold it January 1, 2018. You would have owned it for 9 years total and lived in it for 4. You would be able to exclude 4/9 of $250,000, and that’s it.

Is there a penalty for selling a house before 2 years?

There’s no requirement to ever buy another home in order to avoid capital gains taxes when selling your primary residential house. If you sell after two years, you won’t pay capital gains taxes on profits less than $250,000 (or $500,000 for jointly owned homes). There’s no additional requirement to purchase a new home.