How does a property qualify to be your principle residence?

A property must meet all of the following four conditions to qualify as your principal residence for any year:

    • it is a housing unit, a leasehold interest in a housing unit, or a share of the capital stock of a co-operative housing corporation you acquire only to get the right to inhabit a housing unit owned by that corporation.
    • you own the property alone or jointly with another person.
    • you, your current or former spouse or common-law partner, or any of your children live in it at some time during the year.
    • you designate the property as your principal residence.

Rules about the land

The land on which your home is located can be part of your principal residence.

Usually, the amount of land that you can consider as part of your principal residence is limited to 1/2 hectare (5,000 square meters), which converts to about 1.24 acres (54,000 square fee).

However, if you can show that you need more land to use and enjoy your home, you can consider more than this amount as part of your principal residence. For example, this may happen if the minimum lot size imposed by a municipality at the time you bought the property is larger than 1/2 hectare.