# Snowbirds and U.S. property: the Canadian tax side

> Wintering in the U.S.? How you stay a Canadian resident for tax, and how to report U.S. rental income, the sale of U.S. property and Form T1135.

- Web page: https://taxnotes.ca/guides/snowbirds-and-us-property/
- For: Individuals & families · Topic: Planning
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-11

If you spend part of the year in the U.S., for your health or on vacation, and keep your ties to Canada, the CRA usually still considers you a resident of Canada. This guide covers the Canadian side: staying resident, and reporting a U.S. home you rent out or sell. The CRA's guidance for snowbirds doesn't apply as written if you're a U.S. citizen, hold a U.S. green card, or have residential ties to a third country; if you're a U.S. citizen, see [U.S. citizens living in Canada](https://taxnotes.ca/guides/us-citizens-in-canada/).

## Staying a Canadian resident

Your residency status depends on all the facts, above all your residential ties to Canada:

- **Significant ties:** a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner here, and dependants here. A home in Canada that you keep available to live in counts as a significant tie while you're away. If you rent it to someone else at arm's length, the CRA weighs all the circumstances instead.
- **Secondary ties:** such as a car or furniture in Canada, Canadian bank accounts and credit cards, memberships in Canadian organizations, a Canadian driver's licence or passport, and provincial health insurance.

If you keep these ties while wintering in the U.S., you're usually a **factual resident** of Canada, and the CRA taxes you as if you never left:

- report your income from all sources, inside and outside Canada, in Canadian dollars
- claim your deductions and your federal and provincial or territorial credits
- pay tax to the province or territory where you keep your residential ties
- apply for the GST/HST credit and related provincial or territorial credits

**On your return.** Enter the province or territory where you kept your ties as your province of residence on December 31. Don't enter a date of entry into or departure from Canada; those fields are for people moving to or from Canada, and filling them in may reduce your non-refundable credits. The CRA also asks factual residents to complete Form T1248, Schedule D, Information About Your Residency Status, and attach it to the return.

**NR4 slips.** As a resident, you shouldn't get slips starting with "NR", which are for non-residents. If you do, report the income, claim any tax withheld on the slip, and ask the issuer to correct your residency information.

**Health coverage.** Before you go, check that your provincial or territorial health coverage continues while you're outside Canada. You may want supplementary coverage.

## U.S. medical bills, donations and winnings

- **Medical expenses paid in the U.S.** You can claim eligible ones for yourself, your spouse or common-law partner and certain dependants, for any 12-month period ending in the year, if you haven't claimed them before. Premiums you pay to a private health-services plan generally count too. See [medical expenses](https://taxnotes.ca/guides/medical-expenses/).
- **Donations to U.S. charities.** If you report U.S. income on your Canadian return, you can claim donations to U.S. charities that would be allowed on a U.S. return, up to 75% of the net U.S. income you report.
- **U.S. lottery or gambling winnings** aren't taxable in Canada, so don't report them, and you can't claim a credit for U.S. tax withheld on them.

## Renting out your U.S. property

Rental income from U.S. property goes on your Canadian return, in Canadian dollars; the CRA encourages you to use Form T776, Statement of Real Estate Rentals. Report the rent you earned in the calendar year, January 1 to December 31, and keep records to support your income and expenses.

- **Converting.** The CRA's general rule is to convert each amount at the Bank of Canada exchange rate for the day it arose. In some situations it accepts an average rate for the period.
- **Expenses and losses.** You can deduct expenses you incur to earn rental income. If you rent the place out only to share its costs, rather than to make a profit, the CRA treats it as a cost-sharing arrangement and you can't claim a rental loss.
- **U.S. tax.** If you paid U.S. income tax on the rent, you may be able to claim the foreign tax credit: Form T2209 for the federal part, and Form T2036 for the provincial part (Revenu Québec has its own credit if you live in Quebec). In most cases, you claim the lesser of the U.S. tax you paid and the Canadian tax on your net U.S. income.

## Form T1135 and your U.S. home

You file Form T1135 if the total cost of your specified foreign property was more than $100,000 at any time in the year. Personal-use property isn't specified foreign property. The CRA treats a property as personal-use if you (or a related person) use it primarily, meaning more than 50%, for personal use or enjoyment. It depends on the facts. Using its example of a Florida condo:

- **Used only by you as a vacation home:** not reported.
- **Rented out for eight months a year with a reasonable expectation of profit:** it's specified foreign property, so it counts toward the threshold and is reported.
- **Rented out for part of the year just to recover some costs, with no reasonable expectation of profit:** treated as personal-use, so not reported.

U.S. bank accounts and U.S. shares are specified foreign property, so add them in. If you crossed the threshold at any time in the year, you file even if you sold before December 31. See [foreign income and the T1135](https://taxnotes.ca/guides/foreign-income-and-t1135/#when-you-must-file-form-t1135) for the rest of the rules.

## Selling your U.S. property

Report the sale as a capital gain or loss on Schedule 3, in Canadian dollars. Convert each part at the exchange rate for its own date:

- the selling price at the rate when you sold
- the adjusted cost base at the rate when you bought
- your selling costs at the rate when you incurred them

**Personal-use property.** A vacation home you own mainly for your own and your family's use is generally personal-use property. You report any gain on it, but you usually can't deduct a loss.

**Principal residence.** A home outside Canada can, depending on the facts, qualify as your principal residence for years you're resident in Canada. But your family can designate only one home for each year, so a year you use for the U.S. home is a year your Canadian home isn't covered. See [the principal residence exemption](https://taxnotes.ca/guides/principal-residence-exemption/).

**U.S. tax on the gain.** A foreign tax on what Canada treats as a capital gain counts as an income or profits tax, so you may be able to claim the foreign tax credit for it.

## The U.S. side

U.S. tax rules may apply to you too, and the CRA says it's important to work out how they apply to you. This guide doesn't cover them. For the U.S. side, see the IRS or a cross-border tax professional.

## What to do

- Keep your ties to Canada, and file as a resident of your province with no entry or departure date.
- Report U.S. rent and gains in Canadian dollars, and claim the foreign tax credit for U.S. tax.
- Decide whether your U.S. home is personal-use or a rental, and check whether you need Form T1135.

## Sources

1. [Canadian residents going down south](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/canadian-residents-going-down-south.html) (canada.ca)
2. [Determining your residency status](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html) (canada.ca)
3. [Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-5-international-residency/folio-1-residency/income-tax-folio-s5-f1-c1-determining-individual-s-residence-status.html) (canada.ca)
4. [T1248 Schedule D, Information about your Residency Status](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t1248.html) (canada.ca)
5. [Line 12100 – Interest and other investment income](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12100-interest-other-investment-income.html) (canada.ca)
6. [Rental Income (Guide T4036)](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/t4036/rental-income.html) (canada.ca)
7. [Capital Gains – 2025 (Guide T4037)](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/t4037/capital-gains.html) (canada.ca)
8. [Income Tax Folio S1-F3-C2, Principal Residence](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-1-individuals/folio-3-family-unit-issues/income-tax-folio-s1-f3-c2-principal-residence.html) (canada.ca)
9. [Federal foreign tax credit – Personal income tax](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-40500-federal-foreign-tax-credit.html) (canada.ca)
10. [Income Tax Folio S5-F2-C1, Foreign Tax Credit](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-5-international-residency/folio-2-foreign-tax-credits-deductions/income-tax-folio-s5-f2-c1-foreign-tax-credit.html) (canada.ca)
11. [Foreign Income Verification Statement](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/foreign-reporting/foreign-income-verification-statement.html) (canada.ca)
12. [Questions and answers about Form T1135](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/foreign-reporting/questions-answers-about-form-t1135.html) (canada.ca)

Tax figures in this guide come from the TaxNotes.ca rates tables (https://taxnotes.ca/rates/), which cite the Canada Revenue Agency and, for Quebec, Revenu Québec.

Last reviewed: October 11, 2026

How to cite: "Snowbirds and U.S. property: the Canadian tax side", TaxNotes.ca, last reviewed 2026-10-11, https://taxnotes.ca/guides/snowbirds-and-us-property/. For a figure or rule, also cite the official source listed above.

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