Dates and location
Pricing
Hours
Dates and location
Pricing
Hours
Description
Participants will explore the federal income tax rules governing principal residences, including qualification requirements, income‑earning use, changes in use, multi‑parcel properties, and ownership structures such as bare trusts and personal trusts. The session highlights common areas of complexity and recent developments that can significantly affect tax outcomes when acquiring, using, or disposing of a principal residence.
Topics include:
- Determining whether a property qualifies as a principal residence.
- Housing unit definitions and the ordinarily inhabited requirement.
- Ownership considerations, including bare trust and personal trusts.
- Income‑earning use and incidental income.
- Designation rules, the principal residence formula, and multiple‑property scenarios.
- Land considerations for large or multi‑parcel properties.
- Partial dispositions and subdivisions.
- Change‑in‑use rules, related elections, and planning implications.
- Trust‑related rules and recent legislative developments.
NOTE: This course description has been revised and reflects updates for 2026. If you have any questions, please contact pdevents@cpaontario.ca.
Key Takeaways
By the end of this course, participants should be able to:
- Apply the mechanics of the principal residence deduction, including the components of the formula and designation requirements.
- Interpret the definition of a “principal residence,” including terms such as housing unit and ordinarily inhabit.
- Identify the impact of change‑in‑use rules, including partial changes in use.
- Describe implications when only part of a property qualifies as a principal residence (e.g., large acreages or income‑earning properties).
- Interpret the rules for residences owned by trusts, including the implications of the October 2016 amendments.
- Professional accountants.
Who Will Benefit
- Individuals who own a principal residence.
- Financial professionals who advise homeowners.
Prerequisite(s)
- Participants must have knowledge of the Income Tax Act.
How to Access the Course
This course is delivered as a live webinar. To receive verifiable CPD hours, you must attend the session live. We recommend joining at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. For the best interactive experience, please use a computer equipped with a camera and microphone.
A reminder email with the Zoom link and course details will be sent two business days before the session. If you do not receive it, please check your spam or junk folder.
The same information, including any available materials, will also be posted in advance on our Blackboard LMS.
Registration, cancellation, withdrawal and all other CPA Ontario PD policies can be found here.
Speaker(s)
Nehal Shelat, CPA, CGA, CFP is a tax professional with over 13 years of experience in Canadian Income Tax. At present he is Director - Product Tax with RBC Insurance where he provides income tax expertise to business units. Prior to joining RBC, Nehal worked at London Life Insurance Company and was also was part of the tax team of KPMG, and Deloitte in their London office. Before joining these leading public accounting firms, Nehal also held various positions in industry for nine years and has gained experience in different service and manufacturing sectors.