Legal Jurisdiction
Ownership of real property in Canada is governed primarily by
provincial and territorial law, although there are also federal
laws, such as the Goods and Services Tax, income tax, environmental
protection legislation and foreign investment legislation that will
apply. The laws of the nine "common law" provinces and
the territories are substantially similar in their dealings with
real property. Québec, which operates under a civil law
system, is the exception. Notwithstanding the many differences
which exist with respect to the law of real property in
Québec, such differences are unlikely to be a major concern
from a business perspective.
Ownership
In Canada, investors may obtain interests in real property in a
variety of different forms, including full "freehold"
ownership, joint venture co-ownership and leasehold interests. In
the common law provinces, the two basic forms recognized for
co-ownership by more than one individual, partnership
