Can You Explain Canada’s New Proposal to Tax Non-Resident Homeowners? If approved, residential property owners who aren’t Canadian citizens and live in other countries would have to pay a 1% tax By V.L. Hendrickson | Save Danielle Donders / Getty Images Every week, Mansion Global poses a tax question to real estate tax attorneys. Here is this week’s question. Q. Can you explain the proposal to tax vacant residential property owned by non-resident, non-Canadian owners being considered in Canada? A. The government of Canada released its Budget 2021 last week, which included a proposal to tax vacant homes owned by foreign property owners who don’t reside in the country.