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Presale assignments in BC — what buyers need to know

Some presale buyers plan to sell their contract before the building is finished — because their plans change, or because the contract has gained value. That sale is called an assignment. Assignments are legal in British Columbia, but they are not a simple handshake deal. BC law, your purchase agreement, and three levels of tax all shape what you can do. If assignment flexibility matters to you, understand the rules before you sign — not when you are trying to sell.

What is a presale assignment?

An assignment is the transfer of some or all of your rights, obligations, and benefits under your purchase agreement to a new buyer (the assignee), before the home is completed. You are not selling a finished home — you are selling your contract. The assignee steps into your position, reimburses you for the deposits you have paid, typically pays you an additional amount (often called the "lift" or assignment profit), and completes the purchase with the developer at the original contract price. BC's Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA) defines an assignment this way in section 20.1, and the same rules apply to second and later assignments of the same contract.

You need the developer's consent

An assignment is only possible if your purchase agreement allows it — and in BC strata developments, the default is the opposite of permission. For purchase agreements covered by REDMA's assignment rules, the contract must state that no assignment is permitted without the developer's prior consent. Some developers prohibit assignments altogether; others allow them on conditions.

Consent is not a formality. Under section 20.3 of REDMA, a developer cannot consent to an assignment until it has first collected prescribed information and records from both you and the assignee — including identity and contact information for each party and a copy of the assignment agreement. If the developer has stopped marketing the project, whether it can still consent can be a separate legal question. Build in time for this process: an assignment cannot close on a weekend's notice.

Assignment fees

Many purchase agreements let the developer charge a fee for consenting to an assignment. The amount — sometimes a flat fee, sometimes a percentage of the price — is set by your contract, not by a provincial schedule, and the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) confirms that whether a fee applies depends on the terms of the purchase agreement you signed. Other contracts restrict how an assignment can be marketed, or prohibit listing it publicly. Read the assignment clause before you buy, and get the fee and any marketing restrictions confirmed in writing.

Your assignment is reported to a government registry

Since January 1, 2019, every assignment of a purchase agreement for a residential strata lot in BC must be reported to the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register (CSAIR). The developer collects the information — the parties' identities, the original purchase price, the assignment amount, the developer's assignment fee, and whether the price includes reimbursement of your deposit — and files it with the register, which is operated by the Land Title and Survey Authority.

The register is not public, but it is not private either. The information is held by the Ministry of Finance and shared with the administrator under the Property Transfer Tax Act, BCFSA, and the Canada Revenue Agency, so the taxes on the transaction can be checked. In other words: an assignment is a fully documented, reported transaction. There is no informal way to do it.

The taxes: GST, income tax, flipping taxes, and PTT

This is where assignment plans most often go wrong. Several taxes can apply to the same deal:

  • GST on the assignment. Since May 7, 2022, all assignment sales of newly constructed housing are taxable for GST — it no longer matters whether you originally bought the home to live in. In BC the rate is 5%. Under CRA's rules, the portion of the assignment price that simply reimburses the deposit you paid the developer is excluded from the taxable amount; GST applies to the rest, including your profit.
  • Income tax on the profit. Any profit you make on an assignment must be reported on your tax return — and, as noted above, it can be checked against the CSAIR record. Under the federal residential property flipping rule, if you held the right to purchase for less than 365 days, the profit is deemed to be business income (taxed in full, not at the capital gains rate), and the principal residence exemption is denied, unless a listed life-event exception applies.
  • BC home flipping tax. Since January 1, 2025, profit from disposing of a presale contract you held for less than 730 days is also subject to BC's home flipping tax — 20% of the profit if you dispose within 365 days, declining to zero at 730 days. Unlike homes you have lived in, a presale contract gets no primary residence deduction under this tax. This provincial tax is separate from, and in addition to, the federal rules.
  • Property transfer tax (PTT). PTT is not charged on the assignment itself. The final purchaser pays PTT when the completed unit is registered at the land title office — calculated on the total amount paid to acquire the property, including upgrades. If you are buying an assignment, factor PTT into your completion costs.

Stacked together, GST, income tax, and the BC flipping tax can take a large share of an assignment profit. Run the after-tax numbers with an accountant before assuming an assignment is worth it. For the taxes that land on the buyer at completion, see our guide on presale closing costs in BC.

What about the 7-day rescission period?

When you buy a presale from a developer, BC law gives you 7 days to rescind after you receive the disclosure statement (see our guide on how presale deposits work in BC). That right belongs to the original purchase. If you are buying an assignment from another buyer, do not assume you receive a fresh 7-day rescission period of your own — you are stepping into an existing contract, usually long after its rescission window closed. Have a lawyer review the original purchase agreement, the disclosure statement, and the assignment agreement before you commit, because once you take the assignment, the completion obligations are yours.

The risks to weigh

  • The developer can say no. If your contract prohibits assignments, or the developer refuses consent, there is no workaround — you remain bound to complete or face the consequences in your contract.
  • The market can move against you. If values fall before completion, your contract may be worth less than you paid. You may be unable to assign at any price, and you still have to complete — or lose your deposit and potentially face further liability under the agreement.
  • You may stay on the hook. Whether you remain liable under the original purchase agreement after assigning depends on its terms. Some agreements keep the original buyer responsible if the assignee fails to complete.
  • Your assignee can fail to complete. If the buyer you assigned to does not close, the problem can come back to you — check what your assignment agreement and the developer's consent say about this.
  • Timing is tight. Consent, information collection, registry filing, and tax planning all take time. Assignments arranged at the last moment before completion are the ones most likely to fail.

Questions to ask the developer before you buy

If there is any chance you will want to assign, ask these at the sales centre — and confirm the answers in the disclosure statement and purchase agreement, not just verbally:

  • Are assignments permitted at all under this project's purchase agreement?
  • What is the assignment fee, and are there other conditions on consent (for example, the project being sold out, or a deadline after which assignments are no longer accepted)?
  • Can I market the assignment publicly, or are there restrictions on advertising and listing it?
  • What information and documents will the developer need from me and from an assignee to give consent?
  • After an assignment, am I released from the purchase agreement, or do I stay liable if the assignee does not complete?
  • How is my deposit handled on assignment — is it reimbursed by the assignee, and when?
  • Can the contract be assigned more than once?

For what else to check before signing, see our guide on what to check in a BC presale disclosure statement.

Assignment terms are set project by project, and the clause itself lives in the disclosure statement — not on marketing pages. Live project pages show how developers present their published prices and deposit structures while you compare projects: for example Ledgeview 2 in Surrey and Ocean Row at Boardwalk in Delta.

Sources

This guide is general information about presale assignments in British Columbia. It is not legal or tax advice. Assignment rights depend on your purchase agreement, and the tax treatment depends on your circumstances — consult a lawyer and an accountant before buying with the intention to assign, and before entering into any assignment.