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I'm a foreigner(non-Canadian) living in Quebec, Canada. As per the law of Quebec, foreigners who wants to buy large field of land must apply for a permit, which allows them to own the land for three years, and after that, they must either become a PR/citizen to continue to own the land, or sell the land.

I have bought a farm in Quebec for about 150 acres, and by the end of 2023, it'll be three years for me. Currently I am still a non-resident, so I'd like to know what will happen.

Here are some details and my questions:

  • How will the government enforce this rule? Will they force me to put my house on sale? (I'm already putting it on sale, and I hope it gets sold before the end of 2023)
  • If the government simply makes me put the farm on sale, then what happens if no buyer is interested and the house stays on the market for, say, another year or two? Do I get to continue living on the farm as my primary residence?
  • Alternatively, if the government enforces me to sell the farm by hosting a government auction to sell the farm for me, what will be the price range and how will I get paid? I paid 700k for the farm back then, and now the market is around 900k for such a farm. I'm afraid that the government will sell it for something like 400k then only pay me 400k(aka at a considerably lower price than the market), or is that not going to happen?
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  • You need to talk to a lawyer. You can ask here about how the law generally handles such situations, but we can't give legal advice for specific situations. Also, Yyur third question (about prices) is not about the law so I think it's off topic here.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Apr 2 at 22:06
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    The province of quebec being all of 1.66 million square kilometers you really cannot allow foreign national to own 150 acres. It is such an honour and a privelege to live in an ice desert. Forcing permanent residency on people who want to invest in your country is totally reasonable.
    – Neil Meyer
    Apr 5 at 1:38

1 Answer 1

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There are a number of preliminary steps in the law but ultimately the government will sell the land for whatever they can get

All the details are in Division V Penalties but the end of the line is s28. You will be given 6 months to sell, after that, the court will sell the land using what they deem the best method (auction, tender etc) for a commercially reasonable price (as detailed in Title III of the Code of Civil Procedure, deduct the costs and the fines for you breaking the law and give you whatever is left.

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  • Im reminded of the old Eddie Izzard sketch. Apparently the canadians dont want your deutsche markies.
    – Neil Meyer
    Apr 5 at 1:27
  • I wonder if the local government in the state of washington may be willing to let you buy some land? May be worth it for the op to consider moving to a place where investors are not treated like criminals.
    – Neil Meyer
    Apr 5 at 1:30

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