Hi Greg,

Thanks for your question. The key issue here is beneficial ownership, not just whose name is on title.

1) Was the property “yours” for Canadian reporting?

For Canadian tax purposes (including T1135 and rental income reporting), CRA generally looks to who truly owns the property economically (benefits/burdens of ownership), for example:

• Who paid the purchase price and ongoing carrying costs
• Who collects the rent (and into whose account)
• Who pays expenses and manages the property
• Who claims depreciation / capital cost allowance (if any)
• Who reports the income in the foreign country
• What the written agreement says, and whether actual conduct matches it

If you were only on title but your partner was the beneficial owner under a long-standing agreement (and the facts support that in practice), then you may not have had a T1135 obligation for that property, and you generally would not report the rental income/expenses as yours.
That said, being “registered” can raise CRA questions, so it’s important that the paper trail and real-world handling match the agreement.

2) What about your partner’s T1135 now that he’s moving to Canada?

Once your partner becomes a Canadian tax resident, he may have a T1135 filing obligation if:

• He owns “specified foreign property,” and
• The total cost amount exceeds CAD $100,000 at any time in the year (this is not based on current market value)

If the property is beneficially his, then it makes sense that he would report it on his T1135 after becoming resident (assuming the threshold is met).

3) Should you do anything now?
If the agreement and facts clearly support that the property is beneficially your partner’s, you may be fine. However, if there’s any chance CRA could view you as a beneficial co-owner (even partially), then we should review:

• The deed/title and your agreement (and whether it’s been updated/amended)
• Proof of funding and ongoing payments
• Rental statements, bank deposits, expense payments
• Prior foreign tax reporting
• Whether any Canadian reporting was done historically (by either of you)
  If you’ve been a Canadian resident for 9 years and the property should have been reported by you (fully or partially), then we can discuss whether a voluntary disclosure / corrective filing approach is appropriate.

If you’d like, we can review the facts and documents in a paid consultation and give you a clear “who reports what” conclusion (T1135 + rental income) and any recommended cleanup steps.

Kind regards,
Allan Madan, CPA, CA
Madan CPA Professional Corporation
Phone: 905-268-0150
Website: madanca.com