Caandian moving back to Canada from Israel wants to know about principal residence exemption.

My question is: Canadian-specific

QUESTION: I am a Canadian-born woman who acquired dual Canadian-Israeli citizenship after marrying an Israeli, also with dual citizenship, in 1996. We sold our house in Calgary (unfortunately!) and moved to Israel in 1997 to assist in the care of my husband’s elderly parents. Our intention was to return to Canada within five years but instead it has stretched to ten. The best we could manage was to spend a few weeks in Canada each year. We did not sever our ties with Canada – we have a revenue property in Edmonton, Alberta drivers licenses, Canadian bank accounts, a Canadian credit card, and both of us have close family members in various parts of Canada.
I began working for a company in Israel in 1998. On the advice of CCRA, we filed our Canadian income tax returns as residents; listing my Israel employment income as foreign income and claiming the foreign tax credit Our only Canadian income was from our Edmonton revenue property.
In 2002, in anticipation of returning to Canada that year, we purchased a condominium near family (Property A) in Northern B.C. which we intended to live in. However, circumstances with my husband’s parents in Israel forced us to postpone our plans until the present. I continued to be employed in Israel and to file our Canadian tax returns as before.

My question is:
We are now able to move permanently back to Canada in June. We have decided to sell Property A and purchase a residence on Vancouver Island. There will be a capital gains of about $76,000. Could I list Property A as my principal residence from 2002 – present? Utilities have always been in my name, and it has never been tenanted. HOWEVER: Throughout the years I have filed my tax returns as an Alberta resident, and since living in Israel have used my daughter’s residence in Edmonton (not Property A) as my postal address. What bearing would this have on claiming Property A as my principal residence? Is living in it a few weeks each year sufficient?
Appreciate so much your expert opinion.
Thanks and best regards,

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david ingram replies:

Property A must be your principal residence because it was never rented and I presume you lived in it or occupied it when you visited Canada. Since you filed and paid tax to Canada as a resident when you likely did not have to, you should get the benefit of that now.

Using your daughter's address as a mailing address is just smart management and should not be a problem provided you did use the house.

If you did not occupy it, you will have to pay capital gains tax. If it was rented, you will have to pay capital gains tax.

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