09/22/2026
If your parents leave you a rental property, inheriting it and being able to keep it are two very different things.
When the owner of a rental property dies, Canada’s tax rules can generally treat the property as though it were sold at fair market value immediately before death. If the property has appreciated, that can create a taxable capital gain even though nobody actually sold it.
So imagine your parents leave you a $1 million rental property they bought many years ago for substantially less.
You may want to keep the property and continue renting it. But the estate may have a tax obligation to deal with first.
Does that automatically mean the property has to be sold? No.
This is where planning matters.
Depending on the circumstances, the family may have options: sufficient cash or insurance may already be available in the estate, other assets may provide the necessary funds, or financing against the property may be considered so the family does not have to sell an asset they intended to keep.
As a CPA + Mortgage Professional, this is exactly where I see tax planning and financing strategy intersect.
Do not only plan what your family will inherit.
Plan how they will afford to keep it.