Can Canadians buy property in the Dominican Republic? What both countries require (2026)

Updated November 4, 2026. 7 min read.

Yes. Canadians can buy property in the Dominican Republic in their own name, with their passport and the same rights as Dominicans; no residency or visa is needed. From Canada, you sign before a notary with an apostille, which Canada has applied since January 11, 2024, or at a Dominican consulate. For the CRA, a home you mainly use yourself doesn't go on Form T1135; a rental held to make a profit does, if your property outside Canada cost more than CAD 100,000. Rental income is reported in Canada, and under the tax treaty between the two countries, in force since 1977, Canada lets you deduct the tax you pay in the Dominican Republic.

Yes, with the same rights as a Dominican

Article 25 of the Dominican Constitution gives foreigners the same rights and duties as Dominicans, and the foreign investment law (Law 16-95) lets them buy real estate on the same terms as nationals. Being Canadian doesn't change any of that: you buy in your own name, with your passport, without residency or a visa, and you pay the same taxes as a Dominican.

The general picture is in the guide for foreigners, and what you pay when you buy is in closing costs and taxes. This guide covers what changes because you live in Canada: what the CRA asks for, the tax treaty between the two countries and how to sign from there.

What Canada requires

If you're a resident of Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks you to report your income from inside and outside the country, in Canadian dollars. With a home in the Dominican Republic, that means:

Form T1135, if the home is a rental. You file it if, at any time in the year, your property outside Canada cost more than CAD 100,000 in total. What counts is what you paid, not what it's worth today. A vacation home you mainly use yourself is out, because the CRA treats it as personal-use property. One you rent out most of the year to make a profit is in, and so is money you keep in a bank abroad.
The deadline and the penalty. Form T1135 is due the same day as your tax return: April 30, or June 15 if you're self-employed. If your foreign property cost less than CAD 250,000, there's a simplified method. Filing late costs CAD 25 a day, up to CAD 2,500.
Rental income. What you collect in the Dominican Republic also goes on your Canadian return. What you pay there is in vacation rental taxes.
Selling. The gain is reported in Canada: the sale price is converted to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day you sell, and your cost at the rate on the day you bought.

If you buy pre-construction to rent it out, ask your accountant when the payments you make during construction start to count for Form T1135.

The tax treaty between Canada and the Dominican Republic

The two countries have a treaty to avoid double taxation, signed in 1976. According to the DGII, the Dominican tax agency, it has been in force since 1977 and hasn't changed since it was signed.

Rent and the gain when you sell may be taxed in the Dominican Republic, because the home is there (Articles VI and XIII of the treaty).
Canada deducts what you paid there from the Canadian tax on that same income (Article XXIII). On your return, that's the foreign tax credit: Form T2209, which goes on line 40500.
For the treaty to be applied in the Dominican Republic, the DGII asks for a certificate of residency issued by the CRA. You can request it through your CRA account, by mail or by phone.

Buying from Canada without traveling

You can do the whole purchase from Canada:

Sign before a notary in Canada, with an apostille. Canada has applied the Apostille Convention since January 11, 2024, and the Dominican Republic since 2009. Depending on the province, the apostille is issued by the province itself (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan) or by Global Affairs Canada (the other provinces and the territories), which explains on its website which document goes where. If you read that you need authentication in Ottawa and legalization at the consulate, that's information from before 2024.
Or sign at the Dominican consular network: the Embassy in Ottawa and the consulates general in Montreal and Toronto. Consuls act as notaries for documents to be executed in the Dominican Republic (Law 140-15, Article 21), and you can give a power of attorney there to someone you trust to sign for you.
Documents in Spanish. If one is in English or French, a court-certified interpreter translates it.
Pay by bank transfer to the account named in the contract. In the Dominican Republic you can't pay more than RD$1,500,000 in cash for a property.

The other steps of a remote purchase, and a mortgage from a Dominican bank, work the same as from the US: we cover them in how to buy without traveling.

Visiting, spending the winter or moving

As a tourist, Canadians enter without a visa for up to 30 days and can apply for an extension up to 120. You fill out the electronic e-Ticket form for every entry and exit.
To live there you need a residence visa, applied for at a Dominican consulate before you travel. The routes (retiree, rentista, investor or ordinary), the documents and the fees are in the residency guide. Buying a home doesn't give you residency on its own.
Your provincial health coverage. Before spending the winter away, check how long your province lets you be away. In Ontario, OHIP has special rules if you'll be outside Canada for more than 7 months in any 12-month period, and outside the country it pays at most CAD 400 a day for hospital care (CAD 200 for lower levels of care). Ontario says travel medical insurance is essential.

If you're Dominican and live in Canada

You buy with your rights as a Dominican. If it's your first home and the project is classified as low-cost housing, you can get the first home bonus: the DGII accepts your passport and a sworn statement of residence, apostilled or notarized at a Dominican consulate. And if you're a tax resident of Canada, the CRA's requirements are the same as for any Canadian.

Buying with Instadigs

Instadigs is an AI-powered app that's on your side, not the seller's, when you buy a new condo or house, and it's built for buying from abroad:

Digger AI Agent, our AI agent, talks to you in English, Spanish or French, works out how much you can afford and shows you the projects that fit, among over 100 projects from over 30 developers. Asking is free.
Before you pay the reservation, we check the MIVHED permit and the environmental permit, the land title and whose name it's in, the company that's selling and where your money goes.
You sign remotely, with legal validity, and follow construction and your payments in the app.
The commission. We give you back 100% of the commission we earn, on every purchase. In the Dominican Republic it's credited to your property after the down payment (how it works).

See projects in the Dominican Republic.

Frequently asked questions

Can Canadians buy property in the Dominican Republic?

Yes. Canadians buy in their own name, with their passport and the same rights as Dominicans, under Article 25 of the Dominican Constitution and the foreign investment law (Law 16-95). No residency or visa is needed.

Do I have to report a Dominican property to the CRA?

If you mainly use it yourself, as a vacation home, it doesn't go on Form T1135. If you rent it out to make a profit, it does, once your property outside Canada cost more than CAD 100,000 at any time in the year. Rental income always goes on your Canadian return.

Is there a tax treaty between Canada and the Dominican Republic?

Yes. It was signed in 1976 and, according to the DGII, has been in force since 1977 without changes. Rent and gains from a Dominican property can be taxed there, and Canada lets you deduct that tax through the foreign tax credit.

Can I buy from Canada without traveling?

Yes. You sign before a notary in Canada with an apostille, which Canada has applied since January 11, 2024, or at the Dominican Embassy in Ottawa or the consulates in Montreal and Toronto. You pay by bank transfer to the account named in the contract.

How long can a Canadian stay in the Dominican Republic without a visa?

Up to 30 days as a tourist, with an extension available up to 120. To live there you need a residence visa, applied for at a Dominican consulate before you travel.

Can Dominicans living in Canada get the first home bonus?

Yes, if they buy their first home in a project classified as low-cost housing. The DGII accepts their passport and a sworn statement of residence, apostilled or notarized at a Dominican consulate.

Sources

This guide explains how buying works in general. Rates and requirements are set by law, by each bank and by each developer, and they can change: the date above is when it was last reviewed.

Can Canadians buy property in the Dominican Republic? What both countries require (2026)

Updated November 4, 2026. 7 min read.

Yes, with the same rights as a Dominican

What Canada requires

Form T1135, if the home is a rental. You file it if, at any time in the year, your property outside Canada cost more than CAD 100,000 in total. What counts is what you paid, not what it's worth today. A vacation home you mainly use yourself is out, because the CRA treats it as personal-use property. One you rent out most of the year to make a profit is in, and so is money you keep in a bank abroad.
The deadline and the penalty. Form T1135 is due the same day as your tax return: April 30, or June 15 if you're self-employed. If your foreign property cost less than CAD 250,000, there's a simplified method. Filing late costs CAD 25 a day, up to CAD 2,500.
Rental income. What you collect in the Dominican Republic also goes on your Canadian return. What you pay there is in vacation rental taxes.
Selling. The gain is reported in Canada: the sale price is converted to Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day you sell, and your cost at the rate on the day you bought.

If you buy pre-construction to rent it out, ask your accountant when the payments you make during construction start to count for Form T1135.

The tax treaty between Canada and the Dominican Republic

The two countries have a treaty to avoid double taxation, signed in 1976. According to the DGII, the Dominican tax agency, it has been in force since 1977 and hasn't changed since it was signed.

Rent and the gain when you sell may be taxed in the Dominican Republic, because the home is there (Articles VI and XIII of the treaty).
Canada deducts what you paid there from the Canadian tax on that same income (Article XXIII). On your return, that's the foreign tax credit: Form T2209, which goes on line 40500.
For the treaty to be applied in the Dominican Republic, the DGII asks for a certificate of residency issued by the CRA. You can request it through your CRA account, by mail or by phone.

Buying from Canada without traveling

You can do the whole purchase from Canada:

Sign before a notary in Canada, with an apostille. Canada has applied the Apostille Convention since January 11, 2024, and the Dominican Republic since 2009. Depending on the province, the apostille is issued by the province itself (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan) or by Global Affairs Canada (the other provinces and the territories), which explains on its website which document goes where. If you read that you need authentication in Ottawa and legalization at the consulate, that's information from before 2024.
Or sign at the Dominican consular network: the Embassy in Ottawa and the consulates general in Montreal and Toronto. Consuls act as notaries for documents to be executed in the Dominican Republic (Law 140-15, Article 21), and you can give a power of attorney there to someone you trust to sign for you.
Documents in Spanish. If one is in English or French, a court-certified interpreter translates it.
Pay by bank transfer to the account named in the contract. In the Dominican Republic you can't pay more than RD$1,500,000 in cash for a property.

The other steps of a remote purchase, and a mortgage from a Dominican bank, work the same as from the US: we cover them in how to buy without traveling.

Visiting, spending the winter or moving

As a tourist, Canadians enter without a visa for up to 30 days and can apply for an extension up to 120. You fill out the electronic e-Ticket form for every entry and exit.
To live there you need a residence visa, applied for at a Dominican consulate before you travel. The routes (retiree, rentista, investor or ordinary), the documents and the fees are in the residency guide. Buying a home doesn't give you residency on its own.
Your provincial health coverage. Before spending the winter away, check how long your province lets you be away. In Ontario, OHIP has special rules if you'll be outside Canada for more than 7 months in any 12-month period, and outside the country it pays at most CAD 400 a day for hospital care (CAD 200 for lower levels of care). Ontario says travel medical insurance is essential.

If you're Dominican and live in Canada

Buying with Instadigs

Instadigs is an AI-powered app that's on your side, not the seller's, when you buy a new condo or house, and it's built for buying from abroad:

Digger AI Agent, our AI agent, talks to you in English, Spanish or French, works out how much you can afford and shows you the projects that fit, among over 100 projects from over 30 developers. Asking is free.
Before you pay the reservation, we check the MIVHED permit and the environmental permit, the land title and whose name it's in, the company that's selling and where your money goes.
You sign remotely, with legal validity, and follow construction and your payments in the app.
The commission. We give you back 100% of the commission we earn, on every purchase. In the Dominican Republic it's credited to your property after the down payment (how it works).

See projects in the Dominican Republic.

Frequently asked questions

Can Canadians buy property in the Dominican Republic?

Do I have to report a Dominican property to the CRA?

Is there a tax treaty between Canada and the Dominican Republic?

Can I buy from Canada without traveling?

How long can a Canadian stay in the Dominican Republic without a visa?

Up to 30 days as a tourist, with an extension available up to 120. To live there you need a residence visa, applied for at a Dominican consulate before you travel.

Can Dominicans living in Canada get the first home bonus?

Yes, if they buy their first home in a project classified as low-cost housing. The DGII accepts their passport and a sworn statement of residence, apostilled or notarized at a Dominican consulate.

Sources

This guide explains how buying works in general. Rates and requirements are set by law, by each bank and by each developer, and they can change: the date above is when it was last reviewed.