Keeping the whole multiplex as rental housing

One title, one owner, a tenancy for each unit

A rental multiplex has no strata plan. The whole lot and building stay on one title, held by one owner, by co-owners, or by a company or partnership. There is no strata corporation, no strata fees and no owner votes. The owner pays for every repair and makes every decision.

Each unit is a separate tenancy under the Residential Tenancy Act. Section 5 says landlords and tenants cannot avoid or contract out of the Act or its regulations. Section 13 requires every tenancy agreement made on or after 1 January 2004 to be in writing, with the standard terms, the names of both parties, the address and the rent, and the landlord must give the tenant a copy within 21 days. Section 19 caps a security deposit, and separately a pet damage deposit, at half of one month's rent.

Section 32 requires the landlord to keep the property in a state of repair that meets the health, safety and housing standards required by law and makes it suitable for a tenant. Tenants repair damage they or their guests cause, and section 32 (4) says a tenant is not required to make repairs for reasonable wear and tear. On rent, section 42 allows an increase only 12 months after the last one, with at least 3 months' notice on the approved form, and section 43 limits the amount to what the regulations allow, what the Residential Tenancy Branch orders, or what the tenant agrees to in writing.

GST when you build to rent: the self-supply rule

GST is the federal Goods and Services Tax, charged at 5% on new housing in British Columbia. A buyer of a new strata unit pays it in the purchase price. A builder who keeps the building and rents it out has no buyer, so the CRA uses the self-supply rule instead. CRA guide RC4052 describes self-supply as a builder being treated as having made a taxable sale of the housing and then having bought it back right away.

For multiple-unit housing, RC4052 says the builder is treated as having sold the entire building, and as having collected GST on the fair market value of the building and the related land, as soon as one unit is leased to an individual who is the first to live there. The guide is clear that this covers the whole building even if only one unit has been rented. The self-supply happens on the later of the day the first unit is handed over and the day construction reaches substantial completion.

RC4052 says it can apply to a builder of new housing whether or not the builder is registered for GST. A non-registrant reports the tax on Form GST62 by the end of the month after the self-supply. RC4052 also says the term builder is not limited to a person who physically builds. In general, you are a builder if you hire someone to build a residential complex on land you own. An individual is not a builder when the activity is not carried out in the course of a business or an adventure or concern in the nature of trade, for example building a home on their own land to live in as their primary residence. Whether renting out a new multiplex puts you inside the definition is a question for an accountant who works with GST on housing. Ask before construction starts.

The rental rebates: 100% for 4 or more self-contained units

The purpose-built rental housing rebate, which the CRA shortens to PBRH, returns 100% of the GST paid or treated as paid on new rental housing, with no phase-out by value (as of the CRA page modified 22 June 2026). To qualify, the units must first qualify for the older new residential rental property rebate, and the building must have either at least 4 residential units each with a private kitchen, private bathroom and private living area, or at least 10 residential units. At least 90% of the residential units must be held for long-term rental as someone's place of residence.

Timing is strict. Construction must begin after 13 September 2023 and before 2031, and the building must reach substantial completion before 2036. The CRA generally treats construction as starting when excavation begins. Its own example shows a project that lost the rebate because excavation for the foundation took place in August 2023, even though the plans later changed to a 4-unit building.

The CRA lists what the rebate does not cover: condominium units, single-unit housing, duplexes, triplexes and substantial renovations. For a multiplex, the line falls between three and four homes. A fourplex with four self-contained suites can qualify. A triplex cannot.

A triplex owner may still claim the older new residential rental property rebate, called NRRP. The CRA page modified 2 September 2026 describes it as up to 36% of the GST, available only where the fair market value of the qualifying unit is less than $450,000 when the tax became payable. Check the unit value against that limit before counting on it.

Financing, warranty and the unit-count lines

CMHC's MLI Select, a mortgage loan insurance product for rental buildings, requires a minimum of 5 units, as of the CMHC page published 21 September 2026. It scores a project on affordability, energy efficiency and accessibility, and the lowest tier of benefits starts at 50 points. A fourplex falls below the unit minimum and a sixplex meets it. Our financing chapter covers construction and take-out loans for both cases.

Home warranty has its own rental option. BC Housing's rental exemption lets an owner who builds rental units under a single legal title apply for an exemption from mandatory builder licensing and home warranty insurance. The owner must register a section 219 covenant on title, through BC Housing, that requires the building to be used only for rental and restricts the sale of any dwelling unit for 10 years from first occupancy. BC Housing's page, current as of 22 September 2026, gives two different unit minimums, so confirm eligibility with BC Housing directly.

A buyer of a finished rental building has a provincial rule to know too. Property transfer tax, the provincial tax paid by a buyer when a title transfer is registered, is fully waived for qualifying new purpose-built rental buildings bought between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2030 (as of the gov.bc.ca page updated 5 May 2026). The building must have at least 4 apartments, must be non-stratified and must stay rental for at least 10 years. If it is sold or stratified within that time, the owner must report it and repay part of the exemption.

Short-term rentals, and converting to strata later

In British Columbia municipalities with 10,000 people or more, the provincial principal residence requirement limits short-term rentals to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property (gov.bc.ca page updated 21 September 2026). The page does not name multiplexes. A rental multiplex whose owner does not live on site should plan on long-term tenancies only, and an owner who does live there should confirm with the province before listing any unit for stays under 90 days.

If the plan is to rent first and sell as strata later, the Strata Property Act allows it, with conditions. Once people have lived in the building, section 242 sends the strata plan to city council. Council must consider the priority of rental housing, any plan to relocate tenants, the building's life expectancy and future maintenance costs. It may refuse, and its decision cannot be appealed. A building that used the home warranty rental exemption or the property transfer tax rental exemption also carries the 10-year limits described above. On GST, RC4052 lists as exempt a later sale of housing by a builder who already paid tax on a self-supply, as long as the builder claimed no input tax credits for that tax or for later improvements. Input tax credits are GST amounts a registered business recovers on its costs.

For income tax, the CRA's page on real estate profits says that when a property bought to earn rental income is sold, the profit is reported as a capital gain. A capital gain is the profit on selling an investment, taxed differently from business income. Building to sell is reported as business income instead. The taxes chapter sets the paths side by side.