You only have to report property that is specified foreign property.
Specified foreign property includes:
- funds in foreign bank accounts;
- shares of Canadian corporations on deposit with a foreign broker;
- shares of non-resident corporations held by the resident filer or on deposit with a Canadian or foreign broker;
- land and buildings located outside Canada, such as a foreign rental property;
- precious metals, gold certificates, and futures held outside Canada;
- interests in mutual funds that are organized in a foreign jurisdiction;
- debts owed by non-resident persons, such as government or corporate bonds, debentures, mortgages, and notes receivable;
- an interest in or a right to any specified foreign property;
- property that is convertible or that can be exchanged for a right to acquire specified foreign property;
- an interest in a partnership where the share of income or loss of the partnership for non-resident members is 90% or more and the partnership holds specified foreign property;
- an interest in a non-resident trust or a non-resident trust deemed to be resident by section 94 of the Act (discretionary trust);
- patents, copyrights or trademarks held outside Canada; and
- an interest in, or a right with respect to, an entity that is non-resident.
Specified foreign property does not include:
- property used or held exclusively in the course of carrying on an active business;
- personal-use property (i.e., property used primarily for personal use and enjoyment, such as a vacation property used primarily as a personal residence);
- an interest in a U.S. Individual Retirement Account (IRA);
- shares of the capital stock, or indebtedness, of a non-resident corporation that is a foreign affiliate;
- an interest in, or indebtedness, of a non-resident trust that is a foreign affiliate;
- an interest in a non-resident trust that neither you nor a person related to you had to pay for in any way;
- an interest in a non-resident trust principally providing superannuation, pension, retirement or employee benefits primarily to non-resident beneficiaries, that does not pay income tax in the taxing jurisdiction where it is resident; or
- an interest in, or a right to acquire any of the above-noted excluded foreign property
