If your name is on a property, bank account or other asset that actually belongs to someone else, Canada’s bare-trust reporting rules deserve another look.
But there is an important change:
The 2026 rules are not simply a return of the old bare-trust regime.
Bill C-15 received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026. Under the enacted rules:
✅ 2025: Bare trusts are not required to file a T3 return and Schedule 15 under these reporting rules.
⚠️ 2026: Certain “reportable bare trusts” can have a T3/Schedule 15 filing obligation for taxation years ending on or after December 31, 2026.
What is a bare trust?
Generally, it involves a situation where one person holds legal title to property for the use or benefit of another person and essentially acts as that person’s agent.
Situations worth reviewing may include:
🏠 Real estate registered in someone else’s name
🏢 Nominee corporations holding property
👨👩👧 Certain parent/child ownership arrangements
🏦 Certain joint accounts
🤝 Assets legally held for a corporation or partnership
However, these arrangements do NOT automatically require a T3.
Important exceptions
The enacted rules contain exceptions that may protect many ordinary arrangements from reporting.
For example, depending on the detailed conditions, relief may apply to:
• Certain parent/child principal-residence arrangements — such as a parent added to title to help a child obtain a mortgage
• Certain arrangements involving spouses/common-law partners and a principal residence
• Certain joint ownership arrangements
• Certain related-person trusts holding no more than $250,000 of specified qualifying property throughout the year
• Certain partnership and court-ordered arrangements
⚠️ The $250,000 threshold is not a general exemption for every bare trust. Specific conditions and permitted property types apply.
What happens if a bare trust is reportable?
The trust may have to file a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return and Schedule 15 – Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust.
Schedule 15 can require information about trustees, settlors, beneficiaries and controlling persons.
For a calendar-year trust ending December 31, 2026, the filing deadline will generally fall 90 days after year-end in 2027.
What should you do now?
Don’t wait until T3 season.
Before year-end, review situations where legal ownership differs from beneficial ownership, particularly:
✓ Real estate titles
✓ Bare-trust and nominee agreements
✓ Joint bank/investment accounts
✓ Corporate assets held personally
✓ Partnership arrangements
✓ Records showing who actually paid for and benefits from an asset
The goal is not to file unnecessary trust returns.
The goal is to identify which arrangements are genuinely reportable under the new rules—and which qualify for an exception.
📌 Bottom line: Bare-trust reporting returns for 2026, but the rules ar narrower, more targeted than before
