In short, obtain a clearance certificate as soon as possible. Non-resident sellers should always work closely with their accountant during the sale process as a non-resident seller faces a holdback of 25-50% of the sale proceeds pending receipt of a clearance certificate from Revenue Canada. The clearance certificate will state how much, if any, tax the non-resident seller must remit from the sale proceeds prior to receiving any balance of funds. If this seller has a mortgage, the seller may be required to bring in funds to payout the mortgage despite having significant net sale proceeds (the amount after the mortgage is paid out) from sale, as these net sale proceeds are not available until the clearance certificate is received. Clearance certificates do take months to obtain, so should be obtained early on, or the seller should prepare to have funds frozen until it is received.