Mr. Speaker, with regard to the above question, what follows is the response from the CRA as of December 5, 2022, the date of the question.
With regard to part (a), in October 2016, the Government of Canada announced an administrative change to the CRA’s reporting requirements for the sale of a principal residence. Relevant links are noted below. This administrative change was made to improve compliance and the administration of the tax system.
The October 2016 announcement can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2016/10/technical-backgrounder-mortgage-insurance-rules-income-proposals-revised-october-14-2016.html.
Information on principal residences can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12700-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate/what-a-principal-residence.html.
With regard to part (b), the new reporting requirements help the CRA to identify, risk-assess and audit real estate transactions where the criteria for benefiting from the principal residence exemption may not be met or where other tax non-compliance may exist.