The taxpayer sold a residence eight months after the point at which she had completed its construction and moved in. The Minister characterized the sale as a commercial transaction, and reassessed the taxpayer beyond the normal reassessment period on the basis that the proceeds were income from business. In so doing, the Minister had relied in part on the taxpayer's experience as a real estate agent, but in fact the taxpayer had left the real estate business more than 25 years before the sale in issue.
In concluding that the reassessment was not statute-barred, Hogan J. found that the taxpayer's position (that she had realized a capital gain that was eligible for the principal residence exemption) was not unreasonable, and stated (at para. 28):
[E]ven if a person occupies a building for a short time, it can be considered his or her principal residence.