Kai Mallari's Notes'

What Home Records to Keep Forever vs Discard After Selling (Home Systems)

4 min read

What Home Records to Keep Forever vs Discard After Selling

Claim: Most homeowners over-keep junk and under-keep the records that matter. The correct retention rule is not “when in doubt, keep” — it is a tiered system anchored to CRA’s capital property rule (own + 6 years after sale) for renovation records, and permanent for the title and permit chain.

Mechanism

CRA defines the outer limit: for capital property (your home), keep all purchase and improvement records from acquisition until six years after the year of disposition.1 Every other retention period in the home document system is either shorter (appliance receipts: 1–3 years) or the same (permits: permanent, because the legal risk outlasts the CRA window).

The decision rule has three tiers:

Tier A — Keep permanently (as long as you own, then keep 6 years after selling):

  • Title / purchase closing documents
  • Building permits and inspection-passed certificates
  • Capital improvement receipts (invoices for any renovation that added to the home’s value)
  • Insurance claim files (become evidence in the next dispute)
  • Paint and finish specs (needed for matching, needed at resale)

Tier B — Keep for a defined window:

  • Active insurance policies: while active + 3 years
  • Appliance warranties: for the life of the warranty
  • Strata meeting minutes / AGM packages: 6 years (matches statutory strata corporation retention2)
  • Contractor invoices (no permit, no capital improvement): 6 years

Tier C — Discard after a short window:

  • Utility bills: 1–2 years for reference
  • Appliance purchase receipts (routine, no warranty claim in progress): 1–3 years
  • Expired extended warranty terms: shred on expiry

Conditions — when this rule does NOT apply

  • If the property is an investment or rental: CRA rules differ — keep all expense records for the full rental period plus 6 years after the year you last claimed a deduction. The same renovation invoice that is Tier A for your principal residence is Tier A+ for a rental.
  • If the property is a new build (2-5-10 warranty): the building envelope window closes at year 5 from first occupancy — a warranty claim must be reported before that date, not just discovered. The warranty document itself belongs in Tier A until after the year-10 structural window closes.
  • If an insurance claim is open or disputed: do not shred anything related to that claim until it is fully settled and the appeal window has closed.

Scope

Applies to principal residences in BC and Canada broadly. The CRA rules are federal; they apply in all provinces.

Idea Compass

North: Where this comes from

East: Tensions / failure

  • over-keeping creates clutter but is harmless; under-keeping the permit chain creates legal and financial exposure
  • “keep everything” as a strategy fails when documents are unfindable — the taxonomy matters as much as the retention rule

South: Where this leads

West: What’s similar

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Canada Revenue Agency — capital property record retention: keep from acquisition until 6 years after the year of disposition — https://taxccount.com/blog/how-long-do-you-need-to-keep-tax-records-in-canada/ ↩

  2. Province of BC — strata record retention: minutes and financial records for 6 years; permanent records include strata plans, depreciation reports, legal opinions — https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/strata-housing/operating-a-strata/information-and-record-keeping ↩

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