TORONTO — Former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and his wife are appealing the Ontario Ministry of Finance’s refusal to refund nearly $700,000 in Non-Resident Speculation Tax they paid on a $4.65-million Mississauga home purchased in the fall of 2021.The couple filed a notice of appeal with the Ontario Superior Court last month after a multi-year process. Their lawyer, Mike Collinge of Deloitte Legal Canada LLP, told the National Post the situation has been “quite frustrating.” He said the ministry “is yet to really articulate a reasonable basis for their position” and is “reading a requirement into the law retroactively when the legislation itself was not retroactive.”Nurse, an Iowa native who coached the Raptors to their first NBA championship in 2019, worked in Ontario under a foreign national work permit from 2013. The couple purchased the modern home on Kenollie Avenue, north of Port Credit, in October 2021 and used it as their primary residence. As foreign nationals they paid the then-applicable 15% Non-Resident Speculation Tax in the Greater Golden Horseshoe..Nurse was fired by the Raptors on April 21, 2023, and hired by the Philadelphia 76ers on May 29. The couple sold the Mississauga property on September 21, 2023, to relocate quickly to Pennsylvania. Their appeal filing states they “were not the type of real estate speculators the legislature aimed to address” and notes Nurse “brought significant economic and social value to the province.”They became eligible for a rebate after one year of continuous full-time Ontario employment under a valid work permit and applied on March 12, 2024. A regulatory amendment tightening the rules took effect March 27, 2024. The ministry denied the claim a month after the application, saying the couple had not occupied the property “up to the date they made their application.” The final confirmation of the denial came on April 10, 2026.The appeal argues the continuous-occupancy-until-application rule was not part of the regulations in force when the Nurses applied. Independent Toronto tax lawyer David Rotfleisch, who is not involved in the case, has described the ministry’s approach as appearing to “make up the law as they go along.”The Ministry of Finance has not responded to media inquiries. The Nurses are seeking a $697,500 refund plus interest and costs of the appeal.
