Can the survival period for tax representations be longer than for the general business reps?

Yes, and it is a common approach precisely because tax risk does not behave like ordinary business risk. General representations about contracts, employees, and operations are usually subject to a shorter, negotiated survival period, while tax representations are frequently given a longer survival period tied to how long the Canada Revenue Agency can go back and reassess the corporation for prior tax years — since a tax problem from before closing may not surface until well after an ordinary survival clock would have expired.

There is no fixed statutory survival period for tax representations in a purchase agreement; it is a matter of negotiation, and the specific length used in any given deal should track the parties' own risk tolerance and advice from their accountants as much as their lawyers. Buyers understandably want tax representations to survive at least as long as the CRA's realistic reassessment window, while sellers want certainty that their exposure eventually ends. Because this interacts closely with the working-capital and tax-indemnity provisions elsewhere in the agreement, it is worth reviewing as a package with a Treadstone business lawyer rather than in isolation.