Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising a two-year ban on foreign home buyers if re-elected.
The proposed restriction is an attempt to cool a housing market that has soared during the pandemic. Surging prices have become a central issue in the current election campaign, in which Trudeau hopes to regain a majority in Parliament.
Outrage over housing affordability is increasingly directed at foreign buyers, especially in Vancouver, whose real estate has become increasingly popular among non-resident buyers from China and Hong Kong.
While the number of houses changing hands has declined in recent months, prices remain near record levels. The average cost of a home in Canada was $669,200 in July, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, up 16% from a year ago.
The Liberals are also proposing a ban on blind bidding, tax-free savings accounts for first-time buyers and more oversight of the real estate industry to fight money laundering. They’re also vowing to add or repair 1.4 million homes over the next four years.
Erin O’Toole, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, put forward a similar plan last week. His party’s platform would ban home-buying for foreign investors living outside Canada for at least two years and refurbish 15% of federal buildings into housing.
The left-leaning New Democratic Party, meanwhile, is proposing a 20% tax on homes bought by people who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residents and a reintroduction of a 30-year mortgage.
Recent polls show the race between the governing Liberals and their Conservative challengers is narrowing, weakening Trudeau’s prospects for regaining a majority.
