A year ago, the federal government instituted a foreign buyer ban after passing the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act in 2022. The two-year ban, which came into effect on Jan. 1, barred non-citizens, non-permanent residents and foreign controlled companies from buying up Canadian property as an investment.

But Wallace says that ban didn’t do much for her family.

“There’s all of these very luxurious buildings going in all around us that are outrageously priced,” said Wallace, after attending an open house at a promising $1.1-million condo. “The foreign buyers tax … I don’t think that’s making an iota of difference.”

Critics say the foreign buyers ban, which was aimed at making housing affordable for Canadians, had many exemptions and was more of a political manoeuvre. They say it’s clear housing remains out of reach for too many in Canada, and that the country should look to other places in the world to find strategies to foster home ownership.

  • RatherBeMTB
    91·
    1 year ago

    Well, you will have to make A LOT of mistakes before you understand that the only way to fix this problem is by increasing the supply until it meets the demand. Having demand is a very good thing for the economy. You need to break the monopolies in the construction sector and open it for more players.

    • Kichae@lemmy.ca
      51·
      1 year ago

      It’s not at all clear thast there’s a real supply issue. When houses and apartments are being held by speculators, or used as AirBnBs, instead of as homes, then it seems like an issue of misappropriation, not supply.

    • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
      3·
      1 year ago

      Supply and demand is like the most basic economic system. We certainly should not need to make a lot of mistakes before realizing building more houses increases the housing supply.