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.

  • brax
    4·
    11 months ago

    Real estate agents make a % of the sale of the property. The ones selling the homes have a vested interest in the houses going for as much as possible.

    Want to stop the scam? Fix the problem with the people selling properties.

    • Rediphile@lemmy.ca
      6·
      11 months ago

      I refused to use a realtor when buying a home in Northern BC. So I just found a seller who also didn’t want one either and was selling something that met my requirements. It was a super easy transaction with literally no problems at all and saved me many thousands of dollars.

      Everyone told me this would be impossible. It wasn’t. It was extremely easy.