Feds plan foreign homebuyer ban, billions to speed up supply: CTV News
BNN Bloomberg
The federal government is planning to unveil a significant crackdown on foreign homebuyers as part of Thursday’s federal budget, CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier reported Wednesday afternoon.
The federal government is planning to unveil a significant crackdown on foreign homebuyers as part of Thursday’s federal budget, CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier reported Wednesday afternoon.
According to her reporting, the feds will make it illegal for all foreign nationals to purchase any residential properties in Canada for the next two years, including condos, apartments and single-family homes.
Permanent residents, foreign workers and students will reportedly be exempt from the measure, as are foreign nationals purchasing a primary residence in Canada rather than a vacation home or investment property. No cost was yet attached to this measure.
The new law would bring greater clarity to the Liberal campaign promise that pledged to bar foreign nationals from purchasing non-recreational, residential property in Canada for two years.
It remains unclear how prevalent foreign homebuyers are in influencing the Canadian residential market, as data remains scarce.
However, a crackdown on foreign homebuyers has gained political traction at the federal and provincial levels, with the federal government introducing a national one-per-cent tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian owned properties considered vacant or underused. That measure came into effect at the start of the year.
