Feds target property flippers, more supply in $10.1B housing plan
BNN Bloomberg
The federal government is taking sharper aim at real estate investors and property flippers in a bid to help halt the country’s long-standing – and worsening – housing affordability problem.
The federal government is taking sharper aim at real estate investors and property flippers in a bid to help halt the country’s long-standing – and worsening – housing affordability problem.
In the federal budget, government officials laid out what is, essentially, a three-pillar strategy to deal with Canada’s housing crisis by limiting real estate investment, helping first-time homebuyers, and allocating more funds to accelerate the construction of more homes.
The government expects the plan will have a cumulative cost of $10.1 billion by fiscal year 2026-27.
“In some respects, from a federal perspective, this is a federal budget that tries to tackle the problem [of affordability], and maybe more so than we’ve seen in the past,” said Pedro Antunes, chief economist with the Conference Board of Canada, by phone.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the housing file has both social and economic implications for the country.
“It's absolutely essential that young Canadians feel that owning their own home is within reach. And we're at risk right now of being a country where that is not possible. So this budget really is about tackling the logjam in building the homes that Canada needs,” Freeland said in a taped interview on Thursday, which will air in full on BNN Bloomberg on Friday.
