Ontario to hike foreign homebuyers tax if feds don’t act: Source
BNN Bloomberg
Ontario will take matters into its own hands by raising its tax on foreign homebuyers if the federal government doesn’t make good on a campaign promise to clamp down on foreign buying activity, BNN Bloomberg has learned.
The Ontario government will take matters into its own hands by raising its tax on non-resident homebuyers if the federal government doesn’t make good on a campaign promise to clamp down on foreign buying activity, BNN Bloomberg has learned.
“Ontario is prepared to raise the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) to 20 per cent and expand its catchment area beyond the Greater Golden Horseshoe,” said a senior Ontario government source, who later added the tax could eventually rise to more than 20 per cent.
“By expanding the catchment area to include the entire province and raising the tax, we will discourage foreign speculation and make sure our limited housing supply is going to those who need it the most.”
The province’s foreign homebuyers tax currently stands at 15 per cent and was implemented on Apr. 21, 2017.
The Greater Golden Horseshoe encompasses regions as far north as Barrie, as far south as Niagara, and stretches from Waterloo to Peterborough on a west-east basis.
On the campaign trail, the federal Liberals promised to ban foreign home purchases in Canada for a period of two years but no further details have been released since they were re-elected in September.
