introduce a two-year ban on foreign home buyers if he is re-elected for a second term at the federal election next month. “You shouldn’t lose a bidding war on your home to speculators. It’s time for things to change,” the Prime Minister said during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ontario. “No more foreign wealth being parked in homes that people should be living in.”
Although there has been a decline in the number of houses that are changing hands, prices continue to remain near record levels. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, in the month of July, the national average home price was at CA$669,200 (US$532,600), which amounted to a 16 per cent increase from a year earlier. Accordingly, Liberals have also proposed a scheme of tax-free savings accounts for first-time buyers, a ban on blind bidding and strengthening federal oversight of the real estate industry, with the aim of adding or repairing 1.4 million houses over the next four years.
Meanwhile, PM Trudeau’s biggest rival in the election, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, also introduced a similar plan last week, under which the party proposed a ban on home-buying for foreign investors who live outside of Canada for at least two years. They also vowed to refurbish 15 per cent of federal buildings in order to be used for housing purposes. “Mr. Trudeau’s had six years and has failed,” O’Toole noted. “We have a housing crisis that’s exploded in the last three to four years under his leadership.”
