Will Canada’s ban on foreign homebuyers make houses more affordable?
January 1 ban includes exemptions for foreign workers, international students, homes in less-populated areas.
As of New Year's Day, some foreign buyers will be banned from purchasing residential property in Canada in a move the federal government says is aimed at making housing more affordable.
But many real estate and housing policy experts are unconvinced that the two-year ban will have much impact on house prices — given non-resident buyers make up such a small share of the real estate market, and many will still be exempt.
"I think this is very much a political policy, more than an economic policy," says Brendon Ogmundson, chief economist at the British Columbia Real Estate Association.
"A lot of the public has been convinced over the last few years that it's foreign investors and foreign money that are driving home prices, rather than what's actually doing it: low interest rates and very low supply."
There's limited data tracking foreign buyers and owners across Canada. In the four provinces and one territory measured in the Canadian Housing Statistics Program in 2020 — the most recent year available — between two and six per cent of residential properties had at least one non-resident owner.