The federal Liberals have rejected a ban on foreign purchases of residential properties despite promising such a freeze during the 2021 election.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Liberal MPs on the Standing Committee on Finance in the House of Commons voted 6 to 5 to reject a Conservative motion to amend the Underused Housing Tax Act to prohibit non-resident foreigners from purchasing residential properties for two years.
Conservative and NDP MPs supported the motion, while Liberal and Bloc Quebecois MPs voted against it.
“We do know there are American families that own property and have for years and years and years on the Canadian side,” said Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz.
In June 2021, the House of Commons had voted 180 to 147 in support of a Conservative motion to “examine a temporary freeze on home purchases by non-resident foreign buyers who are squeezing Canadians out of the housing market.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then endorsed the ban while campaigning in the 2021 election.
Conservative MP Ed Fast said that there was no reason to avoid enacting it.
“The scope of this amendment is so narrow and so circumscribed it would not generate any challenges and I think would send just that clear message that we are placing Canadian buyers of residential real estate first,” said Fast.
A recent survey by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) suggested that non-residents own 10.6% of condos in Vancouver and 8% in Toronto.
The survey further revealed that non-resident buyers have started to move to Montreal.
“The stability and the share of non-resident-owned condos in Toronto and Vancouver, combined with the increase in Montreal after the introduction of the foreign buyers tax in Ontario and British Columbia, may indicate a shift in demand by non-resident buyers,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan.
