Affordable Housing

Toronto Star: Liberals won’t say if foreign homebuyer ban will be extended as renewal window narrows

OTTAWA — The Liberal government has yet to say whether it plans to extend Canada’s ban on foreign homebuyers, even as internal briefing notes warned time is running short to renew the policy through the existing regulatory process before the ban expires.

If the government does nothing, Canada’s ban, which first came into force in 2023, will sunset automatically on Jan. 1, 2027. The ban currently prevents anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident from purchasing a home in any urban area in the country.

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson was not available for an interview with the Star, but has previously said the government is examining approaches used in other countries, particularly Australia, where a foreign-buyer ban includes exemptions for new homes and vacant land.

NDP housing critic MP Jenny Kwan said the government’s inaction is a clear indicator it is going to let the ban expire. 

“If your inclination is to move forward with it then you have to actually plan for that deadline,” she said. 

Kwan said even if foreign buyers were only focused on luxury units, that has a trickle-down impact and the ban should be extended. 

“There are a whole variety of different measures that the government can take to ensure first-time home buyers have a level playing field for them to get access to housing and one of those measures is to extend the foreign home-ownership ban,” she said. 

Conservative housing critic MP Scott Aitchison said the market needs certainty the Liberals are failing to provide, but said his party has always viewed the ban as nothing more than political scapegoating. 

“I don’t think that foreign buyers were really driving prices up. It was really more government charges, fees, and taxes in those high-priced markets,” he said.  He said the ban may be popular, but that doesn’t make it good policy. 

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/liberals-wont-say-if-foreign-homebuyer-ban-will-be-extended-as-renewal-window-narrows/article_8ad12efe-67cb-4985-8c0f-d9c6837dfd97.html

Maclean's: Carney’s Condo Bailout Is a Band-Aid Solution

The biggest policy failures often start with a faulty diagnosis. Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby’s plan to convert thousands of vacant condo units into rent-to-own housing treats a symptom of Canada’s housing crisis instead of its underlying disease. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there were 5,849 new and unsold apartments across B.C. in May, with roughly 75 per cent in Metro Vancouver. This is the highest it’s been since the CMHC started recording data 36 years ago.

The basic shape of Carney’s program, announced in Vancouver last month, involved the federal and provincial governments acquiring more than 2,200 of these units through Build Canada Homes and BC Housing. Buying up the surplus and handing it to people who need housing sounded like a common-sense, straightforward solution.

It didn’t take long for the criticism to arrive from every direction. It was a strange moment when parties that disagree about almost everything in housing policy found themselves united in criticizing the same intervention. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called it a “transfer of wealth from the have-nots to the have-yachts.” The NDP came to much the same conclusion from the opposite direction. Housing critic Jenny Kwan questioned why governments were spending public money to acquire distressed condominiums after B.C. had suspended its Community Housing Fund, a program to build affordable housing, and argued the proposal lacked clear affordability targets or meaningful safeguards to ensure taxpayers were getting lasting public value. 

A week after the announcement, Carney clarified the plan, admitting that the government hadn’t done a good job explaining it. He has insisted, repeatedly, that no specific transaction is on the table yet and that the government would only buy “distressed” units at a discount, not at prices close to what developers originally wanted. Eby has gone further, insisting the program won’t apply to city of Vancouver developers at all. He said it’s aimed instead at regions like the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, and that units will be acquired at a price below the cost of construction.

*Click image or link to read the full article - https://macleans.ca/economy/realestateeconomy/carneys-condo-bailout-is-a-band-aid-solution/

National Post: Liberals shut down debate over Carney condo 'bailout' probe at ethics committee

Liberal members of the House ethics committee shut down debate Tuesday over an Opposition motion to investigate the Carney government’s controversial plan to purchase thousands of unsold B.C. condos from developers.

An “emergency” meeting was called by the Conservatives during the summer recess on Tuesday to launch an ethics probe into the program, which would see Build Canada Homes and BC Housing partner to convert 2,200 unsold condo units in the province into affordable housing. The plan, announced unexpectedly, has received significant criticism from housing advocates and opposition parties, who have called it a “bail out” for developers that made bad calls speculating on rising real estate prices.

However, a Liberal MP moved a motion to adjourn debate on the issue, on the basis that summer is not the best time to tackle the issue, and members of the committee should be in their constituencies.

The motion carried with the Liberal majority in support.

Conservative MP Aaron Gunn had tabled the motion to summon Vancouver developer Bob Rennie, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson, B.C. Housing Minister Christine Boyle to testify before the committee, as well as representatives from Build Canada Homes, BC Housing, and Brookfield Asset Management, among others. Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously been chairman of Brookfield Asset Management before entering politics.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan questioned the federal government’s track record on funding for affordable housing, adding that the condo initiative does not pass “the public smell test.”

“Make no mistake, this latest announcement of the condo conversion is massive bailout for developers, even though the prime minister wants to pass it off as affordable housing,” said Kwan. “No one is buying it.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-shut-down-debate-over-carney-condo-bailout-connections-at-ethics-committee

 

Canadian Press: Liberals shut down debate over proposed probe into B.C. condo buyout plan

Liberal MPs shut down a Conservative attempt to have the House of Commons ethics committee investigate the government’s plan to turn unsold condos into affordable housing in British Columbia.

The Liberal government joined with the B.C. government last month to announce a plan to have the governments buy up 2,200 vacant condo units to convert into affordable housing through a rent-to-own model.

The Conservatives recalled the House ethics committee to probe the plan at the request of the party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre.

B.C. Premier David Eby has said the condo buyout is an alternative to Ottawa’s original pitch to use federal funds to waive the sales tax on new homes in the province, but he also said the Liberals wanted to make the announcement before all the details were finalized.

Carney and Eby have both denied that the proposal is a bailout, and said the governments are looking to instead take advantage of distressed developers to get a good deal on affordable housing for Canadians.

They’ve also said that if they can’t get a good deal on the homes, they won’t move forward with any transaction.

Eby has said the numbers don’t work in Vancouver, but could work in the regions such as the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan.

Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs on the committee voted in favour of continuing talks. While the federal NDP have no members on the committee, MP Jenny Kwan appeared during Tuesday’s meeting to voice her support for Gunn’s proposed investigation.

*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://cheknews.ca/liberals-shut-down-debate-over-proposed-probe-into-b-c-condo-buyout-plan-1334712/

MEDIA RELEASE: NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan Statement on Government Spin on the “Condo Conversion” Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan Statement on Government Spin on the “Condo Conversion” Program
 
The federal and BC governments continue to speak about creating pathways to homeownership, yet their decision to purchase existing distressed condominium units raises important questions about whether public policy is addressing the root causes of housing unaffordability. The condo purchase plan comes after the Community Housing Fund was indefinitely suspended in BC when housing organizations had shovel ready projects they had already invested in.  No amount of double speak will hide the fact that the Federal government failed to set affordability targets for the creation of Build Canada Homes and the bill that authorized the expenditure of $1.713 billion of public funds contained no meaningful safeguards, no measurable affordability requirements and no clear accountability mechanisms. 
  
This approach is not a plan to support homeownership for first time buyers, rather, it’s an investment banker’s plan.  At the heart of Condo Conversion program are the interests of investors and financial institutions.  That is also why Carney has eliminated the Underused Housing Tax in their last budget and has not extended the foreign buyer ban when it expires at the end of the year.  

There are alternative approaches that deserve greater attention. For years, the NDP has called for the Federal government to end special tax treatment for housing profiteers such as Real Estate Investment Trusts and to change tax policies that currently favour large institutional ownership of residential real estate.  In addition, the NDP has advocated for measures to discourage speculative accumulation of multiple investment properties, and consider measures such as progressively higher down payment requirements for the purchase of additional residential properties as is done in other countries including Singapore. These types of reforms prioritizes the treatment of housing as a primary home and discourage housing profiteering and create a level playing field for first time home buyers. 

Canadians deserve a housing strategy that addresses the causes of unaffordability, not just the symptoms and they deserve answers.  

Why are governments using public funds to purchase existing condominium units rather than focusing those resources on increasing overall affordable housing supply?

What analysis has been conducted on the impact of these purchases on local housing markets and first-time buyers?

How many units could be created through new construction or partnerships with non-profit housing providers for the same level of public investment?

Why has the government chosen this approach over policies aimed at reducing speculative demand and excessive investor activity?

Why is the government not extending the foreign buyer ban? 

Why were there no affordability and accountability requirements in Bill C-26?

Will the Parliamentary Budget Office have the opportunity to conduct an independent analysis of this proposal?

Canadians deserve a housing strategy that addresses the root causes of unaffordability, not just the symptoms. Directing public funding to the private market to purchase unabsorbed condos to bailout developers because, as the Prime Minister says they “are stuck” and “they do not want to sell at a loss, but they also can’t afford to hold the empty units indefinitely” reflects the wrong approach and priorities to deliver affordable homes to Canadians. Pretending that this is turning unsold condo-units into affordable housing is a slap in the face of the dedicated work of non-profit and co-op housing providers who are experts at this work.  The government should reconsider this decision and bring back something more tailored to the conditions on the ground.

 

Globe & Mail: Ottawa to help finance program to buy unsold condo units in B.C. for affordable housing

The federal and British Columbia governments are developing a program to purchase more than 2,200 condos in B.C. to turn into affordable housing, though the financial mechanism that will be used to make the acquisitions is still up in the air.

Nearly 4,000 newly built condos are sitting empty in the Vancouver region, according to data from Zonda Urban, as investors shy away from buying real estate that has become increasingly unprofitable.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is looking for ways to unfreeze the condo markets in B.C. and in the Greater Toronto Area where preconstruction condo sales have dropped sharply.

On Tuesday, the federal housing and infrastructure department provided a few more details, and confirmed the units will be acquired.

“Build Canada Homes and the B.C. government are working on a plan to acquire and convert more than 2,200 existing condo units into affordable homes,” Steve Cloutier, manager of media and issues management for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, said in an e-mailed statement.

He did not provide a total amount of funding that will be set aside for the purchases.

Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan is urging Ottawa and the province to reconsider the plan.

She said the funding appears to direct substantial public resources toward supporting private developers, who made the decision to build during a period of rapidly rising prices and profits.

“While those profits accrued privately during the boom years, taxpayers are now being asked to shoulder the consequences of a cooling market,” Ms. Kwan said in a June 23 letter addressed to the federal and provincial housing ministers.

B.C. developers had been publicly urging the province to follow Ontario’s policies and expand the sales tax rebate on new homes. One developer, Wesgroup Properties, said the industry was surprised by last week’s announcement.

“We did not advocate for it. We did not ask for it,” said Beau Jarvis, Wesgroup’s chief executive. Mr. Jarvis said he wasn’t aware of anyone in his industry that was consulted on the government’s plan.

*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ottawa-to-help-finance-program-to-buy-unsold-condo-units-in-bc-for/

MEDIA RELEASE: Statement calling on federal government to drop its developer bailout in BC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan statement calling on federal government to drop its developer bailout in B.C.
 
The latest housing package announced by the Carney government, including the so-called "Condo Conversion" program, amounts to a $3.2 billion bailout for developers. It follows another initiative that requires local governments to slash development fees and community amenity contributions by up to 50 percent, effectively subsidizing developers with public resources. I am calling on the federal and provincial government to abandon these schemes and invest in truly affordable, publicly managed housing with operating subsidies.
 
The Carney government's housing agenda is fundamentally flawed. Despite campaign promises to "Build Big, Build Bold, Build Now," announcement after announcement has moved us further away from the goal of delivering truly affordable homes for Canadians.
 
At a time when developers are sitting on thousands of unsold units, Canadians deserve answers. According to Business in Vancouver, there were 4,376 unabsorbed condominium units on the market in Metro Vancouver as of May 2026. The problem is not a lack of luxury and investor-oriented housing. The problem is a lack of homes that ordinary people can actually afford.

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson once promised to end street homelessness when he was the Mayor of Vancouver by 2015. Today, he is championing housing programs that lack meaningful affordability requirements. Of the projects announced so far across Canada, only six will achieve genuine affordability. Instead of guaranteeing affordability for working people, renters, seniors, and young families, the federal governments are is choosing to subsidize developers and protect investors when there is a glut of overpriced condo units on the market.
 
For years, housing prices soared while developers, speculators, and wealthy investors accumulated enormous profits. Renters were pushed out through renovictions and demo-victions. First-time homebuyers were locked out of the market. Seniors were forced to leave the communities they helped build. Throughout it all, Liberals and Conservatives repeated the same failed promise: that the market would eventually solve the housing crisis.
 
It did not.
 
Today, working families, renters, seniors, and young people are still being priced out of their communities. Now that overpriced condos are not selling, governments appear prepared to step in with billions of taxpayer dollars to rescue the very industry that profited from the crisis. Earlier this year, the federal government partnered with Ontario on an $8.8 billion development charge reduction program that delivered another major benefit to developers. The Carney government is approaching the issue of housing affordability through the eyes of an investment fund manager – that is its fundamental blindspot and the flawed design of the government’s housing programs.
 
In the middle of an affordability crisis, governments should not be guaranteeing profits for speculators. They should be guaranteeing affordable homes for people. This is not a publicly accountable way to invest public resources. The NDP supports every effort to get people into affordable homes faster. But British Columbians have every right to ask and deserve full transparency: why are wealthy developers receiving public support while so many people cannot find an affordable place to live?  Why is the government using public money to shield developers and investors from the consequences of a cooling real estate market during a housing affordability crisis? Which developers will benefit and by how much?  What sort of affordability standards will apply to the units being purchased, and will they remain a public asset in perpetuity?  

I urge the BC government to resist this troubling shift in priorities. Housing advocates are rightly concerned when BC cancelled the Community Housing Fund earlier this year and are now putting in billions of dollars to absorb unsold condo inventory.  Imagine what could be accomplished if those same resources were invested directly in permanently affordable housing. BC remained a beacon in the delivery of social and co-op housing when successive Conservative and Liberal governments abdicated their responsibility to Canadians in the 1990s.  I urge them to reconsider this change in direction.
 
Developers made business decisions during a period of speculation and rapidly rising prices. They gleefully raked in huge profits while hardworking Canadians saw their dream of ever owning a home vanish. Taxpayers should not be expected to absorb their losses when their bets with the market are no longer paying off.
 
As Build Canada Homes continue to fail to meet true affordability targets, and given the Liberal government’s track record, this new initiative raises serious concerns about who will benefit and whether affordability will once again be treated as an afterthought. 
 
Instead of negotiating one-off deals to rescue unsold condo projects, the Carney Liberals should be building a new generation of public, co-operative, and non-profit housing at the scale Canadians were promised during the last election.
 
That is what "Build Big, Build Bold, Build Now" should mean.

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OPEN LETTER: Serious concerns on recent federal and BC housing initiatives

Public funds should guarantee affordable homes for people—not guaranteed returns for developers and speculators.  

Today, I sent an open letter to federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson and provincial Housing Minister Christine Boyle urging them to immediately reconsider recent housing policies that bail out private developers at the expense of everyday British Columbians.  

The federal government’s new "Condo Conversion" program plans to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars to buy up or convert unsold, investor-oriented condominium inventory. Meanwhile, local governments are being pressured to slash development fees and community amenity contributions.  

When the housing market was booming, developers pocketed massive private profits. Now that the speculative market is cooling, taxpayers are being asked to shoulder their financial risks. This is fundamentally unfair and completely misses the mark.  

The central problem in Metro Vancouver isn’t a shortage of high-end market condos—thousands of units are sitting empty and unabsorbed. The problem is a severe shortage of homes that working families, renters, seniors, and young people can actually afford.  

Imagine what we could achieve if those billions were invested directly into constructing and acquiring permanently affordable public, co-operative, Indigenous, and non-profit housing. Furthermore, the federal government needs to step up as a true partner to British Columbia by providing ongoing operating subsidies for affordable housing projects—the Province cannot be expected to carry this load alone.  

*Click [ Read more ] to read my open letter to the federal and BC Housing Minister.

HANSARD: Calls out Bill C-30 for shortchanging housing, healthcare, and reconciliation

*Click [ Read more ] to read my full speech and responses from MPs

HANSARD: Speech in response to the Spring Economic Update

*Click [ Read more ] to read Jenny's full speech