“As Canadians struggle with the affordability of the housing market, a developer in Toronto is set to buy $1 billion worth of single-family houses for rentals. This will inevitably drive up the rental costs and the prospective of homeownership will only become more remote—especially for first time buyers.
“The right to housing must be more than just words. The government must take immediate and aggressive action to ensure housing remains affordable for Canadians. This should include the creation of 500,000 social housing units, putting in place a housing acquisition fund for non-profits and controls on real estate investment trusts who acquire existing affordable units and erode the rental market with renovictions.
“The government also needs to crack down on foreign speculators and money laundering. The parliamentary secretary for housing admitted that we have 'a very safe market for foreign investment' but ‘not a great market for Canadians looking for choices around housing’. The government’s solution is an ineffective one percent tax on foreign investors which is far too weak to have any meaningful impact.
“The government also needs to crack down on foreign speculators and money laundering. The parliamentary secretary for housing admitted that we have 'a very safe market for foreign investment' but ‘not a great market for Canadians looking for choices around housing’. The government’s solution is an ineffective one percent tax on foreign investors which is far too weak to have any meaningful impact.