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.
