this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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Why Canada's ban on foreign buyers hasn't made homes more affordable (www.cbc.ca)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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A year ago, the federal government instituted a foreign buyer ban after passing the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act in 2022. The two-year ban, which came into effect on Jan. 1, barred non-citizens, non-permanent residents and foreign controlled companies from buying up Canadian property as an investment.

But Wallace says that ban didn't do much for her family.

"There's all of these very luxurious buildings going in all around us that are outrageously priced," said Wallace, after attending an open house at a promising $1.1-million condo. "The foreign buyers tax … I don't think that's making an iota of difference."

Critics say the foreign buyers ban, which was aimed at making housing affordable for Canadians, had many exemptions and was more of a political manoeuvre. They say it's clear housing remains out of reach for too many in Canada, and that the country should look to other places in the world to find strategies to foster home ownership.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The answer, of course, is that the "foreign buyer" thing was a scapegoat and was never the real problem (or at least, far from the most important one).

The real problem is ZONING.

When it's LITERALLY ILLEGAL to build (a) enough housing where people want it (because neighborhoods close to city centers are zoned single-family only) and (b) inexpensive housing (because of large lot sizes and minimum parking requirements inflating mandatory costs), of course homes aren't going to be affordable!

[–] [email protected] 31 points 8 months ago (1 children)

By exclussively building single family homes, for the most part you are also forcing someone to require a car. Sure its possible to live in some areas car free, and it is possible to live in suburbia car free, but for the vast majority of Canadian suburbs living car free makes your life significantly harder.

We really need to rethink how we build and zone our cities, spend more space on people and less space on cars. Abolish parking minimums and let the business owner decide their parking requirements. Limit sprawling subdivisions and strip malls and enforce higher densities.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Build fifteen minute cities, in short. I live in one, for all practical purposes, and it's GRAND!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That term has been ruined by conspiracy theorists who can't fathom a walkable city without cameras tracking your every movment, government forcing you to never leave your neighbourhood and other ridiculous exaggerations of what is just an urban planning concept.

"Congestion pricing? You mean a freedom tax." "They want you to get rid of your car so they can control you" "You can't visit anyone out of your 15 minute district"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Oh well. I can't cater to the stupid and the insane. I'll live where I don't need a car to get basic amenities of life and use the money I save to live grandly. They can spend the money, time, and health on living with unnecessary vehicles until they die out.