The federal government is extending its ban on foreign home purchasing in Canada, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced in a release Sunday.
The rule, which was first announced in 2022, will now be extended until the beginning of 2027. It bans foreign nationals and commercial enterprises from buying residential property in Canada, with exceptions for some international students, refugee claimants and temporary workers.
“By extending the foreign buyer ban, we will ensure houses are used as homes for Canadian families to live in and do not become a speculative financial asset class,” Freeland said in the statement Sunday.
Experts have questioned whether the ban is having a significant effect on housing affordability in Canada, given the relatively small share of the overall housing market owned by non-Canadians. In 2020, for example, the share of the market owned by non-residents in some provinces measured ranged from two to six per cent.
In 2021, in B.C., only around 1.1. per cent of home sales included a foreign buyer.
There are also further exemptions to the home buying rules that allow for the purchase of buildings with four or more residences, or in some less populated areas.
Brendon Ogmundson, the chief economist for the B.C. Real Estate Association, told CBC News late last year that “the foreign buyer ban was more political than economic policy or housing policy.”
WATCH | New federal dollars for asylum seeker housing:
Ottawa to provide $162 million in support for asylum seekers, vulnerable people in Toronto
2 days ago
Duration 0:57
Deputy Premier Chrystia Freeland announced at a news conference with Mayor Olivia Chow that the federal government will provide more than $162 million to support asylum seekers and other vulnerable communities in Toronto. Toronto will also receive an additional $19.75 million through the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, which helps low-income people cover rent payments.
Some provinces in Canada already had foreign home buyers taxes in place, while Toronto recently proposed a municipal levy on non-Canadian residential purchases.
Housing has become a major political flashpoint as Canadians deal with a severe affordability crisis. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) says 3.5 million additional homes on top of expected growth need to be built by 2030 to reach affordability.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made the housing crunch a key part of his political critique of the governing Liberals, saying the country has descended into “housing hell.”
He’s proposed a series of measures to help boost housing starts, including a series of incentives to reward municipalities that meet ambitious housing targets with federal dollars, and punish those that don’t.
The federal government has responded to the crisis with a number of measures, including a series of negotiations with major cities, to tie federal money in the Housing Accelerator Fund to zoning reform and other pro-building policy changes at the municipal level.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
