On Sunday, February 4, 2024, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the federal government’s intention to extend the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act (foreign buyer ban), which was first introduced in 2023, by two years to January 2027.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) believes the federal government’s intention to extend the foreign buyer ban is unnecessary, considering there is no analysis, evidence, or data from Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), or Finance Canada, to support the extension.
Upon the announcement, CREA released a statement, in which CREA CEO Janice Myers asserted, “If the government decides to move forward with this baseless extension, CREA urges them to consider recommendations including exempting pre-construction financing, defining and exempting recreational property, including CUSMA exemptions, and giving provinces input to tailor to their housing market requirements.”
Since the foreign buyer ban was announced in 2022, CREA has expressed concern to the government about their decision to move forward with the prohibition and questioned whether it can truly have any impact on housing affordability in Canada. We have continuously highlighted the negative unintended consequences of this prohibition on the Canadian housing market and economy, and put forth several recommendations on how that can be mitigated.
While CREA supports the government’s desire for housing to be first and foremost used by Canadians, there are other policy measures that could better achieve the intended policy objective without frustrating supply increases. We believe the federal government should focus its efforts on policies that support the construction of more housing across the entire continuum.
To help REALTORS® comply with the foreign buyer ban, we’ve developed the Certificate and Consent of Purchaser – Individual, and the Certificate and Consent of Purchaser – Corporation or other Entity forms, which are available on CREA WEBForms®.
CMHC has also developed a tool to help REALTORS® determine if a property could be subject to the foreign buyer ban. By entering the exact address of a property, or manually clicking through the map, users will be able to determine if a property is in a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or a Census Agglomeration (CA). If a property is outside of a CMA or CA, it’s excluded from the prohibition.
Additional Resources:
If you have any questions, please contact our Member Experience Centre at support@CREA.ca
or 1-888-237-7945.
