By KONRAD YAKABUSKI | PUBLISHED APRIL 5, 2019 |
Canadian housing policy is, for the most part, a mess. Politicians talk endlessly about making housing more affordable. But most of their interventions in the housing market have had the opposite effect. At the very least, they’ve generated unintended consequences that have distorted the incentives faced by homebuyers, builders and lenders.
In the parts of the country where the need for additional housing is the highest, zoning restrictions and development costs make it near impossible to build new homes that are within financial reach of average Canadians. And yet, politicians refuse to fix this basic
problem. Instead, they tinker at the edges.
The governments of British Columbia and Ontario have imposed hefty taxes – 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively – on non-resident buyers. B.C. also has a speculation and vacancy tax, which is on top of – and not to be confused with – the City of Vancouver’s empty-homes tax.