Canada Prepares to Initiate a New Tax on Foreign Non-Resident Speculative Home Purchases

Canada has announced that it is preparing to initiate a new tax on foreign non-resident speculative purchases of homes in the country. The new tax was mentioned in the Fall Economic Statement, which was published on Monday (12/1), but offered few details. The government said that “Speculative demand from foreign, non-resident investors contributes to unaffordable housing prices for many Canadians. The government is committed to ensuring that foreign, non-resident owners, who simply use Canada as a place to passively store their wealth in housing, pay their fair share.” According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) Canada home prices have risen 88.3% in the last decade and were up 10.9% in October compared with the previous year.