The Canadian ban on foreign homebuyers has been amended to address some of the pitfalls of the legislation. Previously, the wording of the ban kept businesses with 3% foreign ownership or more from purchasing and developing land for residential and mixed use purposes. This held back home developers that were partly owned by non-Canadians. The amendments increased the corporate foreign control threshold to 10%, and it also allowed non-Canadians to buy vacant land, and to buy residential property for housing development.
The limiting of foreign investor activity among residential properties was predicted by some to create new buying opportunities for Canadians. Real estate experts have differing opinions on the regulations regarding the impact they’ll have on the Canadian housing market. A record number of Canadians are skeptical they will be able to afford a home if they don’t already own one.
