3 ms·

> only about 2% of properties in Toronto and Vancouver are owned by overseas investors. Yes, housing is priced at the margin, but this won't do anything at all

> only about 2% of properties in Toronto and Vancouver are owned by overseas investors. Yes, housing is priced at the margin, but this won't do anything at all to prices over the long term. I'm sure this will be wildly popular politically, because people LOVE the idea that some foreign boogieman is the reason their children can't afford homes anymore. Overseas investors may own only 2%, but Canada has 23% foreign-born population. That's a lot of demand. Granted this law does nothing to address that, but it plays perfectly into the foreign boogieman you dismiss. Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/dai/btd/othervisuals/other006 https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/dai/btd/othervisuals/other006

eldaisfish 5y ago
this is textbook xenophobia and you should be ashamed. Implying that the foreign born population in Canada are somehow less canadian or more foreign is not what anyone should be saying.
- car_analogy 5y ago
  Yes yes xenophobia - but is it true? Did Canada's past immigration policy contribute to current home prices? And more importantly - will the current immigration policy contribute to future high prices? If the goal is affordable housing, why is immigration the one policy that must not be adjusted to meet that goal?
  - FredPret 5y ago
    Whether those new Canadians arrived by birth or immigration, they are here now. We should build enough houses for them. If Canada cut it’s immigration targets, it would have to somehow produce a lot more babies to pay for everything. More houses needed either way.
    - car_analogy 5y ago
      Population cannot grow without limit, no matter what "everything" Canadians have to pay for. Sooner or later, we will have to learn to live with a stable population. Many industrialized countries have already done so - Japan, China, South Korea, eastern Europe.. By any sane environmental standard, there is already too many of us*, so sooner would be better. *Yes, if we changed our lifestyles to reduce consumption, we could fit more people in - but until we do so, we should stop adding to the population.
  - wnolens 5y ago
    Downvotes? It's a major component of the supply side of the equation, and one which is controlled by policies. And it's not like you proposed "close borders completely!" or "send people back". There's a limit as it is. How is changing that limit going forward any more xenophobic than blocking foreign investors?
- didcot 5y ago
  "this is textbook xenophobia and you should be ashamed." Keep things civil, I dont want HN to evolve into reddit. car_analogy comment was benign, but honestly as a Canadian living abroad I am different than the other people I live around. I would not call myself X country adjective here (e.g. Swiss). That is not saying I'm not trying my best to integrate.
rory 5y ago
I don't know a ton about Canadian immigration, but while raw net immigration volume is likely important in pricing a relatively inelastic good like housing, I think the details of who the immigrants are is too often overlooked in this kind of conversation. In the US our largest immigrant group (Mexicans), and more recently Guatemalans and Salvadorans, are disproportionately the ones building new houses. Without them I have a hard time believing we'd be able to build the volume of houses we do. Does a parallel group exist in Canada? Are immigrants likely to work in construction?
- liketochill 5y ago
  I can tell you that people with heritage of India do the majority of the drywall work in Vancouver

eldaisfish 5y ago

this is textbook xenophobia and you should be ashamed. Implying that the foreign born population in Canada are somehow less canadian or more foreign is not what anyone should be saying.

car_analogy 5y ago
Yes yes xenophobia - but is it true? Did Canada's past immigration policy contribute to current home prices? And more importantly - will the current immigration policy contribute to future high prices? If the goal is affordable housing, why is immigration the one policy that must not be adjusted to meet that goal?
- FredPret 5y ago
  Whether those new Canadians arrived by birth or immigration, they are here now. We should build enough houses for them. If Canada cut it’s immigration targets, it would have to somehow produce a lot more babies to pay for everything. More houses needed either way.
  - car_analogy 5y ago
    Population cannot grow without limit, no matter what "everything" Canadians have to pay for. Sooner or later, we will have to learn to live with a stable population. Many industrialized countries have already done so - Japan, China, South Korea, eastern Europe.. By any sane environmental standard, there is already too many of us*, so sooner would be better. *Yes, if we changed our lifestyles to reduce consumption, we could fit more people in - but until we do so, we should stop adding to the population.
- wnolens 5y ago
  Downvotes? It's a major component of the supply side of the equation, and one which is controlled by policies. And it's not like you proposed "close borders completely!" or "send people back". There's a limit as it is. How is changing that limit going forward any more xenophobic than blocking foreign investors?
didcot 5y ago
"this is textbook xenophobia and you should be ashamed." Keep things civil, I dont want HN to evolve into reddit. car_analogy comment was benign, but honestly as a Canadian living abroad I am different than the other people I live around. I would not call myself X country adjective here (e.g. Swiss). That is not saying I'm not trying my best to integrate.

rory 5y ago

I don't know a ton about Canadian immigration, but while raw net immigration volume is likely important in pricing a relatively inelastic good like housing, I think the details of who the immigrants are is too often overlooked in this kind of conversation. In the US our largest immigrant group (Mexicans), and more recently Guatemalans and Salvadorans, are disproportionately the ones building new houses. Without them I have a hard time believing we'd be able to build the volume of houses we do. Does a parallel group exist in Canada? Are immigrants likely to work in construction?

liketochill 5y ago
I can tell you that people with heritage of India do the majority of the drywall work in Vancouver