Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

Comité permanent des ressources humaines, du développement des compétences, du développement social et de la condition des personnes handicapées

For immediate release

Ottawa, October 26, 2023 -

Renter households across Canada are facing increasing costs: the national average rent increase in 2022 for a two-bedroom apartment was 5.6%, double the average annual increase from 1990 to 2022. Increasing rental costs are resulting in more households living in unaffordable housing—that is, spending 30% or more of their gross income on shelter costs—with 33.2% of tenant households living in unaffordable housing in 2021.

Today, Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam), member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA), presented the Committee’s 12^th report in the House of Commons.

Entitled Financialization of Housing, the report follows a motion sponsored by Bonita Zarrillo (Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam) and adopted by the Committee on October 17th, 2022. The motion required that the Committee “undertake a study to examine the research reports on the financialization of housing released by the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate on September 8, 2022” and “examine the issue of financialization in the housing market, including corporate ownership of single family homes, rent gouging, and renovictions, and the impact of ‘real estate investment trusts’ on the rental housing market, including but not limited to increased rental rates and the loss of affordable housing units, as well as the tax treatment of real estate investment trusts.”

The Committee’s report summarizes oral and written testimony provided by a variety of witnesses, including the Federal Housing Advocate, industry representatives, advocates and academics. It makes 8 recommendations on key issues related to increasing the affordable housing supply, assessing tax treatment options of real estate investment trusts, implementing tax measures to incentivize investment in the construction of affordable rental housing, providing tenant supports, and strengthening reporting requirements for the beneficial ownership of property.

The Committee is composed of 12 members of Parliament. It is chaired by Robert Morrissey (Egmont) and its vice-chairs are Louise Chabot (Thérèse-De Blainville) and Tracy Gray (Kelowna—Lake Country). The other members are as follows: Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound—Muskoka); Chad Collins (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek); Michael Coteau (Don Valley East); Rosemarie Falk (Battlefords—Lloydminster); Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha); Peter Fragiskatos (London North Centre); Wayne Long (Saint John—Rothesay); Tony Van Bynen (Newmarket—Aurora) and Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam).