M-66 Housing crisis

That:

(a) the House recognize that,

(i) housing unaffordability is a national crisis affecting every part of Canada,

(ii) 1.8 million Canadian households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 800,000 of those households spend more than 50%,

(iii) an estimated 2.4 million Canadian households experienced core housing need in 2020,

(iv) the definition of affordable housing is out of date and out of touch with the economic realities faced by millions of Canadian individuals and families,

(v) Canadian real estate is being inflated due to the financialization and commodification of housing,

(vi) the inflation of the Canadian housing market is exacerbated by our market being used to launder money and as a tax haven for domestic and international investors,

(vii) corporations, numbered companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are investing billions of dollars into residential housing stock with the goal of extracting maximum profits,

(viii) REITs inflate the real estate market while benefiting from massive tax exemptions,

(ix) while some parts of Canada have rent controls and/or vacancy controls, there are no national standards to protect renters in Canada,

(x) some of Canada’s current policies for increasing housing stock amount to a transfer of tax dollars to private-for-profit entities, and do nothing to protect existing affordable housing stock; and

(b) in the opinion of the House, the government should,

(i) recognize housing unaffordability and homelessness as twin national crises,

(ii) re-define affordable housing using a better, updated formula,

(iii) remove tax exemptions for REITs, unless they are being used to protect affordable housing units,

(iv) do more to regulate foreign investment in residential real estate,

(v) require restrictive covenants on affordable housing units built with taxpayer subsidies to ensure that those housing units remain affordable,

(vi) create national standards to establish rent and vacancy controls,

(vii) create an empty home tax for foreign and corporate residential property owners that leave buildings and units vacant,

(viii) increase access to affordable properties for Canadians buying homes by regulating investors out of the market for residential real estate priced below median regional prices,

(ix) prioritize funding for non-profit and cooperative housing.