Due to a new federal rule, this Quebec healthcare worker is unable to purchase a property.

 Although Laurie Carbonara claims that the province needs her labour, the new law may endanger her efforts to do so.

January 03, 2023

Since March 2022, Laurie Carbonara has resided in Quebec. She is in Canada on a temporary work visa, so she is unable to purchase a property there just now. CBC/Rowan Kennedy

Early in 2022, Laurie Carbonara relocated from France to Quebec with the intention of beginning a new life overseas, working in healthcare, and purchasing a property.

But she is unable to cross off the second item on her list due to a recent federal housing law.

They require our labour, she declared. "We are welcomed for labour but are not allowed on the site."

On January 1st, the new law went into force. Up until 2025, non-citizens are not allowed to purchase properties in Canada.

There are certain exceptions, such as Canadian citizens and permanent residents, a few foreign students, refugees, diplomats, and temporary employees who have filed their taxes in Canada for three out of the previous four years.

Since March, Carbonara has been able to work temporarily in the country. In Longueuil, Quebec, on the South Shore of Montreal, she was considering purchasing a home.

This law may damage our ability to remain here for a long time, she warned.

The exclusions the federal government proposed are acceptable, according to a statement from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

According to CMHC spokesperson Leonard Catling, "The lack of supply has made it difficult for many Canadians to find an affordable place to live in their communities, and speculative foreign investment in the housing market has exasperated this situation."

This interim ban is intended to prevent foreign investors from utilising houses as speculative investments instead of providing housing for Canadians.

At McGill University, David Wachsmuth holds the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance. He predicted a decline in the percentage of foreigners owning homes in Canada.

But, he said, "that share was already very, very low." The affordability of housing for Canadians won't likely be much impacted by this decision, in my opinion.

Since non-resident purchasers make up such a small portion of the real estate market and many will still be excluded, many real estate and housing policy specialists agree.

Brendon Ogmundson, the British Columbia Real Estate Association's head economist, asserts that this is more of a political than an economic approach.

The public as a whole has become increasingly convinced over the past several years that cheap loan rates and a scarcity of housing are what are really pushing up property prices, not foreign investors and their money.

The Quebec government reports that fewer than 1% of real estate transactions took place with overseas buyers in January of last year.

The federal Ministry of Housing and Diversity responded to CBC Montreal but said no one was available for an interview.

utilising records from Rowan Kennedy