--- title: Why foreigners can’t buy Canadian homes - The Hustle description: Canada, in an effort to curb the housing shortage, is banning foreign investors from buying for two years. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1791726117-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-05T010416.672Z.webp --- # Why foreigners can’t buy Canadian homes ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: January 05, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 Canada has officially banned most foreigners from buying a home, and it all has to do with Canada’s wildly unaffordable housing market. ![Why foreigners can’t buy Canadian homes](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1791726117-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-05T010416.672Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1791726117-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-05T010416.672Z.webp) Housing prices were up **48% **in 2022 compared to 2013, and now average **~$568k** — over **11x** the median household income after taxes, [per](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64082923) the *BBC*. The ban, aimed to prevent investors from snapping up properties and driving up prices, prohibits non-citizens and non-permanent residents from buying residential properties for two years. Violators face a $7.4k fine. Exceptions include international students, refugees, and people buying vacation properties outside of urban areas. #### **Will that work?** Well, New Zealand [enacted](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/16/new-zealand-bans-most-foreigners-from-buying-homes.html) a similar ban in 2018, but inflation has led to a continued rise in prices. In Canada, detractors argue that foreigners account for less than [5%](https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/canada-ban-foreigners-buying-houses-two-years-justin-trudeau-11910942.html) of buyers, and the real issue is supply. Parliament member Jenny Kwan [told](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/realestate/canada-bans-foreign-buyers.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share) *The New York Times* that the government should target real estate investment trusts and for-profit real estate companies. And it has a bit, via anti-home-flipping and vacancy taxes. #### **Meanwhile, in the US…** … the fight rages against short-term rentals. - NYC’s [new law](https://www.businessinsider.com/thousands-nyc-airbnb-listings-threatened-short-term-rental-host-law-2022-12), which requires hosts to prove they live at the property, could wipe ~25% of local Airbnb listings. - Philly hosts [must now](https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/commercial/airbnb-short-term-rental-mark-squilla-20221229.html) obtain a “limited lodging operator license,” which ensures units are up to code, and a hotel license if they don’t live on-site. FWIW, research suggests short-term rentals *do* drive up housing costs, and experts have suggested these very methods as a possible solution, [per](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/does-airbnb-really-make-housing-more-expensive-these-researchers-say-they-found-an-answer-11612284049) *MarketWatch*. **For more:** An[ interesting article](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/us-housing-supply-shortage-crisis-2022/672240/) about “supply skepticism,” the belief that we actually don’t need to build more homes. Topics: [International](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/international) [Housing And Real Estate](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/housing-and-real-estate) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/457134246-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-tech_20231010211706.webp) ### The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so - ![Why tech workers are sleeping in expensive boxes](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1611893784-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-brownstone-pods_20231002232126.webp) ### Why tech workers are sleeping in expensive boxes - ![Apartments are getting built at a record clip — it’s too bad they aren’t the right kind](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/503692535-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Apt-Construction_20230910231429.webp) ### Apartments are getting built at a record clip — it’s too bad they aren’t the right kind - ![Will the Bay Area get a new city?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1030627733-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-houses_20230827234703.webp) ### Will the Bay Area get a new city? - ![Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1038385209-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-newspaper_20230823220232.webp) ### Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news - ![Looking for an edge in attracting talent? Give ’em a reasonable place to live](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1955417428-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-housing_20230816223900.webp) ### Looking for an edge in attracting talent? Give ’em a reasonable place to live - ![The answer to sky-high housing prices may also be sky-high](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/952662398-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-zombies_20230808231951.webp) ### The answer to sky-high housing prices may also be sky-high - ![Does your apartment come with junk fees?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1633744937-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-apartmentfees_20230719221212.webp) ### Does your apartment come with junk fees? - ![Can fewer stairs improve housing?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1511365989-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-stairs_20230613212905.webp) ### Can fewer stairs improve housing? - ![Neom’s got a trillion problems but $1T ain’t one](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1078135884-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Neom_20230601223946.webp) ### Neom’s got a trillion problems but $1T ain’t one Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2023-01-05T09:07:26.000Z", "headline" : "Why foreigners can’t buy Canadian homes", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1791726117-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-05T010416.672Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/01052023-canada-real-estate", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:38:13+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-01-05T09:07:26+0000", "headline" : "Why foreigners can’t buy Canadian homes", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1791726117-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-05T010416.672Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```