NDP calls for permanent ban on purchase of homes in Canada by foreign buyers

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As New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh called for Canada’s temporary ban on foreign homebuyers to become permanent, a local NDP candidate said a permanent ban on foreign buyers may be particularly relevant to Montreal’s housing crisis.

In January 2023, in an effort to cool the residential housing market, the federal government brought in the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, commonly called the “foreign buyer ban.” That act brought in temporary restrictions on the sale of residential property to non-Canadians in certain metropolitan areas, including Montreal. It was initially set to expire at the end of 2024, but last year the federal government extended it until Jan. 1, 2027.

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While campaigning in Vancouver on Tuesday, Singh announced an NDP government would make the ban permanent.

“Homes should be for people to live in — not for investors to flip,” Singh said. “With Trump’s tariffs driving up costs, they see another chance to squeeze people. We won’t let them use a crisis to take over our housing system — again.”

A permanent foreign buyers ban would close existing loopholes, barring purchases by numbered companies or corporate proxies, Singh said, but would not apply to recreational properties like cottages or cabins.

The NDP would also expand a one-year flipping ban to five years, so that profits from residential properties sold within five years of purchase would be taxed as income, not capital gains — unless the home is a principal residence.

In Montreal, the NDP’s candidate in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun said the NDP proposal is particularly important for those concerned about housing affordability here.

Craig Sauvé said voters at two out of three doors he knocks on say housing is a “fundamental” issue in this election.

He noted that other provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario, took action to restrict foreign buyers even before the federal government did. Despite requests to do so from the city of Montreal, Quebec’s government has not.

“This issue could leapfrog from province to province as foreign speculators might try to seek refuge for their money in housing or real estate in any other province that doesn’t enact a policy like B.C. and Ontario did,” Sauvé said.

If the federal ban expires in 2027, Sauvé is concerned that foreign buyers might look to buy up properties in Quebec, and particularly Montreal.

“Quebec is one of largest provinces and has a lot of real estate, a lot of wealth, so it is a place where speculators could bank money that they are not allowed to bank in their own countries for whatever reasons. So we need to close those loopholes to protect those provinces that don’t have legislators that will act on the issue.”