We’ve all seen the news lately—the housing market is red hot. While many provinces are grappling with affordability, Ontario’s crisis is the worst in the country.

We need to consider what the purpose of taxation is to begin with. It is to fund government expenditure, not to micromanage supply and demand.

A recurring Canadian news story in recent years has been the falling affordability of housing. What are the solutions?

Depuis plus d’un an, le prix des propriétés a explosé au Québec. Cette flambée des prix s’explique par plusieurs facteurs, dont certaines mesures mises en place dans les dernières années par les différents paliers de gouvernement.

Montreal, June 23, 2021 – Rapidly rising prices for residential real estate in Canada, whether in Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver, has very tangible consequences for the middle class. In Vancouver, the average price of a detached house is now $1.7 million, and the average price across all home types is over a million dollars in Toronto. Meanwhile, potential buyers in Montreal are also faced with an overheated sector characterized by bidding wars. What explains this?

As a result of the shortage of affordable housing in Montreal, certain voices have been calling on the government to freeze rents.

The capital gains tax and its effects.

The capital gains tax and its effects.

The government of Ontario has recently announced new policies intended to cool off its real estate market, imposing a 15% tax on foreign home buyers like the one enacted in 2016 in British Columbia, and also extending its rent control regulations. In Montreal, the opposition is asking the City to follow the example set by these two provinces. Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitão has said he is not interested in interfering with the market, and with good reason: This is precisely the kind of policy that contributes to the problem.

The sorry fate of the native residents of Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario.