“Foreign Investors” Aren’t Causing Canada’s Housing Crisis. Capitalism Is.
Ahead of the coming election, Canada’s main political parties are arguing that “foreign investors“ are causing a housing crisis. But the problem isn’t foreigners — it’s the commodification of housing.
Politicians are blaming the Canadian housing crisis on foreign investors.(Arthur Da Silva / Flickr)
Canada’s upcoming federal election, scheduled for September 20, will take place against a backdrop of public health as well as environmental crises. In addition to the thousands of deaths caused by the global pandemic, 569 people have died as a result of the heat waves that destroyed whole towns across the country this summer.
On their own, these events would be horrific. But the misery they have caused has been compounded by Canada’s unaffordable housing market. For nearly twenty-five years, the sector’s prices have risen, pricing out millions of working- and middle-class prospective renters and homeowners. Recent events have put into relief how insecure the housing market has made the lives of ordinary Canadians.
COVID-19 has not slowed the inflationary growth of Canada’s housing market. In fact, during the pandemic, home sales increased by an eye-popping 75 percent from 2019. Since 2020, average home prices have risen by 32 percent. Rents are headed in the same direction after a brief pandemic-related dip. Meanwhile, 81,000 applicants sit on the waiting list for subsidized housing in Toronto.
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