Canada To Lift Ban On Foreign Buyers of New Homes For “Affordability”

Canada has one weird trick to help with housing affordability—sell the new homes you can’t afford to foreign buyers. That’s not a mistake; it’s the pitch in Canada’s Budget 2026, which will extend the foreign buyer ban until 2029. However, this time they plan to exempt foreign buyers to clear the stagnating inventory. Ottawa frames this as a win for affordability despite all evidence suggesting otherwise. Canada To Allow Foreign Buying of New Homes For “Affordability” Canada’s existing ban on foreign ownership is set to expire in just under two months. Despite quietly inserting exemptions in the ban just 86 days after the law took effect, policymakers say they’ll renew the policy. Sort of. “[Canada will] extend the ban on foreign purchases of existing residential properties for two years, to January 1, 2029, while exempting new residential properties,” reads Budget 2026. That’s right. Policymakers plan to reopen foreign buying of new homes, the segment that sparked the ban in the first place. The doublespeak doesn’t end there. “This would help protect housing affordability by keeping the vast majority of the market available for Canadians, while unlocking additional investment in n...