OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is banning foreign investors from buying homes in Canada for two years in a bid to cool off a hot housing market.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland took a number of measures to tamp down speculation and demand amid record home prices in announcing the federal budget for the year.
The government announced a two-year ban on foreign home buying as well as higher taxes for people who sell their home within a year, though both measures include multiple exceptions, including for permanent residents and foreign students.
The new budget will also include ways to help those trying to get into the market by making changes to the first-time homebuyers tax credit as well as a new savings account, the Associated Press reported.
The news outlet reported that in the last year, rental rates increased as well as home prices have soared by 20%.
