Mark Carney’s 'affordable housing' plan: Foreign investors buy while Canadians struggle to own?

Canada's newly sworn-in prime minister, Mark Carney, is considering a new affordable housing plan — but will it put Canadians first if adopted?

During a real estate report panel hosted by ConversationsLive, real estate mogul Bob Rennie said he's been in discussions with Carney about a plan to encourage investment in Canada's rental housing market.

According to Rennie, who is often referred to as Vancouver's 'Condo King,' he's been "working with Carney" on a rental scheme that would allow people, mostly foreign buyers, to purchase properties in Canada —but only if they agree to rent them out for 25 years.

The program would be facilitated by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the country's state-owned mortgage insurer, which would provide financial backing, potentially from taxpayers, to reduce investor risk and encourage more capital to flow into rental developments.

Rennie, whose realty firm is already partnering with the Aquilini Group, MST Development Corporation, and the Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations on a massive, lease-only "15-minute neighbourhood" project called kʷasən (Kwasen) Village in the heart of Burnaby, described his plans for Carney as a way to "show the world we are open for business."

However, critics of the proposal argue that attracting more foreign buyers into the market and prioritizing renting over homeownership have been key contributors to the country's housing affordability crisis in the first place.

As noted by an article by Better Dwelling, one of the risks the plan could pose to Canadians includes shifting the CMHC further away from its original mandate to help Canadians actually afford to own homes in their own country.

"This plan should create significant concerns around the issue of concentrating the country's economy and reinforcing the declining homeownership rate. It's also unlikely to build more or improve affordability due to increased competition for resources and credit," the article reads.

According to a 2022 CBC News article about why B.C. is the most unaffordable province for housing in the country, overseas buyers, especially those who previously purchased condos — including some Rennie likely profited from — increased demand while reducing the supply available to locals.

In January 2024, British Columbia introduced a speculation and vacancy tax of 0.5 percent for Canadians and 2 percent for foreign owners in an effort to address housing tied up by foreign owners, many of whom keep their homes vacant, in areas like metro Vancouver.

The primary argument for this plan from Prime Minister Carney and the Condo King is that it will help ease Canada's housing crunch by creating more rental units.

In reality, it could have the opposite effect.

Government-backed financing for foreign investors doesn't happen in a vacuum — it competes for resources with other parts of the economy, which could lead to higher borrowing costs for Canadians looking to secure their own mortgages, or businesses struggling to access capital.

Worse, the policy could risk driving up property values further, making homeownership an even more distant dream for many Canadians.

Drea Humphrey

B.C. Bureau Chief

Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.