Canada Eases Foreign Buyer Ban, Allocates C$45B for Housing

The carve-out for new-builds is the tell: Canada is trying to convert foreign capital into supply rather than demand, a distinction that matters for how other jurisdictions with similar restrictions may refine their own rules. The scale of the housing envelope, and the homelessness target embedded in it, signals that the policy is being judged on delivery rather than on deterrence. Whether the new-build exemption actually channels foreign money into construction — and whether the existing-home ban extension holds politically as housing affordability stays in focus — is the open question worth tracking.