The cost of living is going out of control. Prices of everything have increased greatly over the past several years, especially housing. The cost of buying a house in Canada has doubled since 2015 and the rates are still going up. How are Canadians who want to buy their first home supposed to do so unless they come from a family who has money? The average house is over $700,000, which means that the smallest down payment is $35,000. Many Canadians don’t even make that in a year, let alone being able to pay their bills and save up that $35k. Some Canadians are lucky and they live in areas where the local average house cost is less and others are not so fortunate and have to pay more.
​
What Canada needs to do is to stop all non-essential immigration and foreign ownership. With such a high demand for housing, it creates higher costs. We need to catch up on the backlogs we already have by building more houses, apartment buildings, etc. so that those who are already in Canada can find an affordable place to live. By significantly reducing the immigration to only those who are necessary (and immediate family only- spouse and children under 18) for Canada’s economy, we can lessen the increased demand for housing. Also, by eliminating people who live in other countries from purchasing, for example, a summer home, we will further reduce the demand on housing. Both of these strategies will ensure that construction companies can catch up with demand and ease up the pressure felt by homebuyers and renters.

​The cost of living in Canada is out of control. The cost of buying a house in Canada has doubled since 2015 and market prices are still going up. How are Canadians who want to buy their first home supposed to do so unless they come from a family who has money?
 
The average house in Canada is priced at $816,720, the smallest down payment for a mortgage would be $40,836 (5%). The average income of a Canadian is $55,700 (the median market income of Canadian families and unattached individuals), even if you earned this amount (double minimum wage for a full-time employee in Ontario) it would take several years to save that amount. Some Canadians are lucky, and they live in areas where the average price of a home is considered affordable.
 
Unfortunately, many of these areas have cheaper housing because they lack sufficient employment options or service infrastructure (transit, internet, etc.). If you want to live where the jobs are you are going to pay more – a lot more.
 
Canada needs to suspend all non-essential immigration and foreign ownership. A high demand for housing creates higher costs. We need several years to catch up on the backlogs we have created. This is achieved through the expedited approval of quality affordable home construction including the development of multi-family dwellings (row housing and apartment buildings). This increased construction effort will allow those who are already in Canada to, hopefully, find an affordable place to live.
 
By significantly reducing the immigration numbers to only economic immigrants (plus their immediate family, spouse and children under 18) we can lessen the current unsupported demand for housing. The proactive blocking of foreign ownership of Canadian property, for example the purchase of a seasonal vacation home, will further reduce the demand on housing. Expedited quality residential construction approval and a sensible reduction in immigration will ensure that development and construction companies are able to keep up with demand. A reduction in the housing shortage will ease the pressure felt by homebuyers and renters to pay exorbitant costs for housing and a cooling of market prices, to reasonable numbers, should occur.