The federal government created a new Underused Housing Tax, (UHT) which was misrepresented as a foreign buyers tax. Like BC’s Speculation Tax, UHT will likely mostly apply to Canadians owning two or more properties. For example, in BC, newlyweds each owning a condo must pay thousands of dollars annually in Speculation Tax. They are not speculators, and perhaps trying to save for a larger home to raise a family. But the government sees this as another opportunity for a cash grab and tags them as speculators.
The federal and BC governments already receive billions of dollars annually taxing homes in Canada, and this does not include municipal taxes/fees on new housing creating big surpluses. The result is some of the highest housing costs in the world.
The erosion of both housing affordability & private property rights in Canada is alarming, especially considering senior levels of government would rather boost taxes than address the real issue of inadequate housing supply. This requires municipalities to create efficient rezonings and put a cap on permit fees. The BC government helped create the obstruction to housing supply and has now announced government will be building housing for the “middle class” – another intrusion into the private sector.
The myth promoted by politicians that the private sector has failed to provide housing supply and affordability ignores the reality that government is the source of the problem. Government already controls housing.
Municipalities, provincial and federal governments tell builders where and what to build (zoning); when to build (permit approvals); how to build (building code); and how much revenue they require from the project (GST, PTT, DCC’s, permit fees, amenity contributions).
The three levels of government are disconnected except for the common goal of treating housing as a cash machine by adding more taxes and fees to individual homeowners.
This adds to Canadians’ debt and erodes our privacy and private property rights.
Canadians can oppose these high costs and erosion of private property rights by contacting their MLA’s and MP’s. Otherwise, this path will continue leading to more individual debt and little private property – where all Canadians live in government housing.