M-71 Affordable housing strategy

That:

(a) the House recognize that,

(i) the right to housing is a fundamental human right as recognized under the National Housing Strategy Act and international human rights law,

(ii) homes should be first and foremost for people to live in, and not a commodity for institutional investors to trade,

(iii) the commodification of housing, including the rapid growth of institutional investors such as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and their holdings, has substantially contributed to unaffordability and has worsened the housing crisis,

(iv) REITs, which comprise some of Canada’s largest corporate landlords, have long received special tax treatment from the federal government,

(v) REITs are exempt from paying corporate income taxes by passing along their income to company investors,

(vi) the government is foregoing considerable revenue by allowing these tax exemptions,

(vii) REITs grew from owning zero rental suites in 1996, to nearly 200,000 in 2021, and financial firms hold between 20 to 30 per cent of the country’s purpose-built rental housing stock; and

(b) in the opinion of the House, the government should,

(i) immediately remove the tax exemptions for REITs and subject them to the standard corporate tax rate at 38 per cent,

(ii) use the revenue generated to invest in quality, affordable, and dignified non-profit and cooperative housing,

(iii) invoke antitrust laws to limit the agglomeration of housing units in a single community or neighbourhood by a single institutional investor.