441-02477 (Social affairs and equality)

Whereas:

• Housing unaffordability and homelessness are twin national crises;

• Financialization of housing inflates Canadian real estate prices;

• Inflation is exacerbated by the use of Canada's housing market to launder money and evade taxes;

• Corporations, numbered companies, and real estate investment trusts (REITS) are rapidly buying up affordable housing units and flipping them to market rate units;

• Some government policies designed to increase housing affordability transfer tax dollars to the private sector but do not protect existing affordable housing, or create new permanent affordable housing; and

• While some parts of Canada have rent and vacancy controls, there are no national standards to protect tenants.

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

• 1. Re-define affordable housing using an updated formula that better reflects the economic realities faced by millions of Canadians;

• 2. Create regulations to control excess profiteering by corporate investors and REITs;

• 3. Close tax evasion and money laundering loopholes and increase regulation of foreign investment in residential real estate;

• 4. Require restrictive covenants on affordable housing units built with taxpayer subsidies to ensure that those units remain affordable;

• 5. Create national standards to establish rent and vacancy controls;

• 6. Create an empty home tax for residential property owners who leave units vacant;

• 7. Encourage municipalities to create affordable housing zoning to decrease land speculation and lower barriers to development permits for affordable housing; and

• 8. Prioritize funding for non-profit and cooperative housing.