A two-year ban on foreigners buying homes in Canada has come into effect. In a statement, the federal housing Minister Ahmed Hussen said, the ban is meant to discourage buyers from looking at homes as commodities instead of a place to live and grow a family.
The ban prohibits people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents from buying residential properties and imposes a fine of 10,000 Canadian Dollar on those who breach it. According to media reports, the ban aims to help ease one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world.
It said, as of this summer, the average home price in Canada is 568,000 dollars, which is more than 11 times high comparatively the median household average income.
Meanwhile, New Zealand also passed similar legislation banning foreign homebuyers in 2018 as the country grappled with its own housing affordability crisis.