Ottawa considering ‘options’ as foreign home buyer ban nears end: minister

Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government is “considering the options” on extending a ban on foreign ownership of Canadian residential property.

Champagne appeared non-committal when asked if Ottawa would extend the ban, which banned foreign investors from buying Canadian residential property and was first enacted in 2022.

The ban is scheduled to sunset in January 2027, just months after the expected tabling of the Liberals’ next budget.

“That’s a measure … that has been in place for some time. The market is evolving,” Champagne told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’re looking at all the options that we have in front of us, considering where the market is going, what has happened over the last few years, always keeping in mind that we want to make sure that we have a higher stock of housing opportunities for Canadians.”

The previous iteration of the Liberal government noted in 2024 that foreign investors have been buying up residential real estate, which Ottawa said was “increasing housing affordability concerns in cities across the country, particularly in major urban centres.”

The government at the time extended the ban, which was originally set to expire in January 2025, for an additional two years.