By The Canadian Press:
TORONTO – Ontario plans to help cool a hot housing market by bringing in a 15-per-cent foreign buyer tax, expanding rent control, allowing Toronto to impose a tax on vacant homes and using surplus lands for affordable housing.
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Thursday that a non-resident speculation tax will be imposed on buyers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area – from the Niagara region to Peterborough, Ont.- who are not citizens, permanent residents or Canadian corporations. Once legislation passes, the tax would be effective retroactively to April 21.
The tax is not about targeting immigrants, Wynne said, and a rebate would be available to people who subsequently get citizenship or permanent resident status, as well as foreign nationals working in Ontario and international students.
“The non-resident speculation tax has nothing to do with new Canadians and people who want to make Ontario their home,” she said. “With this tax, we are targeting people who aren’t looking for a place to raise a family – they’re looking only for a quick profit or a safe place to park their money.”