Who Let Them Flood Into the Market In the First Place?

When I lived in South Korea, every transaction - whether it was a flat, Internet usage or healthcare - had to go through my Korean employer. I was not a citizen and there was an unspoken yet widely -held belief that non-citizens would clear off without paying their bills (not always without foundation).


Canada does not feel as South Korea does even if it means that the average Canadian cannot afford an apartment or a house:

There are approximately 640,000 international students in Canada — over 50 per cent of them are Chinese and Indian nationals who make up a significant part of the rental market in Canada’s largest cities. In a typical summer season, tens of thousands of new foreign students, landed immigrants and non-permanent residents looking for work arrive in Canada, seeking some kind of housing, either to rent or buy.

But with international travel frozen, multiple realtors and housing experts the Financial Post spoke to over the course of the week say that the lack of the usual immigration and travel pattern is starting to have a noticeable impact on the housing markets of Toronto and Vancouver. In particular, vacancy rates are rising in downtown rental markets, pushing prices lower, while luxury homes that usually attract rich foreign investors are struggling to be sold leading to price drops or, in some cases, court-ordered sales.

Gee, maybe one should not have allowed non-citizens who have no real attachment to Canada beyond their own convenience to snatch up properties and drive up prices to begin with.