Harper would up RRSP withdrawal limit for homebuyers

“A re-elected Conservative government will commit to collecting comprehensive data on the foreign non-resident purchase of Canadian real estate”.

Harper’s foray into the debate over foreign home ownership is something of a reversal of past Conservative positions on data collection.

If necessary, Mr Harper said the Conservative government will take action in coordination with the provinces to make sure foreign non-resident investment “supports the availability and affordability of homes for Canadians”. “You’ve got to have the subtlety to know if a local address is in fact standing in for what is a foreign capital purchase”.

This 11-week campaign allows parties to spend more than $50 million, which thanks to the campaign rebate system, will be subsidized by up to 50 per cent by taxpayers.

Harper additionally promised to boost the quantity first-time residence consumers can take out of their registered retirement financial savings plans for a down cost – 35-thousand from the present 25-thousand-dollar restrict.

Andy Yan, an urban planner with Bing Thom Architects, said the platform was well thought-out, but noted it should also consider the impact of newcomers who continue to live off fortunes earned overseas.

The announcement hones in on fears in Vancouver that foreign money – mostly from mainland China – is driving rapidly rising housing prices, fueling calls for government to track global buyers and impose restrictions.

After the numerous rumours and questioning of when the next federal election will be…it can all finally be put to rest as politicians are officially on the campaign trail. Kory Teneycke says the protest was a “representation of union leadership, not the workers”.

“There is another matter I hear a lot about, especially here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, that is Canadians struggling to afford a home”, Harper said at a press conference in Vancouver. “There’s no reason for them to go ahead given the corporation continues to make profits”, Palecek says.

Because of the closeness of the horse race, Canada’s CTV News – the most watched TV news in the country – said Sunday that it is an “almost certain bet it will be the most vicious, no-holds-barred campaign Canadians have ever witnessed”.

Maybe I am looking at history through rose-coloured glasses, but there was a time in country, pre-Harper’s vicious American-style partisanship, when people of good conscience could disagree on issues without questioning each others’ patriotism. “It is very surprising but I think it is a huge benefit for society to have that data and appropriate for the government to do it”, Pavlov said.

The Prime Minister complained that up to 15 per cent of condos in Vancouver sit empty.

“At the center of the Australian model is the principle that foreign investment in residential real estate should increase Australia’s housing stock”.

The bank’s latest monetary policy report also identified foreign investors among the groups fuelling the strong market in those regions.