Tax foreign buyers in Toronto says Oliver to avoid “Third World” density

Joe Oliver says Toronto will have to implement a tax on foreign buyers of residential real estate.

Writing in the Financial Post the former federal finance minister he says that he and his wife are intending to buy a condo in Toronto and his is concerned about affordability for all in the city if action is not taken to cool the market.

He admits that a new tax is not a “silver bullet” to affordability but that the tax would aim to moderate escalating prices.
Mr Oliver proposes some adjustments to the way the 15 per cent tax was introduced in Vancouver.

Firstly, he says that it should not apply retrospectively, which has caused some serious consequences for some buyers; he says that was “fundamentally unfair.”

Secondly, he says there should be no advance warning; it should be announced and be effective immediately.

Mr Oliver criticized the Ontario government’s plan to increase density with smaller condo units, saying that it would crowd families into small units in “a Third World approach.”







Source: http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/tax-foreign-buyers-in-toronto-says-oliver-to-avoid-third-world-density-214232.aspx