Foreign Ownership in Canada’s Housing Market Remains Low: CMHC Reports

The share of foreign ownership in condominium apartments remains low in major Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). This analysis is the result of combined insight from two Housing Market Insight reports released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation today.

National Report Highlights

• Foreign ownership of condominiums was highest in Vancouver and Toronto at 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively. However, both markets saw a decline in share of foreign ownership compared to last year.
• The 2016 shares in both Vancouver and Toronto were more in line with those in 2014. The relatively higher shares observed in 2015 were due to an unusually high proportion of foreign ownership in newly constructed condominiums that year relative to 2014 and 2016.
• Foreign ownership in Montréal remained relatively stable at 1.1%. Foreign ownership remains higher in Downtown Montréal and Nuns’ Island, at 4.3%.
• Outside of the above mentioned CMAs, the share of foreign owners ranged from a low of 0.2% in Saskatoon and Regina to a high of 1.2% in Halifax.
• Foreign ownership continues to be higher among newer and larger buildings in the central areas of Toronto and Vancouver. In Toronto, the share of foreign ownership rose to 3.9% in buildings completed since 2010 and in buildings with more than 500 units, it rose to 5.5%. In Vancouver, newer buildings saw a 5.0% share of foreign owners while buildings with more than 100 units reported 3.2% share of foreign owners.