[DeBraid]

Canada is widely known (internally and among allies) to be an easy place to launder money (relative to other similar countries).

> The U.S. Department of State has designated Canada a “major money laundering country” where foreign drug-trafficking gangs are exploiting weak law enforcement and soft laws.

via https://globalnews.ca/news/5102137/us-canada-major-money-lau...

> Tim Hudak, president of the Ontario Real Estate Association, said he was “very nervous” that Toronto’s housing market could see an influx of dirty cash as B.C. regulators crack down. “I’m very nervous that the Greater Toronto area will become the epicentre for dirty money in Western democracies,” Hudak told Global News. “For some reason, Canada still seems to be in a bit of the dark ages when it allows drug dealers to hide behind numbered companies and snap up real estate.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/6608644/canadian-real-estate-abys...

[bentlegen]

I just want to point out that Tim Hudak being “very nervous” doesn’t mean it’s happening, or that the impact is large. He does however suggest we can’t properly measure it; to me that means we’re equally in the dark about whether the impact is small or large.

I highlighted this in another comment: foreign ownership is banned in New Zealand but they are going through the same speculative asset bubble.

Interest rates are at record lows. Stocks and other assets are at record highs. People are buying and selling NFTs for millions of dollars. Canada and other governments have erected policies that solely benefit homeowners (e.g. no capital gains on appreciation of your principal residence). Why isn’t occam’s razor sufficient here?

I’m not saying money laundering or foreign ownership aren’t happening. I am saying that at best, it is one of a number of factors.