Ontario raising foreign homebuyer tax to 25 per cent

TORONTO — Ontario has announced it is raising the non-resident speculation tax on homes purchased by foreign nationals from 20 per cent to 25 per cent, effective Tuesday.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says the move makes Ontario’s tax rate the highest in Canada and seeks to discourage foreign speculation.

The Progressive Conservative government previously increased the non-resident speculation tax from 15 per cent to 20 in March, and expanded it to cover the whole province, instead of just the Greater Golden Horseshoe area of southern Ontario.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark is also set to introduce a piece of housing legislation Tuesday, as the government sets out to hit a target of 1.5 million homes being built in 10 years.

Clark says in a statement that raising the tax is another step toward ending Ontario’s housing crisis.

The government’s previous housing bill was one to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa so-called strong mayor powers, that would allow the heads of those cities to veto council votes that conflict with building housing.

Ontario’s budget this year showed that the non-resident speculation tax was projected to bring in $175 million in this fiscal year.