Calgary man on work permit says he feels 'forgotten' by foreign homebuyer ban, calls exemptions too limiting

As soon as he finished school, Thiago Aragao set out to make home ownership a reality for him and his wife.

Graduating with a two-year diploma in new media production and design from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, the 37-year-old Calgary resident of almost three years had a goal to save as much as he could to one day be in a position to buy a home for his family.

"We almost had a decision on a house. We were looking in December, a few different places, and we were planning to move this year because my rent will be ending," Aragao, who is originally from Brazil, told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Saturday.

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But with the federal government's ban on foreign homebuyers now in effect, Aragao feels he and many other qualified workers who planned to stay in Canada are now being "forgotten."

"For us, it's a matter of waiting and keep working until we become permanent residents," he said. "But that's something it's also taking very long to happen."

Canada's ban on foreign homebuyers, which came into effect on Jan. 1, bars individuals and commercial enterprises outside of Canada from buying residential property in the country.

The ban will remain in place for two years and its purpose, as described by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), is to "make homes more affordable" by cracking down on foreign investment.

Those found in violation of the ban, including anyone who knowingly helps a non-Canadian with a purchase, could be fined up to $10,000 and may be required to sell the purchased property.

Federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen said in a news release on Dec. 21, 2022: "Homes should not be commodities. Homes are meant to be lived in, a place where families can lay down roots, create memories and build a life together."

• Who's exempt from Canada's foreign homebuyers ban? Here's what you need to know

Under the regulations, international students, those on temporary work permits and refugee claimants can receive an exemption to the ban. But Aragao believes the exemption criteria for student and work permit holders is too limiting.

The foreign homebuyer rules say work permit-holders like Aragao must have worked full-time and filed income tax returns for at least three years out of the last four years.

But given that working hours for international students had previously been restricted to 20 hours a week, Aragao and other recent graduates who are on work permits would not have been able to meet the three-year full-time work requirement.

In order for international students to qualify for an exemption, they must have filed income tax returns for five years before a purchase is made and be physically in Canada for at least 244 days in each of those years. The purchase price for a property also can't exceed $500,000.

Unless a student goes to obtain a four-year degree and then pursues a master's degree, Aragao doesn't see how most people could be a student for five years or longer and still qualify for the foreign homebuyer exemption.

"The thing is, it doesn't make sense," Aragao said. "So I came here, I studied for two years in a public institution and there's no way I could have been filing for five years.”

"So I'm just feeling that those two exemptions are very hard to meet the minimum requirements," he added.

Housing supply and affordability continue to be major roadblocks for anyone looking to buy a home in Canada, with prices rising during much of the COVID-19 pandemic before falling slightly as interest rates have risen.

While the hope is that limiting foreign investment could open up supply, a CMHC report from 2017 found foreign buyers owned a small percentage of all residential properties in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.

Diana Mok, an associate professor of real estate, finance and economics at Western University, wrote recently that non-residents, according to data from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program, only owned about two to six per cent of residential properties in 2020.

"The law is more of a political gesture than an effective tool," Mok wrote, although together with rising interest rates, the country's "red-hot housing market" will cool down in the short run.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) in November 2022 said it was concerned that the policy will "create obstacles for homeownership for newcomers and can interfere with Canada's ability to attract immigrants."

Canada welcomed a record number of immigrants — 431,645 — in 2022 and plans to bring in 465,000 new permanent residents this year.

"Even if a person is not a Canadian resident, they are still able to contribute to Canada's economy and communities," the BCREA said.

Aragao is close to finishing the first year of his three-year work permit and hopes to qualify for express entry to permanent residency.

While he and his wife plan to continue renting, Aragao said he wishes there was a process in place for people such as him to prove they aren't looking to buy a home just to make money.

"Sometimes, waiting is not a very easy thing to do when you're not too young," he said.

With files from CTVNews.ca Producer Jennifer Ferreira, CTV News Parliamentary Bureau Writer and Producer Spencer Van Dyk and The Canadian Press