Speaking Out for You
With home ownership rates on the decline in Canada, and a federal election on the calendar, 2019 was time for bold action to eliminate barriers faced by young families and Millennials looking to buy their first home. As a result, OREA didn’t hold back from ensuring the issues facing Canadians were heard loud and clear by each of the political parties.
Our team urged each candidate to help bring the dream of home ownership within reach for thousands of Canadians in their Federal Election Platforms, by focusing on things like the stress test, 30-year amortization, money laundering and sale of federal land for housing.
In our ongoing efforts to advocate for aspiring home owners, our government relations team, including members of our Board of Directors, had over 100 meetings with MPPs and decision-makers at Queen’s Park to speak up about what matters to REALTORS® across Ontario.
Speaking out on issues:
OREA is committed to addressing the problem of money laundering in the Canadian housing market. One of the solutions that has been put on the table is the creation of a beneficial ownership registry. This would allow law enforcement, tax authorities, media and everyday citizens to search for properties of corrupt officials, their families or people they may know who are involved in money-laundering crimes, and better connect money from criminal acts overseas to property purchased in Canada.
Ontario REALTORS® have been fighting to get dirty money out of Canadian real estate and we were pleased to see growing momentum behind a beneficial registry among three political parties in the bid to be Prime Minister.
We continued to push the Federal Government to fix the one-size-fits-all mortgage stress test and make buying a home a reality for Canadians.
When the Travel Industry Council of Ontario started forcing real estate brokerages arranging short-term rentals to register as travel agents, OREA acted. This needless piece of red tape would cost REALTORS® thousands of dollars, by compelling them to take courses, pass exams and make substantial deposits with no benefit to consumers.
We worked directly with the provincial government, the Travel Council and RECO, to put an end to this unnecessary, double registration problem.
In The News
Federal Election
Federal parties need comprehensive housing strategies: OREA – Real Estate Professional
OREA urges government to change mortgage policies – REM Online
Money Laundering
HUDAK: Time to get dirty money out of Canadian housing market – Toronto Sun
Money laundering crackdown – NEWSTALK1010
Ownership registry to help stamp out money laundering in housing – MortgageBrokerNews.ca
Ontario realtors call for housing registry to help stop money laundering – LowestRates.ca
Mortgage Stress Test
OREA calls for longer-amortization mortgages, changes to stress tests – BNN Bloomberg
Ontario Real Estate Association calls on Ottawa for relaxed mortgage rules – CTV News
Tim’s op-ed published in The Financial Post (Apr 30, 2019).
Bank of Canada lowers rate used in mortgage stress test, making it easier to qualify – Global News
OREA calls on federal finance committee to relax mortgage rules – Financial Post
OREA renews call to loosen mortgage rules – WhichMortgage.ca
Ontario Real Estate Association calling for an end to ‘red tape’ around home ownership – Durham Radio News