Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday proposed a two-year ban on foreigners buying homes in Canada.
The measure came as the country is battling with the biggest housing affordability problem in the world, reports the BBC.
Prices have jumped more than 20%, with the average house costing over $650,000 – nearly nine times a household's income.
Fast-rising home prices - up 50.6% in two years - have become a political liability for politicians, as Canadians of all stripes struggle to find an affordable place to live, reports Reuters.
While foreigners represent a small overall segment of homebuyers in Canada, they can have an outsized impact on price escalation and are an easy target for politicians.
There is, however, a consensus among industry analysts that a ban on foreign buyers is unlikely to solve the problem.
“I don't think it's going to have a huge impact," said Ben Myers, president of an advisory firm Bullpenn Research & Consulting.
She said that foreigners accounted for just 1% of purchases in 2020, and 9% in 2015 and 2016.
"It's a fairly low number and let's face it, the people that really want to buy ... are going to find alternative ways to do it," she added.