Its really not a step in the right direction. Imo its even a bit into the wrong direction because they are opting to sidestep the vastly easier step that would actually solve this problem for good: updating the zoning to keep up with job growth. Blaming foreign investors for today's home prices is like blaming the boogyman, because its zoning that explains everything about today's home prices and its the zoning creating a supply crisis that attracts investors in the first place (foreign and domestic lest we think this investor problem poofs into thin air with this).
its zoning that explains everything about today's home prices
Not really. Vancouver, one of the worst places in Canada for foreign investment driving up prices, has been adding new high density housing as fast as it can for 20 years now. One of the primary constraints is the construction trade that can't keep up with demand.
Not enough of Vancouver is zoned for middle density housing. If you opened up the zoning for Vancouver, you'd see the construction trade in Vancouver expand and more middle density constructed throughout the city, instead of limited patches of high density that can only be constructed by a limited set of developers able to get financing for such a huge project.
Here is the zoning map of Vancouver, 80% of it is zoned for low density development and this is the root of the problem:
https://i.redd.it/xy30s6tayvo91.png
Update zoning? Humans are breeding creatures. Like all animals, they will reproduce to fill their available habitat and back pressure is needed to keep the population from strangling this planet.
No one looks up the zoning code before having kids. Zoning is also not related to the carrying capacity of an environment, usually its decided by busybodies who actively ignore the literature on the subject in favor of perpetuating a status quo.
My understanding is that it's been proven over and over, the world over, the way to slow population growth is to educate, especially women, and provide easy access to family planning / birth control.
