International Trade committee  I do, as long as it's a three-month period of occupation by the owner and not used for commercial purposes. I still stand by that.

International Trade committee  I definitely think there could be some revisions to the legislation that would cover the concern expressed by the member who represents the Toronto riding. Probably it is a greater problem in those larger cities, including, I'm sure, Vancouver. It's a completely different dynamic along the border, as you've heard from Mr.

International Trade committee  It is, and I guess I would say that there is a connection here between these properties that are owned by the Americans, because if they go on the market and if they're purchased by Canadians for investment purposes, that in itself has an impact on the pricing, because investors will pay more for a house than a person who's going to live in it as their residence will.

International Trade committee  Well, I don't know what the situation is in Toronto, but if you have someone occupying the property for 90 days, then that means there are at least 90 days when they're utilizing it. What are they doing for the rest of the period of time? I don't know that.

International Trade committee  There's virtually no vacancy rate. We have a shortage of housing. We're approving the construction of new housing as quickly as possible. We've had record housing starts in the last seven or eight years, and we're still finding that we have a need for more housing—affordable housing in particular.

International Trade committee  We have, as I said, about 900 properties that are designated as being owned by American residents or citizens. We also have 250 properties that are licensed for short-term rentals, and a waiting list of about 100. Those are properties, typically, that have been taken out of the housing market and are being utilized for commercial purposes.

International Trade committee  We don't track the occupation of the homes owned by the Americans or the non-resident seasonal residents. We don't necessarily track the frequency of use of the short-term rental properties, but we know that they're mostly not occupied by the owners on any basis. There would be a handful that would be occupied by the owners, but most of them are commercial enterprises.

International Trade committee  I could probably get that breakdown. I would simply need to go to the addresses of these properties and figure out which ones are within the urban boundary and which ones are outside the urban boundary. I would say that the majority, though, would be within the urban boundary. There would still be a healthy number outside the urban boundary, but most of them would be within the urban boundary.

International Trade committee  For sure, I will.

International Trade committee  I was given no formal notification. I had heard that this was being contemplated by the government.

International Trade committee  I probably read something in a newspaper or something of that nature. It was certainly nothing of a formal nature.

International Trade committee  By the way, I corresponded with Minister Freeland on February 21, 2023. I haven't received a response. I do live in Canada.

International Trade committee  Yes, and that was based on the fact that the way it stands right now, as Ms. Wright has mentioned, there are American seasonal owners who, if they live within the urban boundary, are subject to the tax. If they live outside the urban boundary, and we have large areas that are outside our urban boundaries, they're not subject to the tax.

International Trade committee  I'm concerned about Fort Erie, but if you're talking about people who are taking property out of the housing market, you have to have some parameter. The example that I used was the American seasonal residents who are occupying the property. They're contributing to our community, as opposed to the investors, who are utilizing their properties for short-term rentals, a clearly commercial purpose within a residential area.

International Trade committee  I'm going to say I had some knowledge. I'm not going to say we were provided direct notification from the government. In the world I live in, we have to keep eye on these things, so we had some understanding that this was being contemplated. I actually discounted it. I really didn't think it would come to the American seasonal residences being taxed in this fashion.