Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I know that everyone on this committee has heard stories from their constituents about how housing has become unaffordable, that their rents continue to rise and that they worry about making ends meet. I know that everyone on this committee believes that Canadians deserve to know whether their landlords are illegally price-fixing.
There was an opportunity to address this weeks ago in this committee, but debate was adjourned by the Liberals and the Conservatives. I'll move a motion to resume that debate. It is my hope that the committee will vote quickly—hopefully unanimously—so that we can go back to the study and the witnesses that we have here today.
With that, I move that the committee proceed to resume debate on the motion I moved on September 19, which reads:
Given that,
while families are increasingly making hard choices about paying rent or keeping food on the table, corporate landlords have been contributing to rising rents in Canada by buying up previously affordable apartments and raising rents to increase profits for investors;
that one of Canada's largest corporate landlords, Dream Unlimited, has admitted to using AI software that the U.S. government has alleged allows landlords to illegally coordinate rent increases, and that the software is commonly used by as many as 13 companies in Canada with more than $5 billion in revenue;
that today the biggest real estate investment firms collectively own close to 20% of the purpose-built rental units in Canada, nearly 400,000 rental units, up from zero in the 1990s;
and that the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, also known as PSP Investments, has significant investments in multi-family housing in partnership with Starlight Investments,
pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities undertake a study of the role of financialized landlords on rising costs in Canada's rental market, including how the use of algorithmic pricing tools is contributing to rent increases and how pervasive this practice is across the Canadian rental market; and
that the committee invite the president of Dream Unlimited, Michael J. Cooper; CEO of Starlight Investments Daniel Drimmer; CEO of Boardwalk REIT Sam Kolias; CEO of Mainstreet Equity Bob Dhillon; CEO of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) Mark Kenney; president and CEO of PSP Investments Deborah K. Orida; and other experts and stakeholders;
that the committee hold a minimum of four meetings and report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that the government table a comprehensive response to the report.
People must know whether corporate landlords in Canada are using the same artificial intelligence software to manipulate rent prices that the United States is currently taking legal action on. There is no time to wait, Mr. Chair.
I've reshared with the clerk this motion in both official languages. I look forward to a very quick vote.
Thank you.