On August 18, 2022, MPP Bhutila Karpoche and MPP Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) re-introduced legislation to crack down on fraud in Ontario's housing market — one of many measures needed to rein in skyrocketing home prices. The Anti-Money Laundering in Housing Act would end the practice of numbered companies buying up swaths of homes while shielding themselves from transparency. The bill would require corporations, trusts, and partnerships that own real estate to disclose individual owners, with failure to comply resulting in fines of up to $100,000.
Between 2008 and 2018, privately-owned corporations in the GTA spent $28.4 billion on luxury residential homes and failed to include information on beneficial owners, according to a report by Transparency International Canada. A whopping $25 billion in residential mortgages are filed by unregistered lenders that aren't subject to money-laundering provisions.
The bill is supported by Transparency International Canada.
Add your name to join the call for Doug Ford to pass the Anti-Money Laundering in Housing Act!