Immigrants penalized by a federal law that barred them from buying real estate will finally be able to purchase the home of their dreams as a Supreme Court ruling has ruled in their favour.
• Also read: Victims of federal law, a French family blocked from buying a home
• Also read: Home buying ban: Immigrants’ dream in the water because of Ottawa
“It’s hard to believe it’s true, that we really have the right to buy our house and lock it all up. We were very pessimistic, our world was collapsing,” says Charlotte Cance Beneito, a 36-year-old French immigrant who has lived in Quebec for almost three years, with relief.
With her husband Nathan Beneito and their two daughters, Lola and Emma, ages ten and eight, she planned to buy a house in the Capitale-Nationale. After finding their property, the two parents signed a purchase agreement on December 15 and were due to finalize the transaction at the notary on February 1.
But on Jan. 1, the enactment of the law banning the purchase of residential property by non-Canadians almost broke her family’s cocoon purchase.
This measure prevents foreigners who are not permanent residents from acquiring real estate in the country. According to the federal government, this should prevent real estate speculation by foreign investors, which is driving up house prices significantly, for at least two years.
Ready to leave it all behind
For her, this dream turned into a nightmare almost made her leave everything here and return to France.
“We were ready to give up and go back to France, but that’s where we’re going to stick,” explains Mr. Beneito.
But a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday changed everything. The Supreme Court concluded that the law ultimately does not apply to a purchase agreement signed after January 1, 2023 if the promise to purchase was signed before that deadline.
Luckily for the family, the seller had decided to wait out the verdict before canceling the promise to buy and turning to another buyer.
“We’re really lucky they agreed to wait,” the couple added.
RENÉ BAILLARGEON / QMI AGENCY
Desjardins prudent
And the Cance-Beneito family is far from alone in this situation. At Desjardins alone, a hundred buyers were affected by the new federal law.
As a result, the Quebec financial institution had suspended the funding of promises to buy from its customers who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents since late December.
In light of the verdict, Desjardins is currently reviewing its positioning. Even if it assesses the risk as “very low” that this judgment will be appealed and this decision reversed, the organization advises caution.
“At the end of the appeal period (30 days), if no appeal is made, the cases covered by a purchase promise validly signed before January 1, 2023 will therefore be excluded from the application of the law. These cases can therefore be settled thanks to this decision and our members can buy,” said spokeswoman Chantal Corbeil.
The lawyer Stéphane Chatigny, who specializes in real estate law, does not expect an appeal against this decision. He points out that the Trudeau government approved the decision and the defendants did not object to the conclusions sought in the trial.
“We believe there is a good chance that the Canadian government will change the law or regulations to provide clarification and align with the Supreme Court decision,” said Me Chatigny.
At the time of writing these lines, the federal government has not yet answered our questions.
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