“Dear Prime Minister”: The Housing Crisis Letters That Reveal Everything Wrong With Canada’s Real Estate Debate
Aug 5, 2025
A Country Divided, One Letter at a Time
In late July 2025, two very different letters landed on the desk of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The first came from a group of developers like Westbank, Polygon, Cressey, Wesbild, Edgar, and Amacon—big names in B.C. real estate—urging Carney to rethink restrictions on foreign investment in housing. They painted a picture of stalled projects, rising costs, and investor fear, all supposedly caused by a tightening federal grip.
And yes, the developers’ letter to Prime Minister Carney was marked “confidential” despite being circulated as an “open letter” publicly. This contradiction is telling—it reveals how the industry carefully controls its messaging, aiming to influence policymakers behind closed doors while shaping public opinion as a unified front. Labeling the letter confidential suggests that the developers knew their demands and admissions about relying heavily on foreign capital might not sit well with the broader public or scrutiny, so they sought to limit wider access or backlash.
The second letter, signed by 27 urban planners, economists, and housing advocates, accused developers of rewriting history. Their message? The current housing crisis isn’t because of too much regulation or too little foreign capital. It’s because of decades of policy captured by the very people who wrote the first letter—full text of the letter here.
It was a polite war—academic, professional, and political. But don’t let the format fool you.
What these letters really show is how fractured Canada has become over housing. They expose the power struggles, the false narratives, and the inconvenient truths that no one with a vested interest wants to talk about.
This is more than a polite policy disagreement. This is a turf war over who gets to shape Canada’s housing future—and who gets blamed for its collapse.
The Developer Letter – A Plea for Profits
Who Signed It?
The first letter was backed by a coalition of developers and business associations, most notably:
The Urban Development Institute (UDI)
Prominent executives from Onni, Westbank, Bosa, and Concord Pacific
Representatives from commercial real estate and land acquisition firms
Its tone was measured but urgent. These were “concerned industry leaders” who claimed they supported housing affordability—as long as it didn’t interfere with the status quo.
Their demands?
Repeal or soften the Foreign Buyers Ban
End the Underused Housing Tax (UHT)
Reverse the anti-money laundering crackdown on beneficial ownership registries
In essence, the developers wanted Ottawa to reopen the floodgates—to roll back the few protections Canada had finally put in place after decades of foreign speculation, tax avoidance, and shady ownership.
Their Main Argument: “Without Foreign Money, Projects Die”
The core argument? Without foreign investment, housing projects in Vancouver—and Canada more broadly—won’t get built. Construction financing, they claimed, increasingly relies on pre-sales to foreign buyers or offshore investors who help secure initial funding.
Their narrative went something like this:
“We aren’t the villains. We’re job creators. And if you keep scaring away international capital, you’ll end up with fewer homes, not more.”
It sounds reasonable—until you ask who those homes were being built for in the first place.
Because most Canadians can’t afford them. And haven’t been able to for years.
The Expert Letter – A Reality Check, Years Overdue
Who Signed This One?
The second letter read like a direct rebuttal. It came from 27 Metro Vancouver housing experts—urban planners, policy researchers, and non-profit housing advocates. Among them:
Andy Yan (SFU City Program)
Alex Hemingway (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Tom Davidoff (UBC’s Sauder School of Business)
And leaders from several housing affordability non-profits and community organizations
They didn’t mince words.
Their Message? “Developers Have Had the Microphone for 20 Years”
Instead of building for locals, the experts argued, developers have relied on foreign capital to maximize prices and minimize risk. That same financialization, they said, is what pushed homes out of reach for average Canadians.
“We have built more than ever,” one portion reads. “Yet prices have soared faster than incomes. Supply isn’t the issue. Who we build for is.”
They slammed the idea that removing taxes or banning transparency would help affordability. On the contrary—they said Canada needed stronger restrictions, more non-profit and public development, and less dependency on foreign money.
And they were right.
What This Fight Really Reveals
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about two letters. This is about two completely different visions for how housing should work in Canada.
On one side, developers argue that housing is a commodity—something that needs foreign investment to be viable.
On the other, experts argue that housing should be infrastructure—a public good, not a hedge fund strategy.
Here’s the core of the conflict:
Developers’ View | Experts’ View |
We need foreign capital to build | Foreign capital distorts markets |
Taxes are scaring off investment | These taxes are long overdue |
Transparency hurts competitiveness | Transparency protects Canadians |
We're solving the housing crisis | You helped cause it |
This isn’t just a policy difference. It’s a battle over who gets to write the future—and rewrite the past.
Why the Developer Narrative Still Dominates
Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the developer side still dominates the headlines. Why?
Because the entire Canadian housing system has been built to cater to them.
1. Industry Access to Power
Developers regularly meet with municipal councils, lobby federal officials, and shape zoning laws. Public policy is often written with them in the room—sometimes literally.
2. Media Symbiosis
Many media outlets rely on developer advertising. Real estate developers are among the largest sponsors of local news, home shows, and real estate sections.
Stories criticizing them are rarely front-page material. Stories quoting them? Constant.
3. Public Confusion
Housing policy is complex. Most people don’t understand how pre-sales, shadow flipping, offshore trusts, or CMHC insurance schemes work. Developers use this confusion to frame themselves as victims of government overreach.
But the truth is simpler: They thrived under decades of underregulation.
Now that the rules are tightening, they want to undo them—by pretending to care about affordability.
What the Experts Get Right (And Why It Scares Developers)
The expert letter was unprecedented in its scope. For once, academics, planners, and economists spoke in a unified voice, naming the real problem:
Housing isn’t expensive because we aren’t building enough. It’s expensive because we’ve turned homes into global investment vehicles.
And they backed it up with data:
B.C. built more housing in the last five years than almost any other time in its history.
But prices and rents continued to climb far faster than supply could temper.
Foreign ownership rules were rarely enforced until 2023.
Transparency registries like the Land Owner Transparency Registry only launched recently—and are now under attack.
What scares developers isn’t regulation. It’s that someone is finally pulling back the curtain.
What These Letters Say About Ottawa
Both letters are addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, but the real message isn’t to him—it’s to Canadians watching this disaster unfold.
For years, government have played both sides:
They introduced taxes and foreign buyer bans that sounded tough.
But quietly watered them down, carved out exemptions, or failed to enforce them.
They promised housing was a human right.
But backed policies that incentivized demand and financialization.
Now, with interest rates crushing mortgage holders, and homebuilders stalling projects, the Liberals are looking for someone to blame.
Developers want to blame Ottawa. Experts want to blame developers—and the politicians who partnered with them.
What Happens Next
Here’s what’s likely to happen in the next 6–12 months:
Developers will ramp up pressure to scrap foreign ownership restrictions.
Banks and industry lobbyists will echo the need to “restore investor confidence.
The media will publish a wave of “concerned” op-eds about stalled construction and economic growth.
Meanwhile, actual affordability metrics won’t improve—because the root cause is still profit maximization.
The big question is whether Ottawa caves—again.
Or whether Canadians finally see the full picture.
Final Thoughts – A Battle for the Narrative
These letters might seem like bureaucratic posturing. They aren’t. They’re the front lines of a much bigger war over who gets to shape Canadian housing policy—and who gets left out.
On one side: developers, billionaires, REITs, and investment capital.
On the other: renters, first-time buyers, academics, and policy experts trying to salvage a collapsing system before it's too late.
The truth is this: We’ve been building homes for profit, not for people. And when that profit becomes uncertain, developers demand governments step in—to protect margins, not residents. Canada’s housing crisis won’t be solved by repealing taxes or lifting bans.
It’ll be solved when we stop mistaking developers for saviours—and start listening to the people who warned us long before the market cracked.
