Since the effects of the cancelation of the Investor Immigrant Program on the housing market are still being measured today, it would be an overstatement to provide a definitive conclusion. Given the previous sources however. I believe that “scrapping the program” is not an effective measure in neutralizing soaring market prices for the following three reasons.
First, it has been nearly three years since the IIP has been cancelled. The still-functional investor program in Quebec had also restricted the number of intake in the recent years. Although these reforms on the investors programs signals an slowdown on the immigration route, the sources show that the movement of capital out of China is consistent. Although Canada is not the welcome destination of global capital that it used to be ten years ago, it still is preferred destination in comparison to other Western countries such as Australia and the UK. Reason being, that it is geographically closer than the other cities, and relatively less requirements by the government when moving over. Given this, there are more “Chinese push reasons” than “Vancouver pull” reasons for capital to make its way, regardless of the current immigration programs.
The second reason is that the investor programs only made up around 3% of the total number of immigrants coming to Canada each year. The investor program is only one of the alternatives of immigrations, and there are many cases in which young people enter the country as students, and then availing themselves of the post-graduation work permit that lead to permanent residence. Young people will good English skills have an abundant opportunity to land a job, thus achieving PR status. There is also much rumor surrounding the granting of citizenship by an “under-the-table” investment to the provincial government that starts at $1.6 million. Although we probe thoroughly as to whether if this is true, it still provides us with reasons to believe in loopholes within the immigration policy.