For decades, Canada had a product the world craved and was willing to pay exorbitant prices for. But rather than expand production to meet global demand, environmentalists and special interest groups blocked critical infrastructure, demonizing local proponents of these projects. Following political pressure, the federal government, along with progressive provinces like B.C., effectively banned them as exports. Eventually, private capital dried up, and government was forced to step in, taking over projects in the name of the national interest.

This isn’t just the story of Canada’s resource industry—it’s also the story of our real estate sector.

Back in 2016, billions of dollars in domestic and foreign investment flooded into Canada’s housing market, pushing up prices and creating an affordability crisis. But a crisis is also an opportunity. Having too much money coming into your economy is the ultimate “good problem” to have. Unfortunately, instead of liberalizing land-use policies in our major cities to create jobs and build critical infrastructure, our policymakers responded by banning foreign investment in real estate while........

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