b'HOUSING MARKETTHE TRICKYtions, interest rates is the number one thing we hear from our clients and part-ners. And it makes sense. If someone has a current mortgage of three-and-a-half per STATE OFcent and we\'re asking them to move and give that up for a mortgage thats five or six per cent, thats going to be amajor barrier. RELOCATIONInterest rates and housing affordability issues may dominate the mobility conver-sation, but they\'re not the only factors adding wrinkles to the traditional reloca-tion process. There is also the Prohibition HOUSING on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, which came into effect in January 2023 and was recently extended until 2026. It was created with the inten-tion of cooling inflating housing prices By Matthew Bradford and opening up more stock to Canadian residents by preventing non-Canadian Rising housing prices and restrictive lawsresidents from acquiring residential prop-erties, albeit with some important exemp-tions for students and those who hold a are adding to the challenges of movingwork visa. people on both sides of the border While this is a worthy goal in theory, corporate relocation service providers H ousing crunches and super- Some obstacles are more obvious thanargue that its led to unintended conse-quences for the corporate relocation heated real estate marketsothers. It\'s no secret, for example, thatcommunity. In some ways, the legislation aren\'t the only challengesCanada\'s current interest rates are makinghas very negatively impacted the industry facing employee mobilityit harder for organizations to absorb orto the point where it has killed some in North America today.justify the cost of facilitating an employee\'saspects of it," says Paul Kochberg, aRelocation professionals in Canadamove into a new home. Katie Garcia,lawyer with Fleischer and Kochberg and the U.S. are also contending withvice president of North America ServiceProfessional Corporation.interest rate uncertainties, restrictiveDelivery at Bristol Global Mobility, says legislation, and a housing sectorthis is often the first topic that comes upOstensibly, the act intends to address shakeup, all of which are addingwith clients: "If you\'re talking about what\'sCanada\'s difficult housing market by complexities of their own. making things tricky out there for reloca- curbing foreign investment in residential 16PERSPECTIVESSummer 2024'