There’s no such thing as a demand issue. Canada should consider importing immigrants who can work in construction in addition to the billions of dirty Chinese money. Problem solved.
The demand isn't real. It's synthesized from unsustainable government policies.
Set interest rates to -100% - see what happens to housing demand.
Is that a supply problem? Should Canada build 800 trillion houses to fill the appetite for free government money that will eventually implode? Or is it a demand problem because your government is dumb?
Looking a bit online it feels like this might be a disproven theory https://financialpost.com/real-estate/busting-the-myth-of-ca...
Also just on a very fundamental level - outside of luxury housing, why wouldn’t investors rent out the houses they’re sitting on? Sure it’s nice to own an appreciating asset but isn’t it also nice to rent it for 10% of its value yearly?
Most investors aren't keeping their properties empty. The empty places are generally owned wealthy people as a second/third home, or as means for foreigners to offshore their wealth. And this accounts for a tiny fraction of the housing supply compared to domestic/corporate real estate investors.