The majority of Canadian residents are calling for a surtax on homes valued above $1 million amid high housing costs, according to a Generation Squeeze survey.

A survey released on Monday found 62 per cent of respondents would support a “modest surtax” on homes valued above $1 million, which makes up 10 per cent of Canada’s housing market.

Of those currently living in million-dollar homes, 57 per cent said they would be in favour “putting a modest price on housing inequity.”

In a report released Tuesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association said the average home price in Canada fell to $756,200 in October, down 1.2 per cent from the previous month.

 

$5B IN REVENUE

 

If this tax measure were to be implemented, it would raise approximately $5 billion per year in revenue.

Many poll respondents said their support for the tax would increase if the additional funds paid for income tax cuts for the middle- and lower-earners (43 per cent), paid for more affordable housing (40 per cent) or helped slow home price increases (38 per cent).                                                           

Support for the surtax was highest in Atlantic Canada (73 per cent), followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba (72 per cent), and Alberta (68 per cent).

But the report said home prices in these regions are typically “below the national average, and relatively few households own million-dollar homes.”

In British Columbia and Ontario where around 25 per cent of households own $1 million homes, only one in two respondents were in favour of the proposed levy.

Methodology:

This data was collected by Research Co. for Generation Squeeze. The poll was conducted among 1,010 Canadian adults, and the margin of error for the results is +/- 3.1  per cent age points, 19 times out of 20.