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The Royal Bank of Canada quietly reported this month that housing costs in Metro Vancouver have reached “the worst affordability levels ever recorded anywhere in Canada.”

In this city of relatively tepid wages, the RBC says owning a home requires an “astounding 85 per cent of a typical household’s income.” That compares to 75 per cent in Toronto and roughly 42 per cent in Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa.

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Royal Bank CEO David McKay last month became the latest bank head to point to how foreign wealth is contributing to unaffordabiltyby “distorting” the country’s housing markets, by adding “gasoline” to them.

“We do not need foreign capital using Canadian real estate as a piggy bank.”

While numerous factors are behind the housing crisis, vested interests have attempted to craft a narrative that counters McKay and other realists. They act as if it’s xenophobic to suggest foreign capital has anything substantial to do with unaffordability in Vancouver and other gateway cities.