Residential REITs in Canada Lag as Trudeau Weighs Investor Curbs

Canadian apartment stocks have underperformed their peers for the past seven months, and investors now face a new risk: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to cool the scorching cost of housing.

Trudeau struck a power-sharing agreement this week with a left-leaning opposition party to secure his government’s hold on power until 2025. To get the deal, the prime minister made a long list of promises, including one to crack down on the “financialization of the housing market” by 2023.

That may mean changing the tax treatment of real estate investment trusts that own apartments. Trudeau’s Liberal Party promised to ...