As the federal government considers a cap on foreign student visas to ease Canada’s housing crunch, at least one expert believes there are more cultural factors that need addressing before any headway can be made.

During this week’s federal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown, the housing minister suggested an openness to capping foreign students to address the affordable housing issues this country faces.

Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze and policy professor at the UBC School of Population Health,  told BNN Bloomberg Thursday that the federal government tends to blame housing issues on a single “easy villain.” Kershaw, who was part of a housing panel at the retreat, said previously the government has placed blame on  developers, red tape or homeowners, but that foreign students are now the “latest flavour of the month.” 

“(These students) play one small part, but the deeper, deeper reason that we have allowed home prices to leave earnings behind and lock a younger demographic out of secure housing … is because many Canadians, especially myself and older Canadians, we have become entangled with the idea that it helps us when home values go up,” he said in a television interview.

When home prices go up, the retirement nest egg for homeowners grows and homeowners can take out loans off the home value, meaning homeowners really stand to benefit from rising values, Kershaw explained.

“That cultural orientation is what really is harming a younger demographic, that is why I think we need to break our cultural addiction to rising home values,” he added.

Kershaw said housing has become a fraught political issue because the parties don’t want to push for home price declines and risk alienating the homeowners.

Kershaw added government needs to convince the older demographics that their home value is enough for them and their home value needs to peak.

“Your grandchild’s hard work is not paying off like it used to and housing’s at the epicentre of it,” he said.

While Kershaw admits non-profit housing for students is desperately needed, more must be done if the government is serious about addressing the issue.

“We’re not going to fix the housing system if we’re just going to pick that one piece,” he said.