I don't know if it should be federally or locally, but it is the vehicle to prevent it. British Columbia has an annual 1% property tax on the value of a 2nd home for Canadians and it's 3% if you aren't a citizen. There is also an additional 3% tax on top of that if the property is vacant more than X days a year. Prior to that, the entire housing stock in Vancouver was being eaten up by rich Chinese looking to park money overseas. It hasn't totally eliminated that, but has drastically curtailed it now that the Chinese owners have to pay the regular property tax, another 3% as a non citizen owner, and in some cases another 3% on top of the others because they have the home sitting vacant.

As for the AirBnBs....you are correct again. That is proably another 5+% of our single family housing stock that is tied up....especially in tourist locations. That is absolutely a fixable issue for the local municipalities...just limit the number of licenses to do so and charge an exorbitant city tax to make it not worthwhile.