"Canadian economy is almost entirely dependent on real estate"
This is a myth, real estate makes no contribution to (ironically) the Real Economy.
Think about it, if rents in London double, then the % of GDP in real estate doubles! Everyone's life has just gotten worse because they have to earn money elsewhere and pump it into real estate whether they like it or not.
The greater is your housing shortage, the more the people are suffering, the greater is the share of realestate in the economy.
It affects you negatively even if you own a house, you pay someone's rent every time you need a plumber or buy a coffee.
The housing shortage is a giant vampire squid sucking the first world dry. i am not a PhD economist, but institutional investors are definately contributing to the problem.