The feds are 'juicing' a provincially and municipally controlled industry? Also, why 2010? What changed in that year?
I wouldn't get hung up on any one year, or any one policy; but yes, very clearly a series of Federal policies have been put in place to stimulate and sustain demand for housing in such a manner as to sustain, and perpetually raise prices.
This can be seen, in part, by the fact that housing prices have similarly spiked in other parts of the country, though outside of Vancouver, not quite as acutely.
Policies playing a role:
1) Vast increases in Temporary Foreign Workers (often exploited and under-paid in service / entry level jobs);
2) Vast increases in foreign students
3) Continued existence of REITs as a class of corporations
4) First time home-buyer incentives and credits, including special savings accounts.
5) Federally supported mortgage insurance through CMHC which incents the banks to make loans to those who would otherwise not qualify and who have insufficient downpayment.
6) Allowing people to 'borrow' from their RRSPs for the purpose of a down payment
7) Lowering the tax threshold for capital gains to 50% inclusion (obviously this goes back to the 90s, but its still in effect)
8) Quietly extending terms of amortization for mortgages to up to 40 years in order to prevent 'under water' mortgages from going into default and tanking the banks, CMHC and the market.
9) The decision in the first place to allow comparatively short and variable mortgages to a level few other countries in the OECD do. Most require 5-year or greater fixed-rate terms.
10) The interest rate question is a bit more complex, as international rates, particularly the U.S. rate has an effect on BoC choices, as a higher rate in Canada has the effect of increasing the value of the Canadian Dollar which impacts trade. That said, One cannot reasonably argue that near zero interest rates for an extended period is a well considered policy choice.
That is a fair bit of 'juice'