Canada province slaps tax on foreign buyers

OTTAWA: The Canadian province of British Columbia announced it will impose a 15 percent tax on foreigners who buy residential property in Vancouver, a city with a housing shortage and soaring real estate prices.

The tax— which will go into series of measures designed to rein in the area’s overheated housing of foreign buyers.

“Owning a home should be accessible to middle-class families, and those who are in a position suitable home,” British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said.

“These changes are about helping to make sure that British Columbians can continue to live, work and raise their families in our vibrant communities.”

The additional property transfer tax rate of 15 percent will apply

The Canadian province of British Columbia will impose a new tax on foreign buyers of residential property beginning Aug. 2, in part to curb an influx of outsiders—most from Asia— driving up real estate prices in the city of Vancouver. to both buyers who are foreign nationals and foreign-controlled corporations that register their residential purchases in Vancouver.

example, would be taxed an additional CAD 300,000 property, the tax would apply to the residential component.

According to data collected by the provin ce, foreign nationals spent CAD 1 billion ($600 million) on property in British Columbia between June 10 and July 14, 86 percent of it in the Vancouver area.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in June that an influx of capital from Asia is partially to blame for soaring housing prices in Vancouver and Toronto.

A Simon Fraser University study noted that homes in Vancouver valued at more than CAD 1 million rose from 19 to 91 percent this year.