The 15 per cent foreign buyer tax introduced by the provincial Liberals as a way to cool off British Columbia’s record-breaking housing market will soon be lifted for people who hold work permits and are paying taxes, according to Premier Christy Clark.
The announcement came during an impromptu reporters scrum before Sunday’s Lunar New Year Parade in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
“We believe the best and the brightest should be able to come to British Columbia, we’re going to lift the foreign owners tax on people who have work permits, who are paying taxes and living in B.C. as a way to encourage more people to come,” Clark said.
Clark added the legislation gives the provincial government the ability to change the foreign tax to exempt groups of people.
“We will be exempting workers who have work permits who are foreigners who want to buy a home but will be paying their taxes and living in British Columbia,” she continued.
The foreign buyer tax came into effect on Aug. 2, and only purchases on the treaty lands of the Tsawwassen First Nation were exempt from the tax.
While succeeding in cooling the housing market and decreasing foreign speculation, the tax drew criticism for preventing non-Canadians living and working in B.C. from being able to afford a home.
The province says more information regarding the decision will be released soon, with the exemptions going into effect fairly quickly.
