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Home tax for foreigners; Park board eyes pop-up pools

New 15% tax for foreigners who buy residential properties Foreigners who buy BC homes will have to pay a new 15 per cent tax starting Aug. 2 thanks to new legislation that the BC government introduced July 25.
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New 15% tax for foreigners who buy residential properties

Foreigners who buy BC homes will have to pay a new 15 per cent tax starting Aug. 2 thanks to new legislation that the BC government introduced July 25.

The measure comes after speculation that foreign money is to blame for surging Metro Vancouver home prices.

The tax is set to apply to the sale of all homes in Metro Vancouver except those on treaty lands of the Tsawwassen First Nation.

Those who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents will have to pay the tax. That includes corporations that are either not registered in Canada or are controlled by foreigners.

BC residents already pay a 1 per cent tax on the first $200,000 of their purchase, 2 per cent on the remaining value up to $2 million and 3 per cent on the portion above that.

The new measure would add $300,000 in new tax on a $2 million home.

“The data we started collecting earlier this summer is showing that foreign nationals invested more than $1 billion into BC property between June 10 and July 14, more than 86 per cent of it in the Lower Mainland,” said de Jong to explain the government’s rationale for the new tax. “While investment from outside Canada is only one factor driving price increases, it represents an additional source of pressure on a market struggling to build enough new homes to keep up. This additional tax on foreign purchases will help manage foreign demand while new homes are built to meet local needs.”

The new legislation also establishes a fund for market housing and rental initiatives, strengthens consumer protection, and gives the City of Vancouver the tools it requested to increase rental property supply.

–Glen Korstrom, Business in Vancouver

 

Pop-up pools on the way?

The Vancouver Park Board is looking at installing pop-up pools in areas of the city where residents don’t have easy access to beach or other aquatic facilities.

Pop-up pools are essentially shipping containers filled with water that can be built either above or below ground. Planning and building the pop-up pools is part of a larger, more long-term strategy called VanSplash, which aims to identify areas that lack aquatic infrastructure and determine ways to fill those gaps.

“We saw this as something that is a new, very early, very fast-to-deliver facility that could be part of an aquatic strategy once gaps are identified,” said Malcolm Bromley, the city’s general manager of parks and recreation. “We could have a temporary pool in an area while we’re getting our act together to plan for a permanent pool.”  

Park board manager of research and planning Dave Hutch noted the annual operating costs for a pop-up pool would be about $120,000, funds that would cover staffing and set-up and teardown costs. The pool would likely be in place for a five-year term, and the ideal location would be situated in an existing park or near a community centre. Connectivity to transit and bike routes, along with parking and how the pool operation would impact other park amenities, are also considerations.

Both staff and commissioners were careful not to attach a fixed date or location for a potential pop-up pool. Instead, they suggested the pool “could be” in place by next summer.

- John Kurucz, Vancouver Courier

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