by Global Risk Insights
Financial Sense
Despite a new 15% tax on foreign property buyers in Vancouver, Canada will continue to attract Chinese investment, especially in agribusiness and tourism.
On August 2nd, the provincial government of British Columbia introduced a 15% property transfer tax on foreign buyers in an effort to quell the red-hot housing market. The levy only applies to Metro Vancouver, which sees 75% of the province’s foreign investment. The majority of said investment comes from China, with foreign money overheating the sector and causing instability. Opponents of the new tax say it contravenes NAFTA agreements, as well as deals with China and 27 other nations. The BC government, in turn, maintains that it is within its rights to correct an overvalued sector that threatens local sustainability.