User:Ottawahitech/Speculation tax in Canada

The Foreign Home Buyers tax (also called speculation tax) is a tax levied in Canada on foreign nationals who purchase real estate. British Columbia and Ontario have legislation that defines the criteria for imposition of this tax.

Two provinces in Canada have legislation that allows the provincial government to collect a speculation tax for purchases of real estate located in their province. The tax is levied through the Property Transfer Tax Act on foreign nationals purchasing property located in the province.

British Columbia was the first province to enact legislation targeting the purchase of houses by foreign nationals. The speculation tax was introduced in August 2, 2016. The tax was dubbed the Foreign home buyers' tax by the media. It was introduced as part of the Miscellaneous Statutes (Housing Priority Initiatives) Amendment Act, 2016, not to be confused with the Speculation and vacancy tax which was introduced at a later date and is an annual tax.

The tax was introduced after calls urging the British Columbia provincial government to intervene in the housing market and to curb foreign investment which was seen as a major contributor to the rapid rise in home prices. It was introduced with amendments to the Property Transfer Tax Act, imposing an additional w:Property Transfer Tax of 15% on all residential property purchased by foreign buyers, and was later increased to 20%.

In April 2017 the Government of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, announced plans to impose a 15 per cent Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) on non-Canadian citizens, non-permanent residents and non-Canadian corporations (with exceptions or rebates for refugees, qualifying students and certain people working in Ontario) buying residential properties containing one to six units in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH). see: w: Golden Horseshoe#Definition

In 2022 Ontario's government introduced legislation to increase the existing speculation tax to 20% of the purchase price see: More Homes for Everyone Act Bill 109 (w:More Homes for Everyone Act)

Quotes

(Order by date)

• I maintain that the primary approach to solving the housing problem in the Greater Vancouver area lies in the immediate reduction and future control of immigration
• We can and should control that proportion of our population pressure that is represented by the influx of foreigners and future control of immigration
  • Vancouver Mayor Art Phillips Douglas Todd: Vancouver's housing crisis four decades in the making (1976)

• Are we in fact merely trying to create new housing, as well as new employment opportunities, just to keep pace with the yearly average of 200,000 immigrants that Canada is admitting every year? Perhaps we should seriously consider whether we can continue to admit so many immigrants. Further, maybe we should make it less desirable for people to migrate to Vancouver from other areas of Canada by making it more attractive for them to remain where they are.
  • w:Mike Harcourt Douglas Todd: Vancouver's housing crisis four decades in the making (sometime between 1980 to 1986)

• Foreign investors, many speculatively, are driving up home prices beyond the reach of British Columbians. These people paid no tax and most have never paid a B.C. tax of any kind
• These welcome newcomers should also contribute to the needs of the province, and this should be done through some sort of ‘property transfer tax'
  • w:Vander Zalm Douglas Todd: Vancouver's housing crisis four decades in the making (sometime between 1986 to 1991)

• There is evidence now that suggests that very wealthy foreign buyers have raised the price, the overall price of housing for people in British Columbia,
  • w:Christy Clark, BC’s premier Vancouver slaps 15% tax on foreign house buyers in effort to cool market (2 Aug 2016)

• We are going to continue to monitor and make sure that as a fundamental core principle people can afford places to live, whether it be in great cities like Vancouver or in smaller communities across the country
• We are working very, very hard on a housing strategy that we hope to announce in the coming months that is going to directly address … places like Vancouver, where housing is out of reach for middle-class Canadians
  • Justin Trudeau Douglas Todd: Vancouver's housing crisis four decades in the making (~2016)

• [governments need to respond to how] international capital, a lot of it Chinese, [is flooding into Metro Vancouver, Toronto and other gateway immigration cities].
• Foreign capital regards housing like bricks of gold. It’s considered a safe investment. But it’s massively inflating the markets at the higher end. It’s also impacting other parts of the market, because local people who are professionals and reasonably higher income can’t afford single-family ownership
• [B.C. government’s 15-per-cent tax on foreign buyers, and the City of Vancouver’s one-per-cent tax on empty homes] are bringing down the overheated market in terms of international demand.
  • w:Mike Harcourt Douglas Todd: Vancouver's housing crisis four decades in the making (Dec 30, 2016 )

• Our government is working to increase supply and help keep costs low for Ontario families and homebuyers, not foreign speculators looking to turn a quick profit
  • Ontario Finance Minister w:Peter Bethlenfalvy Ford government boosts foreign homebuyer tax to 20%, applying it provincewide (March 29, 2022)

• "Our government is cracking down on bad actors and defending future homeowners from unethical and egregious practices, ensuring developers looking to make a quick buck will think twice before trying to take advantage of hard-working Ontarians," added Ross Romano, Minister of Government and Consumer Services. "These changes will not only improve access to housing but will also protect Ontarians making one of the biggest purchases of their lives – a new home."
  • Ontario announces “More Homes For Everyone” Act (March 30, 2022)