SETH SCOTT
BRITISH COLUMBIA – The Association of Interior REALTORS® (AOIR), in partnership with the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), is renewing calls for the federal government to exempt several major ski resort communities in the province from 2022’s Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act (also known as the Foreign Buyer Ban).
Under current federal regulations, the Foreign Buyer Ban applies to areas designated by Statistics Canada as Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) or Census Agglomerations (CAs). In BC’s Interior, this classification captures nine communities and their surrounding regions. While the legislation aims to curb foreign speculation in major population centres, using CMA and CA boundaries as the determining factor has inadvertently swept up a number of geographically distinct areas.
Specifically, the Foreign Buyer Ban has caused unintentional economic difficulties for some ski communities. In already challenging market conditions, preventing foreign investment in tourism-focused areas is a needless hindrance. Yet despite federal awareness of this issue, the government has been slow to act.
“Another year has gone by and we’ve yet to see any action on this,” said AOIR Director of Government Relations and Communications Seth Scott. “The Interior has some of the province’s most important tourism regions and most popular ski hills. Homes on these mountains serve a different purpose than those in the centre of communities. With another ski season underway, now is the time for government to step up with an exemption and keep these areas economically viable in an already challenged economy.”
Currently, the Foreign Buyer Ban doesn’t encompass other large BC ski resort areas and municipalities, including Whistler and Big White, or other ski communities outside the province, such as Mont Tremblant.
“This is a matter of fairness and consistency,” said BCREA Senior VP of Government Relations, Marketing & Communications Trevor Hargreaves. “Including some ski resort areas and excluding others simply by chance really isn’t good policy making. Providing an exemption for all ski communities in BC is a simple fix and the right thing to do. This is an urgent issue, and it’s one that Canada’s Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Gregor Robertson, should get to work on fixing immediately.”
AOIR and BCREA are urging Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada as well as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to issue a regulatory exemption for Sun Peaks, Apex Mountain, SilverStar, and similar Interior ski resort areas as soon as possible.
Source: bcrea.bc.ca
