2018 B.C. Budget: Real Property Implications

The NDP government in B.C. handed down its first full budget on February 20, 2018 and there were a number of initiatives that will affect the cost of acquisition and disposition of real property in B.C. Most of these initiatives are described in the Government's 30-Point Plan for a Fairer Housing Market, which will not only affect residential property, but may have a broader effect on all real property in the province.

The government laid out the following initiatives that will affect real property transactions in B.C.:

1 TAXING SPECULATORS

Non-residents who do not pay income tax in B.C. will be subject to a speculator tax beginning in the fall of 2018. The tax is stated to be focused on residential property and will apply to those properties that are located in Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Capital Regional District, and Nanaimo, Kelowna and West Kelowna. Principal residences and long-term rental properties will be exempt. The rate of the tax calculated on