Source: VOA News —
VANCOUVER, CANADA —
With the dawn of 2023, the Canadian foreign buyers ban went into effect, banning non-Canadians from purchasing property, with several exceptions.
These include landed immigrants, workers on temporary visas, refugees and some international students, on properties valued at less than 500,000 Canadian dollars or in areas with a population of less than 10,000. This would include many resorts and vacation areas.
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted the ban in an effort to curb sky-high home prices, which were averaging almost 633,000 Canadian dollars, or 466,000 U.S. dollars, as of November and running much higher in the major cities.
The British Columbia provincial government had already implemented a foreign buyers tax of 20 percent, which covers major metropolitan areas. The province of Ontario has a similar tax of 25 percent.
