1003 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

I think that Camosun, UVic and Royal Roads are all somewhat sensitive about the number of foreign students they have and don't qant the perception that seats are being filled at the expense of Canadian students. Having said that, I noted that the only non-Government folks that attended Mayor Help's trip to China were from Camosun, Uvic and Royal Roads!

[Mike K.]

Whoa. Good point.

[Nparker]

...I noted that the only non-Government folks that attended Mayor Help's trip to China were from Camosun, Uvic and Royal Roads!

To be fair, these places are likely where Her Worseship has her greatest SJW support outside of council chambers.

[lanforod]

So two new things on this today:

"British Columbia will soon allow international citizens working and paying taxes in the province to bypass the 15-per-cent foreign home buyer’s tax in a bid to make the province more attractive to skilled professionals."

 

 

and

 

 "there is no plan to extend the tax beyond the 22 communities it currently affects and into Greater Victoria, which Canada’s housing agency recently singled out as an area experiencing a dangerous surge in home prices."

 

 

Source: http://www.theglobea...ticle33821689/ 

Edited by lanforod, 29 January 2017 - 08:45 PM.

[VicHockeyFan]

First Nation cutting down 21 acres of trees in UBC Pacific Park for condo development

 

 

http://dailyhive.com...k-f-development

 

Here we go, the First Nations have no qualms about making room for more Vancouver housing.

 

 

There will be dozens of buildings ranging between three and 18 storeys in height to include both townhouses and condominium units. When fully complete, the new neighbourhood will have 1,250 units – comprised of market rental, market residential, and below-market workforce residential units –  housing between 2,150 and 2,500 residents.

 

A 30,000-square-foot retail village with restaurants, coffee shops, small businesses, and a grocery store is planned for the northwest corner of the site at the intersection of University Boulevard and Toronto Road.

 

 

[LeoVictoria]

Good for them.   Forests are nice but we don't need acres of them in a city with a housing crisis like Vancouver has.

Edited by LeoVictoria, 21 February 2017 - 02:48 PM.

[nerka]

^ Pacific Spirit Park is amazing. Rules over anything we have in Victoria for size, accessibility and quality of trails.

 

If this was actual regional park being developed it would be hard for me to support, but once free title to this area was given to the Musqueam in 2008 it was only park in the sense that the band was OK with people using it until they figured out what to do with it. The actual development looks decent, though they should really be putting in more density IMO.

[VicHockeyFan]

In addition, Yan’s discovered more than eight per cent of the City of Vancouver’s households are either unoccupied or occupied by foreign residents, with the overall Metro Vancouver rate being more than six per cent.

 

 

The B.C. government boasted Monday it had lured far more foreign students per capita than anywhere else in Canada — 130,000 in total — claiming they inject $2 billion each year into the economy, creating 29,000 jobs.

 

“These students enhance our global perspectives and connections, and their presence helps lay the groundwork for a prosperous and economically diverse future for B.C.,” said Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson.

 

What Wilkinson didn’t say about the B.C. Jobs Plan, however, is it has virtually no strategy to house foreign students, whose numbers have been exceeding the government’s targets. The volume of foreign students has jumped by 44,000 in the past five years.

 

http://www.theprovin...7526/story.html

[spanky123]

^ These students pay 5x-10x the tuition that a resident does and Universities have come to rely on that money. If we gave a rat about global perspective then we would be recruiting students and allocating seats globally and not primarily just Asia. As Universities continue to bloat the risk is that they rely more and more on foreign students to pay the bills and the number of seats available for Canadian students continues to drop.

Edited by spanky123, 28 February 2017 - 09:17 AM.

[VicHockeyFan]

Alto flipped, and now the Victoria 15% foreign tax ask is not going ahead.  CFAX says the vote was 4-4, whatever that means.

[sebberry]

Alto was on CFAX a few days prior and hinted that she might not support it at council.

 

I'm glad saner heads prevailed. 

[UDeMan]

Foreign buyer tax is controlled by the Province so city council has no say, just like the property purchase tax.

 

Anyway, I believe there should be the same foreign buyer tax everywhere,. makes the playing field level.  

[Mike K.]

The more I listen to Alto opine on issues the more I like her. She's a great asset to our council.

[Nparker]

The more I listen to Alto opine on issues the more I like her...

She's certainly more reasoned and level-headed; but with the current CoV council that isn't saying much.

[Sparky]

This whole thing is a joke. What is happening now in Vancouver, is the foreign buyer gets his lawyer to incorporate a BC company. Lawyer is made a small shareholder and a director of said company.
Foreign buyer dumps a load of cash into the bank account and tells the lawyer to buy one or more particular properties.

No tax.

[Nparker]

Those with sufficient financial means can always find away around taxes.

[VicHockeyFan]

 

Empty homes must be tenanted by July 1st to avoid tax. CofV press release. LandlordBC here to help new landlords!

MARCH 9, 2017

The City of Vancouver is reminding homeowners that non-principal residences must be rented out for at least six months in 2017 or they will be subject to the newly-introduced Empty Homes Tax. This means that owners of empty and occasionally-used homes have less than four months left to find tenants for these properties.

If a residential property is not a principal residence and does not qualify for an exemption, it must be occupied by a tenant for at least six months of the year – in periods of 30 or more consecutive days – or be subject to a one per cent (1%) tax on its assessed value. Properties that have not yet been rented would therefore need to be occupied by a tenant no later than July 1, and remain occupied for the remainder of 2017 in order to be excluded from the tax.

https://www.landlord...-new-landlords/

[Sparky]

While many applauded the mayor and city councillors who voted in favour of this tax in the hope it would bring thousands of rental units to the market as promised, many others were not clapping. They included those who questioned the appropriateness and likely effectiveness of the tax, and thousands of homeowners whose principal residence is outside of Vancouver and who, for a variety of reasons, maintain a second home in the city.

[...]

 

http://vancouversun....onable-nor-fair

[Sparky]

An aside of sorts: in some jurisdictions when homes are left empty, owners can get a tax rebate because they’re not using services. How long before some wiseacre tries that in court?

[...]

 

https://www.biv.com/...-homes-tax-ful/

[VicHockeyFan]

I can see it now.  A homeowner living next door to a vacant house can phone up and tell that owner and say "rent to my Grandson Billy, or I'm turning you in".