Most BC residents would ban foreigners from purchasing real estate, according to new poll

A recent poll in Vancouver, British Columbia finds that over three-in-four BC residents are on board with putting a regulation in place that would stop the majority of foreigners from having the ability to purchase Canadian real estate.

The online survey was conducted by Research Co. and found that 78 percent of BC residents support similar legislation to what is currently being implemented in New Zealand. The survey found that 15 percent are opposed to the idea and seven percent are undecided.

The legislation in New Zealand bans the majority of foreigners from buying its real estate. Exceptions include foreigners who possess residency status along with Australian and Singapore citizens as a result of free trade agreements.

Housing policies put in place by the current BC government are strongly supported throughout the province.

Nearly four out of five BC residents (79 percent) agree with an increase in foreign buyer tax from 15 to 20 percent as well as adding the foreign buyers tax to locations outside of Metro Vancouver.

“The notion of forbidding most foreigners from owning real estate in Canada is popular among all demographics in British Columbia,” says Research Co. President, Mario Canseco. “The groups that voice the highest level of support for this change are residents of Vancouver Island (88%) and those aged 35-to-54 (also 88%).”

Research Co. reports that “Similarly high proportions of British Columbians agree with the implementation of the ‘speculation tax’ in specific urban areas targeting foreign and domestic homeowners who pay little or no income tax in the province, and those who own second properties that are not long-term rentals (77%) and the introduction of a tax of 0.2% on the value of homes between $3 million and $4 million, and a tax rate of 0.4% on the portion of a home’s value that exceeds $4 million (76%).”

Throughout BC, 57 percent of residents believe the current provincial government’s actions will be an “effective” way to make housing more affordable—this shows an increase of eight points when compared to a poll conducted by Research Co. in 2019.

Over seven-in-ten BC residents (72 percent) also agree with the raising of property transfer tax from three to five percent on homes worth more than three million.

Over 7 in 10 BC Green Party voters (2017) expect the provincial  government’s actions to create more housing affordability. This belief is more prevalent among BC Liberal voters (81 percent) as well as the BC New Democratic party voters (87 percent).

Research co: Results are based on an online study conducted from June 13 to June 15, 2020, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.