Vancouver eases foreign home buyer tax to attract tech workers

Bloomberg

British Columbia will exempt some immigrants from a 15 percent home buyers tax in a bid to ensure the Canadian province attracts skilled workers and entrepreneurs. Foreign workers entering the country through a so-called Provincial Nominee Program won’t have to pay the real estate tax. The break will only apply to residents in the Vancouver area. “Our growing tech sector depends” on the program, Premier Christy Clark said in a statement Friday. “That’s why we’re removing barriers, so they can get to work, create jobs, and help build B.C.”
Vancouver, where workers need higher incomes to match the soaring cost of real estate, has sought to remodel itself from a 19th-century mining and lumber town into a high-tech hub for animation design, startups and financial services. When the province imposed the surprise foreign buyers tax last August, industry executives had warned it would make it harder for Vancouver to attract foreign talent.