Shutting out some buyers is harming tourism-dependent areas, associations say
Real estate associations in British Columbia are pressing the federal government to exempt several major ski resort communities from Canada’s foreign buyer restrictions, citing ongoing economic challenges in tourism-dependent areas.
The Association of Interior REALTORS and the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) called for amendments to the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, commonly known as the Foreign Buyer Ban, which came into effect in 2022.
The legislation applies to areas designated by Statistics Canada as Census Metropolitan Areas or Census Agglomerations. In BC’s Interior, this classification includes nine communities and surrounding regions, encompassing ski destinations such as Sun Peaks, Apex Mountain, and Silverstar.
“Another year has gone by and we’ve yet to see any action on this,” said Seth Scott, director of government relations and communications for the Association of Interior REALTORS. “The Interior has some of the province’s most important tourism regions and most popular ski hills.”
Scott said homes in these mountain areas serve different purposes than typical residential properties in community centres. He stressed the need for government action during the current ski season to maintain economic viability in an already challenged economy.
The associations argue the current framework creates inconsistencies, noting that other major BC ski resorts, including Whistler and Big White, are exempt from the ban, as are ski communities outside the province, such as Mont Tremblant in Quebec.
“This is a matter of fairness and consistency,” said Trevor Hargreaves, senior vice-president of government relations, marketing, and communications for the BC Real Estate Association. “Including some ski resort areas and excluding others simply by chance really isn’t good policy making.”
Hargreaves called the exemption “a simple fix and the right thing to do,” urging immediate action from Canada’s minister of housing and infrastructure Gregor Robertson.
While the Foreign Buyer Ban aims to curb foreign speculation in major population centres, the associations contend that using Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomeration boundaries as determining factors has inadvertently swept up geographically distinct areas where foreign investment plays a different role.
The organizations are requesting that Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) issue regulatory exemptions for affected Interior ski resort areas as soon as possible.
