B.C. unveils ‘bold’ housing, child care plans, hikes employer, real estate taxes
VICTORIA — British Columbia moved to ease the province’s housing crisis Tuesday with a budget that introduces a new tax on property speculators, higher taxes on foreign homebuyers and plans to create 114,000 affordable housing units over the next decade.
Finance Minister Carole James said the tax measures are part of the government’s aim to improve housing affordability in markets where some seniors are forced to live in their vehicles and young professionals are refusing to take jobs in B.C. because they can’t find a place to live.
“We can’t fix the housing crisis overnight but we can act,” James said. “A budget is more than revenue and expenses. A budget is about people. It’s about the kind of communities we want and the kind of future we want.”
But the Opposition Liberals said the budget should raise warning signs about the sustainability of the government’s spending spree.