4 ms·

Interesting point on the Vancouver angle: Q: In Canada, where does the money end up and why? A: Vancouver is the preferred destination, by far, b

by kspaans 10y ago

Interesting point on the Vancouver angle: Q: In Canada, where does the money end up and why? A: Vancouver is the preferred destination, by far, because of perceived more relaxed anti-money laundering on-boarding compliance and more importantly, easier access to better schools and lifestyle for children of Chinese foreign nationals.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
What's the source of their Vancouver assertion?
- raquo 10y ago
  Don't know their source, but I can confirm that relevant Canadian laws are wide open for abuse due to both being toothless and because of near zero enforcement, at both federal and provincial (BC) levels. You can google how CRA actively avoided auditing foreign buyers "for fear of racism allegations" (yeah right) or how people bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper bills on themselves and their children, paying only $2.5K if caught (cheaper than Western Union!). Or the latest Vancouver 15% foreign investor tax designed to appease the population, but wholly ineffective because it relies on self reporting which no one ever checks and allows for other obvious loopholes. Much better proposals were ignored in favour of this purposely flawed one. It's amazingly fucked up, I'm surprised Canadians are taking it so willingly.
  - aianus 10y ago
    > It's amazingly fucked up, I'm surprised Canadians are taking it so willingly. Nothing surprising about it, ~69% of Canadian households (and a much higher percentage of voters!) are homeowners and directly benefit from this influx of capital.
    - raquo 10y ago
      That home ownership rate includes everyone who lives in a dwelling owned by their family, so it includes the youth who lives with their parents because they can't afford to move out. Besides, all the home owners I know are not happy about constantly increasing prices either. Many of them think it's unfair, many don't like the foreign inflation aspect, and even pragmatically speaking it's harder to jump to owning a bigger dwelling now. So I don't know why this is going on, but it's not because most people want higher housing prices.

by kspaans 10y ago

JumpCrisscross 10y ago

What's the source of their Vancouver assertion?

raquo 10y ago
Don't know their source, but I can confirm that relevant Canadian laws are wide open for abuse due to both being toothless and because of near zero enforcement, at both federal and provincial (BC) levels. You can google how CRA actively avoided auditing foreign buyers "for fear of racism allegations" (yeah right) or how people bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper bills on themselves and their children, paying only $2.5K if caught (cheaper than Western Union!). Or the latest Vancouver 15% foreign investor tax designed to appease the population, but wholly ineffective because it relies on self reporting which no one ever checks and allows for other obvious loopholes. Much better proposals were ignored in favour of this purposely flawed one. It's amazingly fucked up, I'm surprised Canadians are taking it so willingly.
- aianus 10y ago
  > It's amazingly fucked up, I'm surprised Canadians are taking it so willingly. Nothing surprising about it, ~69% of Canadian households (and a much higher percentage of voters!) are homeowners and directly benefit from this influx of capital.
  - raquo 10y ago
    That home ownership rate includes everyone who lives in a dwelling owned by their family, so it includes the youth who lives with their parents because they can't afford to move out. Besides, all the home owners I know are not happy about constantly increasing prices either. Many of them think it's unfair, many don't like the foreign inflation aspect, and even pragmatically speaking it's harder to jump to owning a bigger dwelling now. So I don't know why this is going on, but it's not because most people want higher housing prices.