The Decline of Vancouver.

"After completing her degree at the University of Saskatchewan last spring, Chinese student Jing Li decided to put down permanent roots in Canada.

Is it that easy to immigrate here? Come take a university spot away and then decide to stay? Ya ya I know they pay way more to go to school here.

Getting a degree from a Canadian University makes you eligible for a postgraduate work permit, valid for a maximum of 3 years. After this time, if you're working and can speak passable English or French, you're pretty much home and dry for residency requirements. This is what I did.

Whilst I agree with the notion that one should rent until one obtains residency, it does seem a bit harsh to put people in a situation where they either pay the tax, or forfeit the deposit. I think the fairest thing to do would be to allow them to back out of the deal and recoup the deposit. Trouble is then you'd be 'punishing Canadians' who then lost out on deals because they lost buyers etc.

Who 'scrapes together' $.5 Mil?

Crappy situation, but they are sensationalizing. I feel like there is a lot of info being omitted.

I still fail to comprehend why the government didn't allow any deals that were pending to be exempt from the tax. Anyone who had put down a deposit before the day the tax was announced should have been given an exemption so crappy situations like this wouldn't happen. Am I missing something as to why they decided to make it retroactive to people who put down deposits months before they had any plan to impose this tax (apart from the extra income they will gain from doing so)?

I still fail to comprehend why the government didn't allow any deals that were pending to be exempt from the tax. Anyone who had put down a deposit before the day the tax was announced should have been given an exemption so crappy situations like this wouldn't happen. Am I missing something as to why they decided to make it retroactive to people who put down deposits months before they had any plan to impose this tax (apart from the extra income they will gain from doing so)?

Yeah 100% - all of those people should be grandfathered. Seemed like this would have been an obvious thing for the government to do but surprisingly, they didn't. Perhaps they rushed it without fully thinking it through?

Who 'scrapes together' $.5 Mil?

She comes from a different culture where they CAN cobble together half a million

how do you think laundered money gets here? Some of it is chinese people giving other chinese people money, they just trust them … wouldn't happen in western culture

I think the BC gov blind sided the people who had deals on the go

.10x$560,000= $56,000 not half a million.

"Jing cobbled together a 10 per__ cent deposit on the $560,000 property by borrowing from her parents in China. She said they in turn borrowed money from friends and family."

The tax will affect the ability of BC companies to attract higher-paid skilled workers from overseas to BC … not ideal for them, but could mean a bonus for anyone local with in-demand work or management skillz.

Is it that easy to immigrate here? Come take a university spot away and then decide to stay? Ya ya I know they pay way more to go to school here.

So how is it taking away a spot? It's completely legal and done at all institutions in Canada.

.10x$560,000= $56,000 not half a million.

"Jing cobbled together a 10 per__ cent deposit on the $560,000 property by borrowing from her parents in China. She said they in turn borrowed money from friends and family."

Hey, stop being logical.

Average working Canadians have been getting priced out of the Lower Mainland for years. Now foreigners are in the same boat. What's the big deal? Where's the news story?

Wasn't this not supposed to be the case? She put a 10% deposit on a townhouse in July.

"waa waa i cant afford to live here now.."

hey welcome to what those of us who live and are citizens here have been saying for years…

:swearing:

just as a side note how the fuck does a single grad student qualify for a 600K mortgage ???

Hey, stop being logical.

ok

"waa waa i cant afford to live here now.."

hey welcome to what those of us who live and are citizens here have been saying for years…

:swearing:

just as a side note how the fuck does a single grad student qualify for a 600K mortgage ???

As an additional side note, if you read the article, it says she earned her masters degree last spring. She may be lucky enough to have a job that qualifies her for that mortgage. Its also well known that you can qualify for a mortgage that would make you fully house poor / one mortgage rate hike from default if you decide to use the full amount to purchase a house.

There are alternatives to the white picket fence dream of ownership.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/house-investment-wealth-1.3716641