NDP Leader David Eby Friday (Oct. 4) pledged that his party would increase the speculation and vacancy tax.
Eby made the announcement in Vancouver where local NDP candidates Terry Yung, Brenda Bailey and Spencer Chandra Herbert joined him.
The speculation and vacancy tax aims to turn unused homes into rental properties. It currently sits at 0.5 per cent for Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are not members of a satellite family, and two per cent for foreign owners and satellite families.
Under Eby's pledge, the tax would rise to one per cent for residents of Canada, and three per cent for foreign owners, starting in 2025.
The tax currently applies to Greater Victoria, Metro Vancouver, and 12 municipalities on Vancouver Island, the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan, including Kelowna, where Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad will be campaigning Friday and Saturday. The tax will extend to 13 more municipalities in January 2025. Communities can also opt into the tax, which funds affordable housing projects.
The party had first announced its plans to increase the tax in its platform announced Thursday.
Eby said one per cent of British Columbians pay the tax, which he credited for creating 20,000 homes for people in Metro Vancouver alone. Eby's predecessor John Horgan had first introduced it in 2018.
When asked about the optics of raising taxes when the Conservative Party of B.C. has been accusing his party of making life less affordable, Eby framed the increase as taking a side.
"We are taking the side of the average British Columbians, who works hard, plays by the rules, deserves a decent home, deserves a reasonable income and then ends up at the end of the day a little bit further ahead than further behind," Eby said.
He also used the occasion to link Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad with Lululemon founder and local billionaire Chip Wilson. A sign reading 'Eby will tell you the Conservatives are 'Far Right' but neglects saying that the NDP is 'Communist' has recently appeared outside Wilson's Vancouver home in Eby's riding of Vancouver Point-Grey. Assessment figures show the home valued at $81.7 million.
"I understand that Chip Wilson feels I'm not on his side," Eby said. "I'm on the side of British Columbians, who are just trying to get by and John Rustad is on the side of the One Per Cent and a billionaire, who are literally putting signs on their properties to say that is the case."
Eby had first addressed the sign Thursday in Surrey, saying that higher taxes on Wilson's home has helped fund breakfast for school children.
Eby said Friday he hopes that the increase will encourage more people to rent out their vacant homes in anticipating a "limited amount" of new revenue from the increase. He also signalled that a future NDP government has no plans to extend the tax, but would always be willing to listen to municipalities who want it in their communities.
"We are always about cautious about recreational properties...so it is a bit of balance when you get into more rural and remote parts of the province. But this absolutely an issue in smaller communities and we are continually looking for ways that we can support those communities to make sure homes are there for people who live there."
The Conservative Party of B.C. has promised to review the speculation and vacancy tax while cutting other measures such changes to short-term rental legislation and increased density legislation.
The party has instead promised to speed up housing development by cutting regulation and offering British Columbians a tax deduction of up to $3,000 per month on their mortgage and rental payments by 2029 with the 'Rustad Rebate' set to kick in January 2026.
Rustad said Friday Eby has been blaming everybody else except his own government for the current housing crisis. He added that he does not want what he called "Soviet-style" housing in criticizing Eby for working against the private sector when it comes to the provision of housing.
Rustad also weighed in on Eby linking him with Wilson. "I don't disagree with him calling Eby a communist."
Ravi Kahlon, B.C. NDP candidate for Delta North and housing minister, questioned Rustad's promise to review the speculation tax. “John Rustad has opposed the Speculation Tax since 2018," he said in a statement. "Today two weeks before an election, he claimed he hasn't made up his mind. He doesn't want you to know he's planning to scrap it because it will help speculators and drive costs up for everyone else."
