Greens push to end ‘speculative’ sales of farmland to foreign buyers in B.C.
VICTORIA — The leader of the Green party in British Columbia wants to see the government ban foreigners from buying farmland in a bid to cool the province’s real estate market.
Housing prices in Metro Vancouver dipped temporarily after the previous Liberal government implemented a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers last summer.
But Green Leader Andrew Weaver said buyers quickly started looking elsewhere for investment properties, including farmland, where the levy doesn’t apply.
Many non-residents are buying land zoned for agricultural use but instead of farming, they’re building large homes and selling the property for inflated prices, he said.