Foreign house investments banned in Prince George

Jan 5, 2023 | 4:16 PM

PRINCE GEORGE- The world of real estate brought in the new year with a bang.

The federal’s government’s two-year ban on non-Canadians purchasing homes in the country started on January 1. While the regulations sound intimidating, real estate experts believe the impact will be minimal across the province.

“If you look at the magnitude of foreign buying in B.C. for the past two years now or since the pandemic, Foreign investment in B.C real estate has been less than 0.5% of purchases,” said Brendon Ogmundson, the chief economist with the BCREA.

According to the government of Canada, the country is trying to attract over a million immigrants in the coming years, which leads to exemptions.

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“There are a lot of exemptions in this policy for students, for temporary foreign workers who are kind of committed to staying in Canada,” said Ogmundson.

Other exemptions include geographical restrictions, which means foreign investors can’t buy in metropolitan areas including Prince George.

“Prince George is large enough that we’ve got enough projects going in such as apartments, condos, subdivisions. We see a lot of commercial development,” said Bob Quinlan, a local realtor.

However, with these exemptions, the hope is that if foreign investors come to Prince George, they will be here to stay.

by Jack Clark

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Foreign house investments banned in Prince George

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