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Sale of Real Property by Non-Residents
Sale of Taxable Canadian Real Property Under the ITA the Canadian government has the right to tax a non-resident’s sale of Canadian real property. The tax is calculated on either: As it is more difficult for the Canadian government to collect tax from a non-resident, the ITA also makes the buyer liable for a payment of tax on the sale…
West Vancouver council narrowly passes housing density bylaw
District of West Vancouver councillors have reluctantly passed a bylaw rezoning single-family lots to allow the building of multiple housing units by a narrow 4-3 margin. The vote Monday, Aug. 12, came after B.C.’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon gave the municipality an ultimatum last month requiring that it comply with provincial requirements to rezone outstanding properties to allow multiple units within 30 days. The vote also came after a public war of words between Kahlon and West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager about the province’s demand to allow more density on single-family properties to help with the provincial housing crisis. Municipalities were supposed to approve new housing regulations by June 30. The housing dust-up with the province began in May when council voted to reject passing bylaw amendments that would have had the municipality fall in line with provincial housing density rules. Then in July, council sought an extension to the end of September to deal with the issue. But Kahlon made it clear he wasn’t going to consider that. Council ‘strongly opposed’ to provincial demand On Monday, Sager said he wasn’t happy about being forced to rezone by the provincial government. “I don’t think this is a particularly democratic way to run a province,” he said, adding, “We all appreciate there is a need to address housing, but we don’t think that the solutions necessarily get drawn on a desk in Victoria.” In casting the deciding vote on the issue, Sager noted that “most of us are very strongly opposed” to the provincial directive. “It makes me ill” to vote in favour of the rezoning, Sager said, but added he was concerned about what a rejection could mean for the community if the province stepped in and imposed its own zoning bylaw. Three councillors refused to go along with the rezoning, lambasting the province for its top-down approach and refusal to push back against unprecedented levels of immigration to B.C. as driving the housing crisis, as well as criticizing senior levels of government for a laundry list of problems. ‘We’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome’ says Watt “It’s almost like we’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome,” said Coun. Linda Watt, who pointed to a huge wave of immigration to B.C. while private sector housing starts are down. Watt said passing the rezoning bylaw was “not a solution” to the housing crisis. “We have an authoritarian government that is ignoring basic planning principles in a reckless effort to please a prime minister who’s hell bent on beating the Canadian economy further into the ground,” she said. Both Watt and Coun. Christine Cassidy suggested the province had chosen to make an example of West Vancouver ahead of the fall provincial election. Coun. Sharon Thompson said she also didn’t believe rezoning single-family properties would do much to create more housing. Just over 300 properties impacted According to West Vancouver staff, the rezoning bylaw means 313 properties will see an increase in density. Most of the properties impacted by the changes are former land use contract sites in the Ambleside and Dundarave neighbourhoods which in the past have specifically disallowed coach houses. Most single-family lots in the rest of West Vancouver already allow both secondary suites and coach houses, so wouldn’t have been impacted by the change. The new rules provide for between three and six units to be built on single-family lots – depending on the size of the lot and its distance from transit routes. Coun. Nora Gambioli was the lone councillor who spoke in favour of the provincial zoning bylaw Monday saying West Van is “way way off” its housing targets. “We’ve actually only approved 50 units that are getting hopefully built in the next couple of years,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve been doing enough for the whole time I’ve been on this council.” Gambioli added the change will impact less than three per cent of the lots in West Vancouver. Coun. Peter Lambur and Coun. Scott Snider – who called in to the meeting by satellite phone from a remote location – both said they weren’t happy with the provincial ultimatum but added passing the bylaw was a better option than leaving it up to the province to make changes. “My duty to the district is more important than my political views on the matter,” said Snider. “The province can tell us what to do,” said Lambur. “That’s exactly what they’re doing.”
B.C. commits $2.65 billion for Hwy 1 widening project between Langley and Abbotsford
The project was originally slated to be completed by 2026 Published Aug 14, 2024 • 2 minute read The Trans-Canada widening project — a 2020 NDP campaign promise — has been delayed, much to the frustration of commuters often stuck in traffic jams and businesses clamouring for an improved corridor for the estimated $65 million of goods transported every year. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG The B.C. government has announced $2.65 billion in funding to widen and improve Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley in order to reduce traffic congestion and cut commute times between Langley and Abbotsford. The Trans-Canada widening project — a 2020 NDP campaign promise — has been delayed, much to the frustration of commuters often stuck in traffic jams and businesses clamouring for an improved corridor for the estimated $65 million of goods transported every year. Most of Abbotsford will be served by the widened freeway. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Sign In or Create an Account or Article content Premier David Eby acknowledged the delays and cost increases for the project, which was originally slated to go to Whatcom Road and be completed by 2026. He said flooding at the Sumas Prairie in 2021, global inflation, and the increase in volume on the highway has made the project challenging. “I feel the frustration of everybody who sits in traffic who wants to get this road open as quickly as possible,” he said Wednesday. “That’s what I want too.” He said the expanded and improved highway will help residents of the fast-growing Fraser Valley region by cutting commutes by car and transit, and help improve the shipment of goods. The widening project spans 21 kilometres of Hwy. 1 between the 264th Street interchange and Highway 11, or the Sumas Way exit, in Abbotsford. It has been broken up into two sections. Last fall, the province announced $2.34 billion in funding for upgrades for the first section, the 13-kilometre stretch between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road in Abbotsford. Construction will start this year and is expected to be completed in 2029. The announcement commits the province to funding the remaining eight-kilometre stretch from Mount Lehman Road to Highway 11. The ministry said procurement for this stage will begin in 2025, with construction starting the year after and completion slated for 2031. Article content The project will be expanded to include Whatcom Road in Abbotsford through the Sumas Prairie toward Chilliwack. The province has not announced funding or a start or completion date for this phase. In addition to widening the highway, the government plans to rebuild overpasses at Peardonville Road, Bradner Road, and the CPKC rail overhead to improve height clearance for commercial trucks, said the ministry. A new crossing at Glover Road has been completed. New interchanges will be built at 232nd and 264th streets in Langley and on Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 in Abbotsford as part of the project. These interchanges will include HOV lanes and bus-on-shoulder lanes. More than 80,000 drivers use the highway between Langley and Abbotsford and through the Sumas Prairie to Chilliwack daily, says the ministry. Recommended from Editorial Vaughn Palmer: NDP ditch election promise on Hwy. 1 widening Fraser Valley business groups to province: Speed up highway widening Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province. Article content
