The federal government extended a foreign buyers ban on Canadian housing on Feb. 2 and Sun Peaks still isn’t exempt.
The legislation accommodates recreation properties outside of a census metropolitan area (CMA), but three B.C. resorts are still caught up in the bill. Sun Peaks, Apex and Silver Star are all impacted by the ban. The village is included in Kamloops’ CMA, which has led to the problem.
CMAs comprise a core population, and adjacent municipalities are included when there is “a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flows derived from data on place of work from the previous Census Program,” according to Statistics Canada.
Mayor Al Raine explained that because the federal government used population and commuter data from the Canadian Census between 2011 and 2016, Sun Peaks had a high proportion of the population commuting from Kamloops and working in Sun Peaks.
“They’re always five to 10 years behind on their analysis of where CMAs go,” Raine explained. “When they make the [CMA] map, they’re using the census travel data from the census prior.”
However, Sun Peak’s population level has more than doubled between 2016 and 2021 censuses, growing from 616 to 1,404 – a 125.9 per cent rise. Raine said the proportion of commuters to residents is lower now because of Sun Peaks’ growth.
The ban came into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said it was intended to curb the purchase of Canadian homes by non-Canadians.
However, reporting by Global News in November of 2023 using internal communications from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed only two per cent of homes purchased each year are from non-Canadians.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of non-residents owning properties in Sun Peaks is 16.5 per cent, and they are defined as owners without a primary residence in Canada. However, they can still be a Canadian citizen.
“It’s [an] unintended consequence of a policy that was never devised to address affordable housing,” Raine said.
Peter Milobar is Sun Peaks’ member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a member of BC United, and he said getting traction on the issue is problematic because it’s not impacting a large swatch of the province.
“It’s not as widespread of a miss within the change to foreign buyers as if there had been a glaring problem in the design of it right across the country,” he explained.
While it only impacts three tourism destinations, the optics are troubling for international buyers.
“There are very significant impacts to Sun Peaks in terms of what it does to how it’s viewed from other parts of the world as an option for people with a passion for skiing and ski resorts,” Milobar said.
Foreign and national visitors make up more than half of overnight visitors to Sun Peaks, and some end up purchasing property and investing in Sun Peaks’ long-term growth, Raine said.
What did you think of this story?
Sun Peaks Independent News is your essential source for community news in Sun Peaks. Your feedback after we publish a story helps ensure we're always improving our reporting to better serve you.
