Whereas the Government of British Columbia introduced the Speculation and Vacancy Tax to address housing availability by incentivizing the utilization of vacant properties for the benefit of BC residents; And whereas the provincial government continues to expand the Speculation and Vacancy Tax program to include additional communities, promoting increased affordable housing stock across the province: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM advocate for the provincial government to grant BC municipalities the option to opt into the Speculation and Vacancy Tax program, specifically targeting properties that have been vacant for two or more years.
Ministry of Finance The Speculation and Vacancy Tax SVT was introduced as part of BCs 30-point housing plan in November 2018. The SVT is designed to prevent housing speculation and help turn vacant and underused properties into homes for people who live and work in BC. The Province initially applied the SVT to urban centres with low vacancy rates and affordability challenges, where house prices and rents exceeded local incomes. Rather than providing all BC communities with the ability to opt in to the SVT, an independent review released in 2022 recommended a phased and measured approach to expanding the SVT. BC added six new municipalities as SVT specified areas in 2023, and 13 in 2024, for a total of 59 province wide. To select expansion communities, the Province considered a number of factors, including assessed values of residential property, vacancy rates, population, requests for inclusion, proximity to other SVT specified areas, and whether the community is primarily a vacation area. The Province also considered input from local governments. The Province is carefully monitoring housing data moving forward to ensure the desired results of the SVT are achieved and will continue to work with local governments to address housing affordability issues in BC.