Budget 2026 proposes to let foreign buyers purchase new homes. For anyone building multiplexes in Metro Vancouver, that change does little while BC keeps its 20% tax on the same buyers. The province’s own data shows few Metro Vancouver home sales have a foreign buyer. I think the province should waive the 20% on a brand new home bought as a principal residence, from the day Ottawa’s exemption becomes law.
I covered what the budget proposes on November 5. This post is my case for the next step, and it is an opinion. The rules below are the published rules as of November 9, 2026.
What the 20% does to a new strata unit
BC’s additional property transfer tax charges a foreign national 20% of the fair market value of their share of a residential property. It applies in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Capital Regional District, Central Okanagan and Nanaimo, on top of the regular property transfer tax (Province of BC, page last updated June 20, 2025, read November 9, 2026).
Here is what that means on a strata home in a new multiplex. The values are examples, not prices from any project.
| New strata home | Foreign national’s share on title | 20% tax |
|---|---|---|
| $1,400,000 unit | 100% | $280,000 |
| $1,400,000 unit | 50%, a parent on title with a child | $140,000 |
| $1,100,000 unit | 100% | $220,000 |
On a $1,400,000 unit, a foreign buyer would pay $280,000 before the regular tax. Few families will. So the federal exemption, as proposed, brings few new buyers to a Metro Vancouver multiplex.
How small the foreign buyer group is
The province publishes these counts in its property transfer tax data. They come out each month, by region. In the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the 2025 and 2026 tables show the share is small. The latest table has the current count.
The province holds back the amount of 20% tax it collected in most months, because a small number could point to a single buyer. So I can’t put a cost on a waiver. Because so few transfers involve a foreign buyer, I expect the share from new homes to be small.
Ottawa’s reason, and who it leaves the decision with
Page 203 of the Budget 2026 document gives the reason for exempting new homes: it would help by “unlocking additional investment in new housing supply.” The next sentence says Ottawa will keep supporting measures “levied by other levels of government” against speculation.
Read together, those two lines put the 20% in BC’s hands. Ottawa wants new supply sold, and it will not ask the province to change its tax. If the 20% is going to move for new homes, BC has to move it.
Why a waiver on new homes makes sense to me
A small multiplex project depends on selling its units, and a unit still unsold at completion keeps costing the builder until it closes. A buyer who moves into a new unit adds to the homes people live in, which is the reason Ottawa gave for the exemption.
The buyer I have in mind is a family. A parent abroad helps a son or daughter buy a strata home in a new duplex, triplex or fourplex. Today the 20% pushes that family to keep the parent off title, so the parent puts in money and holds no legal share. That is a poor outcome for the family and one fewer buyer for the builder.
BC’s own rules already treat a buyer who lives in the home differently:
- A confirmed BC Provincial Nominee who buys a home as their principal residence pays no 20% tax.
- A foreign national who becomes a permanent resident or citizen within one year of the transfer can have the tax refunded, if they moved in within 92 days and lived there as their principal residence for a full year (Province of BC, page last updated March 28, 2024).
What I am asking the province to do
- Waive the 20% on a brand new home that nobody has lived in, when it is bought as a principal residence, from the day Ottawa’s new-home exemption takes effect.
- At the least, waive it for families: a parent or grandparent who buys together with a child or grandchild who is a citizen or permanent resident and lives in the home.
Keep the tax on resale homes and on homes bought to sit empty. I think a narrow rule is easier for the province to pass and easier for a buyer’s lawyer to apply.
What builders should do now
Nothing has changed yet. The federal exemption is a proposal, it has no definition of “new” and no start date, and BC’s 20% applies in full.
- Price and finance your presales on citizens and permanent residents. Do not count foreign buyers in your sales plan until both the federal rules and BC’s tax have changed.
- If a buyer’s family wants to help from abroad, point them to a lawyer before anyone signs. A gift toward the down payment, with the parent off title, avoids the 20% today.
- If you agree with this ask, write to your MLA and to BC’s Minister of Finance. Name the project, the number of strata homes and the kind of buyer you are losing.
Check what your lot can hold before you plan a project. PlexRank™ scores residential parcels across BC for multiplex potential under Bill 44.
General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice. The new-home exemption is a federal proposal and is not law. Speak to a real estate lawyer before you sign a contract.
David Babakaiff, Co-Founder, VanPlex | PlexRank™ | Profit with Multiplex
