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In December, Statistics Canada reported that nonresident foreigners own 5.1 percent of the value of all homes in Metro Vancouver and 7.6 percent of the value of homes within the boundaries of the city of Vancouver.

Foreign buyers who want to buy residential real estate in Metro Vancouver pay a 15 percent tax.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Carole James has no intention to outlaw foreign buying of B.C. homes when the NDP government introduces a series of policies in the next couple of months to address the high cost of housing.

James has said that there will be no ban like the one that exists in New Zealand.

B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver, on the other hand, has demanded an outright ban on foreign buying of residential real estate to curb demand. And he wants James to introduce this in her upcoming budget.

In September, the B.C. government reported that about five percent of home purchases in Metro Vancouver were made by foreign buyers. In Richmond, it reached 10.8 percent that month.

The B.C. government collected $2 billion in property-transfer taxes in the 2016-17 fiscal year. Last February, it forecast property-transfer tax revenue of $1.54 billion in this fiscal year, $1.45 billion in 2018-19, and $1.43 billion in 2019-20.