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The Finance Ministry expects 500 to 800 nominee-program buyers will apply for the exemption and 20 to 30 new permanent residents, which will cuts the province’s take from the tax by $1 million to $3 million for the first year of the tax.

For 2018-19 and onward, it estimates the measures will apply to between 100 and 200 applicants at a cost of between $10 million and $20 million.

Clark said the changes were designed to make sure the province can recruit skilled workers and entrepreneurs that the economy needs to expand, particularly the tech sector.

“British Columbia has always welcomed the world’s best and brightest, where they find a place that embraces them,” Clark said in the news release.

The NDP opposition, however, characterized the tweaks as a half-measure that fixes some of the mistakes the government made in rushing to implement the tax on Aug. 2, 2016 and doesn’t close loopholes that still allow speculation in real estate.

The tax was introduced to curb the influence of foreign investment on rapidly rising property prices in what was then a red-hot Metro Vancouver real estate market.

On Friday, de Jong said that since the tax has helped cool sales in those markets, the province “is now in a position to provide targeted relief to help ensure our province continues to attract skilled workers and entrepreneurs.”

Crafting the exemption for the provincial nominee program was the right thing to do, said Tom Davidoff, a professor with a specialization in housing at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.