Housing supply and cost of living are top-of-mind issues for the 2026 Provincial General Election campaign. But what are the key housing priorities for the next BC Government, and how should they handle them?
Authorized by British Columbia Real Estate Association, registered sponsor under the Election Act, 604-683-7702.
BCREA’s Government Relations department is an independent non-partisan source for housing information, delivering researched-backed analysis during election season and beyond.
Check out BCREA’s key positions below.
The BC provincial election presents a particularly interesting dynamic with the various political parties in the running. Find their party platforms linked below.
Below you will find a list of housing questions that you can ask candidates this election. We have also outlined four issues of organizational concern that we would like to see addressed by the next BC Government.
Housing Affordability:
Collaboration Between Governments:
Tax Reform:
Strata Property Act Review:
BC Economy:
Prefabricated Housing:
The Problem:
Housing taxation levels in BC are among the highest in the world. If the provincial government wishes to reduce the cost of housing for residents of BC, one of the fastest and most effective ways to do so would be to engage in significant tax reform. Housing taxation levels have risen sharply since 2016, with a multitude of new and arguably ineffective taxes.
Taxation has a significant negative effect on housing affordability. Modifying some taxes and repealing others could have an instant positive effect on housing affordability in BC.
In early 2026, the provincial government committed to expanding the 7% Provincial Sales Tax (PST) to professional services, including non-residential real estate services (trading, rental property management, and strata management services), as well as architectural, accounting, bookkeeping, engineering, and geoscience services. If enacted, this plan would increase project soft costs and overall construction costs for BC developers and business owners.
While the government has now promised to delay the PST expansion that was previously scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2026, the proposal should be abandoned altogether.
In June 2026, the federal and provincial governments jointly announced a plan to convert more than 2,200 vacant condo units in priority growth areas into affordable homes. This measure came despite sectoral calls for the GST rebate that Ontario received and expanded to provide temporary complete Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) relief on new or substantially renovated homes up to $1 million.
With this measure that has proven very effective, Ontario recognizes the significant impact of taxes / fees and requirements from all levels of government on the affordability of homes. A comparable rebate is necessary in BC as developers “can no longer deliver new housing at a price that British Columbians can afford.”
The BC Government now takes in well over $2 billion per year in revenue from current housing-related taxes, including, but not limited to the:
These figures don’t include the substantial revenues raised by local and provincial governments through annual property taxes, sales taxes, and development-related levies, which are generated from the residential sector. The burden on the housing sector from combined annual property taxes, development levies, and at-time-of-purchase taxes is huge. It’s no wonder that housing in BC is mostly unaffordable for average residents.
Recommendations:
BC REALTORS® recommend that the next provincial government conduct a thorough review of all real estate and housing-related taxes, including the PTT, SVT, Flipping Tax, and Foreign Buyer Tax, to ensure they are aligned with the pressing goal of achieving more attainable housing for British Columbians. We also recommend the abandonment of the PST expansion and the adoption of a GST / HST rebate equivalent to that in Ontario to provide some much-needed relief for British Columbians.
The most burdensome taxes, their shortcomings, and more specific recommendations for each tax are detailed below.
Source: BC Data Catalogue; BC Budget and Fiscal Plan 2024/25-2026/27
PTT:
The overwhelming majority of tax revenues from housing come from the PTT, and these revenues have massively escalated along with home values. Because the tax has never been indexed to reflect market changes or inflation, this has created a windfall for government at the expense of BC families and property owners.
The tax was introduced in 1987 as a wealth tax to discourage speculation. The tax has never undergone a systematic review since its inception even though home prices have increased 1,162 per cent.
Unlike the current multi-threshold version of the PTT, the original tax specified a one per cent levy on home values up to $200,000 and two per cent above $200,000. The two per cent threshold was originally only supposed to capture five per cent of transactions.
Approximately 99.5 per cent of transactions in the Lower Mainland in 2023 were above $200,000 and almost 70 per cent of sales in the relatively affordable region of Northwestern BC were above $200,000.*
The median PTT paid per transaction by BC households is now over $10,500, or double the median PTT paid in 2010. The current version of the tax has been expanded so that two per cent is paid on homes valued between $200,000 and $2,000,000; three per cent on amounts between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000; and five per cent on the remaining value. The fact that the vast majority of transactions are now subject to the PTT means most transactions are being treated as though they are speculative when that is simply not the case.
*Based on Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, and BC Northern MLS® Data
Recommendations:
Speculation and Vacancy Tax (SVT):
The SVT adds complexity to the tax system without any noticeable benefit to affordability. The province’s own research shows that the tax has had only a small impact on prices and rents. Yet the province continues to hike this tax, which is currently 3 per cent for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners and 1 per cent for Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Effective January 1, 2027, the rate for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners will rise to 4 per cent.
In some areas, the tax duplicates (or even triplicates) similar municipal and federal vacancy taxes (e.g., the City of Vancouver’s Empty Homes Tax).
The tax also unfairly treats Canadians who earn the majority of their income outside of Canada, but who live and generate economic activity and tax revenues (sales taxes, property taxes, etc.) in BC. It is not right to label these British Columbians as speculators.
While nobody wants homes to be vacant in a housing crisis, the SVT has proven itself to be a flawed and ultimately ineffective measure as clearly indicated by the data. Its impact on returning units to the rental market has been diminishing each year since its inception and rents haven’t appreciably been reduced.
Recommendation:
Foreign Buyer Tax:
The additional Foreign Buyer Tax is 20 per cent of the home’s value, paid upon purchase. Foreign investment in BC residential real estate has been very low since the introduction of the tax.
While the tax may have been modestly effective, at least in the short-term, the provincial government will need to think of ways to incentivize a large amount of capital investment to hit its housing targets over the next decade.
The Royal Bank of Canada estimates that meeting Canada’s housing targets would require $2 trillion in investment over a five-year period. That figure is far beyond what can realistically be sourced from domestic savings alone.
This reality highlights why access to global capital is not optional, but essential. Foreign investment, institutional equity, and alternative sources of risk capital will be required to complement domestic financing if Canada is to materially increase housing supply.
Recommendation:
Flipping Tax:
Flipping activity, by any definition, is an insignificant share of overall transactions in BC.
As with the SVT and the Foreign Buyer Tax, this tax – effective since early 2025 – is also duplicated at the federal level.
According to an analysis by the BCREA Economics team, the provincial flipping tax will not materially impact affordability in BC
Instead, there is a significant risk that the tax will cause potential sellers to delay listing their homes, leading to lower resale housing supply and tighter market conditions.
Furthermore, the application of the flipping tax to assignments could jeopardize the financing of new construction.
Recommendation:
PST Expansion:
Budget 2026 proposed expanding PST for non-residential real estate services, including trading, rental property management, and strata management services. Architectural, accounting, bookkeeping, engineering, and geoscience services were also to be subject to PST.
Applying PST to these areas would increase project soft costs and overall construction costs for BC investors and business owners.The government has promised to delay the PST expansion to professional services that had been scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2026. While this pause is welcome, the PST expansion should be abandoned altogether.
Increased costs from the PST expansion will be recovered through higher commercial and industrial property management services costs, strata fees, and operating budgets. In a sector and province already challenged with extremely high price points, this will reduce affordability and may deter investment in maintaining or expanding businesses. Higher soft costs may also result in developments becoming non-viable, further curtailing new real estate supply.
Recommendation:
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The Problem:
The provincial government has been under a great deal of pressure in recent years to move quickly and introduce dramatic new measures to grapple with significant housing cost increases and affordability issues across the province.
While many of their new policy ideas have merit, the process of policy development has lacked the detailed consultation necessary to ensure a holistic view has been adopted, and that potential policy is thoroughly reviewed in advance by experts from a variety of housing sector segments (market, non-market, Indigenous, etc.).
Notably, this concern has been echoed in the past by numerous organizations from across the housing market, including LandlordBC (now RentBC), Appraisal Institute of Canada – British Columbia, Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – British Columbia, Aboriginal Housing Management Association, and others.
Lack of detailed, advance consultation has led to a multitude of problems, with avoidable mistakes being made by government.
Recommendations:
BCREA would like to see the immediate creation of a permanent BC housing policy roundtable, comprised of ten to 12 carefully chosen policy experts representing mortgage, real estate, and civil society organizations, as well as market and non-market developers and builders. These experts would work together with federal, provincial, municipal / regional, and Indigenous governments to implement and monitor the efficacy of new housing policy proposals by the provincial government.
This group would work in close partnership with the provincial government to review potential housing legislation in the early stages of policy development, ensuring that the draft policy is holistic in approach, pressure tested in advance for unanticipated consequences, and likely to achieve its stated goals.
Where expertise on particular topics is required, roundtable members could be temporarily swapped out to ensure due diligence is conducted on consequential issues while maintaining a manageable roundtable size. Roundtable members could also represent specialized subcommittees, so that relevant expertise is available to support policy development in specific areas. The full roundtable could meet quarterly to evaluate the overall impact of new policies and advise the government on the viability of incoming policies and regulations.
The roundtable model has already been successfully employed by the provincial government (Energy Step Code Council and Development Finance Review Committee) and the federal government (National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care). These examples can be reviewed for guidance on the creation of a permanent provincial housing policy roundtable, ensuring effective structure and processes for new housing policy directions.
This approach would ensure stronger and more resilient results moving forward on new housing policy directions.
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The Problem:
With approximately 1.5 million British Columbians living in strata properties, effective strata governance is a matter of public interest and safety.
Strata councils are typically composed of well-intentioned volunteers, but most lack formal training in financial oversight, legal compliance, and property management. This capacity gap contributes to recurring challenges, such as financial mismanagement, deferred maintenance, legal disputes, and reduced resident confidence.
At the same time, as the number of people living in stratas has grown, the need to obtain necessary strata documentation has become an increasingly common practice in real estate transactions. Unfortunately, exorbitantly high costs, long wait times, and incomplete document packages have become commonplace as well, raising consumer protection concerns about potential buyers’ ability to conduct necessary due diligence in a timely and affordable manner.
On the building management side, the fee structure has not been indexed to inflation and similarly requires review and modernization.
In 2019, the Law Institute of British Columbia released a report with recommended changes to strata legislation. However, this was not a fully representative review of the Strata Property Act. The project committee excluded some key stakeholders, including organized real estate, leaving several key issues inadequately considered.
In preparation for Budget 2027, the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services has also recommended that the provincial government conduct a comprehensive review of the Strata Property Act and amend the Act to mandate training for strata owners and council members. This underscores the importance of this recommendation for housing attainability in BC.
Recommendations:
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The Problem:
BC faces one of the most severe housing affordability crises in its history. While the rapid escalation of home prices has eased, the average cost of over $920,000 remains out of reach for many families. A status quo level of homebuilding will not be enough to meaningfully improve affordability over the next ten years. Expanding housing supply remains the most important ingredient for both sustainable development and moderated price growth.
Traditional construction methods remain slow, costly, and vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and labour shortages. To match housing demand, new home construction in BC needs to ramp up by 25 per cent for the next five years to a record level of about 43,000 completions per year. Accomplishing this will require innovative methods and approaches.
As both the provincial and federal governments have acknowledged, prefabricated housing methods offer a proven solution to these challenges. These construction methods can significantly reduce build times, cut construction waste by 70 per cent, lower greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent, and bring project costs down by 20 per cent or more.
Despite these benefits, adoption of prefabricated housing in BC is constrained by systemic barriers. As outlined in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s (FVREB) Building Faster, Smarter report, these barriers include the following:
The BC Government has signaled its laudable goal of increasing small-scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH) through legislation and its Standardized Housing Design Catalogue. With some fundamental changes to BC’s prefabricated construction landscape, this method of home building can become a highly effective tool to achieve two much-needed outcomes: increase the supply of housing generally and SSMUH specifically.
Recommendations:
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On the campaign trail, BC Premier and NDP leader David Eby announced two new housing tax proposals.
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