Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts

Canada to Welcome Record Number of Immigrants Under Provincial Nominee Program


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 19, 2011) - Provinces and territories are on track this year to welcome a record number of immigrants selected under their own nominee programs.
In a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, discussed the rapid growth in provincial nominee programs in recent years.
"Our government recognizes the importance of nominee programs in spreading out the benefits of immigration around the country," said Minister Kenney. "That is why we plan to admit about 40,000 immigrants in the provincial nominee category in 2011, five times more than the 8,000 welcomed in 2005. The previous high was 36,428 provincial nominees in 2010."
Traditionally, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have attracted a disproportionate share of skilled immigrants coming to Canada. However, the top three provinces for provincial nominees are Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Thanks in large part to the provincial/territorial nominee programs, 26% of economic immigrants accepted as permanent residents of Canada are now destined for provinces or territories other than Ontario, British Columbia or Quebec, compared to just 11% in 1997.
"We understand the desire of provinces and territories to identify their own economic immigrants and that is why we have continued to increase our projected admissions for nominees each year," noted Minister Kenney. "At the same time, we are committed to working with our provincial and territorial counterparts to continue to improve the program design, integrity, selection standards and management of the nominee programs."
The provincial nominee program is also a good way to get workers in quickly. Applications are processed within 12 months on average, as are federal skilled worker applications under recent ministerial instructions.
Provincial nominee programs are being discussed as part of this month's cross-Canada consultations on immigration levels and mix. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of the provincial nominee programs is underway. With the knowledge gained through each of these processes, CIC will be able to work with provincial and territorial partners on a longer-term approach to levels planning.
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Minister Kenney launches national consultations on immigration levels and mix

Calgary is the largest metropolis in the Calga...Image via Wikipedia
Calgary, July 12, 2011 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has launched a series of cross-country consultations on immigration issues, beginning today in Calgary.
The Minister is meeting with stakeholders and the public to discuss the important issue of immigration levels and mix. Following the Calgary session today, the Minister will meet with stakeholders in Vancouver on July 18, Toronto on July 20 and Montreal on July 22. Online consultations will take place later this summer and will be open to the public.
The purpose of the consultations is to seek feedback on immigration levels, including the appropriate level of immigration for Canada, and the most suitable mix between economic, family class and protected persons. Discussions on system management to provide improved services, such as reasonable processing times, and addressing issues such as fraud, will also be included.
In planning for the total number of people to admit as permanent residents, CIC not only balances immigration objectives but also considers several other factors, including broader government commitments, input from provinces and territories, and current and future economic conditions. The Department must also consider its operational ability to process applications in a timely manner, as well as the capacity of communities to welcome newcomers.
In addition to presenting an opportunity to gather input from stakeholders and the public on key questions facing CIC, the consultations also allow the Department to share with stakeholders and the public some of the considerations and difficult choices involved in managing a global immigration system.
The consultations present an important opportunity to generate greater understanding of the trade-offs involved in setting immigration levels. There are competing visions and diverging goals for the future of the immigration program, and there is no single right answer on what the focus should be. Engaging stakeholders and the broader public in that conversation is a key part of developing a plan that will work for Canada going forward.
Invited stakeholders represent a variety of perspectives, including those of employers, labour, academia, learning institutions, professional organizations, business organizations, regulatory bodies, municipalities, settlement provider organizations and ethnocultural organizations.
A report on the consultations will be available on the CIC website once stakeholder and public consultations have been completed.
More information about the online consultations will be available on the CIC website.

Minister seeks input on immigration issues

Jason KenneyImage by mostlyconservative via Flickr
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney kicked off a series of national consultations in Calgary on Tuesday, asking shareholders to provide input on issues and programs in hopes of better determining appropriate immigration levels for Canada.
"We want people's views on what is the right mix of our various immigration programs, how do we ensure that immigrants succeed economically, because when immigrants get good jobs, Canada succeeds," Kenney said.
About a dozen attendees from immigrant settlement organizations, employers, industry groups and community associations joined the minister in a private meeting to discuss everything from which programs to focus on, how to ensure skilled workers are selected to fill job shortages, and how to reduce backlogs and maintain reasonable processing times.
Kenney will hold similar sessions with stakeholder groups in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal later this month, as well as online consultations later this summer, which will be open to the public.
The input will then be fed into the federal government's multi-year immigration levels plan, which determines how many people should be admitted to Canada and into which programs.
For the past several years Canada has admitted between 240,000 to 265,000 permanent residents. Last year the government exceeded the planned maximum, admitting 281,000 permanent residents.
"There's always a maximum to the number of immigrants we bring. We're maintaining very high levels, but we want to make sure that immigration is actually working for newcomers and newcomers are working in Canada," he said, adding that increasing the maximum number was a possibility. "We don't want to be bringing people here to face unemployment or underem-ployment, we want them to fill the job shortages that exist, particularly in this region."
Recently, Premier Ed Stelmach and other western premiers blamed the federal government for hurting western economic growth by setting a cap on the number of immigrants admitted through the Provincial Nominee Program, which allows provincial governments to choose immigrants based on their economic needs.
But Kenney said the government has been very generous in letting the program grow nationally almost tenfold, from 5,000 admissions six years ago to 45,000 this year, and actually reduced federal immigration programs to give more spots to provinces.
In turn, Alberta saw its immigration grow from 18,000 immigrants five years ago to more than 32,000 this year, Kenney said.
Deciding which programs to emphasize is a difficult process, as any increases in one program come at the cost of another, he said.
cho@calgaryherald.com


Read more:http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Minister+seeks+input+immigration+issues/5093702/story.html#ixzz1S1UCsUap

Quebec City, Montreal 'most livable'; Vancouver highest cost of living: survey

Quebec City, CanadaImage by Michael McDonough via Flickr
Vancouver may be the "nicest" city, according to a new survey, but when it comes to livability, major cities in la belle province take top marks.
The recent study commissioned by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies found Quebec City and Montreal outrank other cities in Canada when it comes to cost of living, culture, shopping and meeting people.
According to the survey, a quarter of Quebec City residents said the cost of living in their city was excellent, while another 70 per cent described it as good.
Montreal came second in the category with 16 per cent describing it as excellent and 65 per cent saying it was good.
While an earlier Postmedia News report indicated that a quarter of all Canadians had chosen Vancouver as the overall "nicest city in Canada," association executive director Jack Jedwab said it ranked dead last when it came to cost of living, with 57 per cent of respondents describing it as poor.
"There's a funny phenomenon in Vancouver, there's not a lot of people in the middle," he said, noting few Vancouverites described the lost of living as good, let along excellent.
"It's as though there's a big income split in that city. That's what I would think explains that discrepancy."
The Greater Toronto Area, Edmonton and Calgary rounded out the list of least affordable cities to live.
When it came to cultural activities, more than 95 per cent of Montreal and Quebec City residents rated theirs as excellent or good and they were also the most likely to describe their cities as excellent places to meet people and make friends.
Meanwhile, a fifth of Ottawa residents said their city was a bad place to meet people and make friends.
Montreal also earned top marks for shopping with 67 per cent describing it as excellent, followed by Edmonton at 62 per cent, Calgary at 51 per cent and Quebec City at 49 per cent.
People in Toronto (15 per cent), Calgary (14 per cent) and Edmonton (13 per cent) were among the most likely to describe their cities as lousy places to take in cultural activities.
On the subject of job opportunities, Calgarians were most satisfied, with half describing them as excellent and more than a third describing them as good. Quebec City came a close second with 47.6 per cent saying excellent but another 42.9 per cent describing them as good.
A whopping 36 per cent of Torontonians rated job opportunities in their city as poor, followed by 29 per cent of Ottawa residents and 25 per cent of Vancouver residents.
While all Quebec City residents described their city as either excellent or good for raising children — taking the top spot among seven cities — Jedwab was surprised to find Montreal at the bottom of the list in this category.
Despite the province's much touted $7-a-day child care program and overall commitment to children and youth, just 23 per cent of Montreal residents said their city was an excellent place to raise kids.
Some 61 per cent said it was good but more than 16 per cent described it as poor — the largest number of any city.
Quebec City, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal earned top marks for recreation and outdoor activity, while Toronto, Quebec City and Vancouver did well for climate.
"I think overall, Toronto is not a big winner on this thing if we're going to look for some big winner," Jedwab concluded.
"Montreal, I think, comes across fairly strong in this. Vancouver still does reasonably well, it is just clearly a very pricey place to live. Beauty comes at a cost."
The survey of 1,513 Canadians was conducted last month via web panel by Leger Marketing. An equivalent telephone survey would have a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
tcohen@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/tobicohen


Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/Quebec+City+Montreal+most+livable+Vancouver+highest+cost+living+survey/5047483/story.html#ixzz1RKVsYydC

Chinese-Canadians and immigrants, not investors from China, largely driving market, experts say

Aerial view of Simon Fraser University in Burn...Image via WikipediaBY BRIAN MORTON, VANCOUVER SUN



A growing belief that Metro Vancouver's hot housing market is being driven by Asian investment, primarily from mainland China, is a misconception, according to experts in the real estate field.
In fact, they say, evidence suggests buyers are mainly Canadian citizens, immigrants or new residents in Canada -many with strong links to mainland China and many residing and working in China while their families establish roots in B.C.
Most purchases are also being made as long-term holdings - in some cases for children attending local universities -with little of the quick "flipping" prevalent in previous hot markets.
"From what we've seen from most of the major launches, it's a different buying habit than previous runs on the market," Jennifer Podmore, real estate advisory leader for accounting giant Deloite, said in an interview Friday. "Generally, we're not seeing the investor as the main drivers of the market. There are certainly a lot more Asian purchasers, but not Asian investors coming to purchase a condo and then leaving.
"Most [buyers] have strong ties to Vancouver, meaning they're Canadians, immigrants or live here," added Podmore.
Daryl Simpson, Bosa Properties' vice-president of sales and marketing, agreed, citing their 202-unit Sovereign tower in Metrotown that recently sold out in one day, largely to ethnic Chinese buyers.
However, it's incorrect to identify the buyers as mainland Chinese, he said, because most came from other parts of Metro Vancouver. Some may have connections with mainland China, but no more than "half a dozen buyers" had addresses outside Canada.
In 2010 B.C. received about 47 per cent of Canada's investor-class immigrants, who must show a net worth of at least $1.6 million and are required to make an $800,000 investment in Canada, Podmore added.
While Chinese immigrants to B.C. represented about 19 per cent of the total immigration, Chinese and Taiwanese investor-class immigrants represented 79 per cent of the investor category.
Podmore's and Simpson's comments follow a surge in investment, largely by ethnic Asian buyers with links to mainland China, that's branching out from Richmond and Vancouver's west side as buyers look to other communities.
Several condominium towers in Burnaby, including Sovereign, sold out quickly in recent weeks, mainly to Asian buyers.
"If you see the type of demand that we've seen on the west side of Vancouver and Richmond spread elsewhere, it will push up prices, but it's unlikely to have the same dramatic effect on prices because there's much more of a supply of units elsewhere," Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics and real estate at Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said, adding that it's hard to conclude mainland Chinese buyers are behind the sales.
Robert Dominick, vice-president of sales and acquisitions for WestStone Properties, said Asian buyers are fuelling sales at his 393-unit Surrey City Centre highrise, Ultra.
"We opened the door for [our most recent] sales two weeks ago. We didn't advertise and simply through phone calls to Asian realtors in our first week we generated 23 sales."
Dominick said some buyers showed up on buying trips organized by Chinese-based tour operators, but that most aren't interested in "flipping."
He said many buyers involve China-based husbands with family in Metro Vancouver, while some want a condo for their children attending the nearby Simon Fraser University campus.
Polygon Homes president Neil Chrystal said it's difficult to say how many buyers are mainland Chinese investors, adding that "we see a lot of people speaking Mandarin, which is an indication." He noted that south Surrey, north Delta and West Vancouver are becoming more popular with Asian buyers.
Chrystal said that while their Chancellor highrise and two other Burnaby towers experienced lineups of predominantly Asian buyers, "a lot of the people were locals looking to downsize."
Meanwhile, a recent Landcor Data Corp. report said many of today's Chinese immigrants arrive "with fortunes intact, especially in the Lower Mainland, eagerly buying their own bits of the good life and helping buoy up real estate prices."
The report looked at luxury home sales in Richmond and Vancouver, matching new owners' Chinese surnames to see how many purchasers were Chinese, with 74 per cent fitting the criteria in 2010.
A recent China Daily report said Chinese home buyers have become the second-largest group of international buyers of U.S. homes -after Canadians.
bmorton@vancouversun.com


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Chinese+Canadians+immigrants+investors+from+China+largely+driving+market+experts/4931299/story.html#ixzz1P1gjkei8



 

Canada needs more immigrants to boost economy, university study concludes

Homage to the Immigrant, in Rosario, Argentina...Image via Wikipedia
Canada needs an extra one million immigrants between now and 2021 in a move that would boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2.3%, it is claimed.
It would mean an extra 100,000 per year and would add $14 billion to the government’s tax revenue coffers as well as boosting investment in housing and creating more demand for goods and services, according to a study by Canadian professor Tony Fang.
The report from University of York in Vancouver looked at the impact of large-scale immigration on the Canadian economy and took into account factors such as how much immigrants participate in the labour force, spending on government services and infrastructure.
It also looked at funds brought in by immigrants, labour market differences between migrants and the effect of large-scale immigration on Canadian born workers.
Fang, an associate professor of human resources in the faculty of liberal arts and professional studies, concludes that higher levels of immigration will boost the economy.
Canada already has the highest immigration rate per capita out of major countries and has programmes in place to try to deal with skill shortages.
Fang’s previous work has found that training and development doesn’t help immigrants get ahead in their careers, even though it benefits other employees.
He found that immigrant and non-immigrant professionals are equally likely to undergo training and development initiatives funded by employers. However, immigrants don’t reap the rewards of higher pay, promotions, or increased job satisfaction reported by their non-immigrant counterparts.
‘We believe non-immigrants may be better able to leverage their training and, as a result, achieve higher salaries and promotions,’ he said.
‘There is an urgent need for employers to develop better policies for integrating and leveraging the talents of immigrant professionals,’ he added.
On average, immigrant professionals, that is those who hold at least an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree, earn less than non-immigrants. They also tend to have lower promotion rates and shorter tenure with their current employer. In addition, they are less satisfied with their jobs and compensation.
A major barrier for immigrants, Fang noted, is lack of cultural fluency including language limitations and unfamiliarity with local training methods.

Foreign buyers buoy Vancouver housing

Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel and residences, dow...Image via Wikipedia
On a recent trip to Vancouver, Jin Wang, a Chinese businesswoman, toured a large home – six bedrooms and seven baths – listed at $3.6-million in the British Properties, a wealthy enclave on the north shore overlooking the ocean and the city.
Ms. Wang and her husband, Hui Huang, made their money in the import and export of electronics, leveraging government connections in Beijing to do business in Shanghai. The Chinese nationals also expanded their business to domestic real estate in China.
Now, they’re looking to invest more heavily in Vancouver real estate. Three years ago, the couple first bought a $2.1-million home on Vancouver’s west side and rented it to a local family. Its value has since hurtled past $3-million. Back this month to scout more buys, Ms. Wang closed a deal for a $3-million home on Chartwell Drive in the British Properties and mulled the additional $3.6-million home on the same street.
Investments by Chinese buyers such as Ms. Wang and Mr. Huang are playing a role in helping to buoy the hottest real estate market in Canada, according to local realtors. Canadian realtors do not tally data on foreign investment in residential real estate, unlike the national realty association in the U.S., but widespread anecdotal reports from local players suggest investment cash from China is a small but significant factor, especially in the market for expensive homes. The additional demand may be helping to underpin a market whose prices seem to impossibly levitate above the typical local incomes in the region.
And it may increase, as more affluent Chinese aim to move, as well as invest their money abroad. There are nearly 600,000 high-net people worth at least $1.5-million in China this year, according to the consultancy Bain & Co. About 10 per cent of them have already left, another 10 per cent are planning to apply for immigration, and about 30 per cent are considering it, according to results based on Bain’s survey of 2,500 rich Chinese released last week.
The method of exit is to qualify abroad as an “immigrant investor.” In Canada, that means an immigrant must have a net worth of $1.6-million and make an $800,000 investment – figures that are twice what they were last year. The Vancouver region has already welcomed about half of 10,000 or so immigrants who come to Canada annually under such programs.
Yolanda Chen and Simon Yang arrived earlier this year as immigrant investors. The couple, and their six-year-old daughter, came for the same reason cited by a majority of people from China: a better education system. Ms. Chen, who was a television executive in Shanghai, has purchased a $2-million home in White Rock, south of Vancouver.
“It’s a better, and healthier, life here,” she said.
While realtors cite the influence of rich immigrants and investors on markets such as Vancouver, data suggest that the absolute number of buyers in such categories is small.
In the U.S. the most recent figures show that foreigners are a factor in real estate markets but not a massive one. Foreigners spent $41-billion on U.S. real estate from April, 2009, to March, 2010, about 4 per cent of the American market. Canadians accounted for about quarter, roughly $10-billion, of that total. Buyers from China counted for $3.3-billion, behind Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Of the properties purchased, half of them were bought as a primary residence, with only about a quarter for investment purposes.
The U.S. figures are the result of a survey by researchers at the National Association of Realtors. In Canada, there are no comparable numbers, “because there wasn’t demand for us to collect these statistics,” said Pierre Leduc, a Canadian Real Estate Association spokesman.
But the U.S. market results echo what realtors in Vancouver are seeing. Ian Gillespie, head of Vancouver developer Westbank Projects Corp., just opened a Shanghai office. In the company’s last major project, the $450-million Fairmont Pacific Rim luxury condo-hotel tower on the harbour, completed last year, Mr. Gillespie said about one-third of the apartments went to people with roots in China, largely for residences rather than investments.
“They’re not coming in to speculate, throwing money at things. They’re not trying to flip. They probably flip less than anybody,” said Mr. Gillespie.
Ms. Wang – who was scouting another home in the British Properties – buys for investment purposes, and although she and her husband don’t plan to move to Canada, the desire for a stronger education is a factor. Ms. Wang’s 17-year-old daughter lives in Vancouver, where she attends private school, a motivation for the family’s investment in the city.
“The weather is good, the scenery is good, and the education is good,” said Ms. Wang, speaking in Mandarin in an interview. “For the next generation, Canada is a more fair country.”
Last year’s Winter Olympics has sparked additional interest from overseas, said John Lichtenwald, whose Metro Vancouver Properties sold $3.7-billion of residential real estate in 2010 under the Re/Max banner. He estimated that about of a sixth of his firm’s buyers are foreign, led by those with China roots.
“The Olympics was a great advertisement program for all of Vancouver, it really helped,” he said.
Quickly rising home prices have led conservative commentators to point to the role of foreign buyers, though there is no evidence investment money is a primary fuel for the hot market. Peter Ladner, a business leader, recent mayoral candidate for the city’s conservative-leaning party and former city councillor, this month suggested foreign ownership of local real estate should be restricted to discourage “overseas property speculators.” The high cost of living hurts businesses looking to attract workers, he said.
The price of a “standard” two-storey house in the city and on the north shore jumped 10 per cent to $1.1-million in the first three months of 2011, according to research last week by real estate agency Royal LePage. The figure puts Vancouver at triple the national rate for a typical two-storey residence – an average of $379,000, up 4 per cent in the past year.
The city’s most recognizable real estate face, the condo marketer Bob Rennie, insists Vancouver has become a multipart market. There are some neighbourhoods, such as the west side, that can’t be judged on traditional metrics such as income to house price.
And while Mr. Rennie says prices in some areas such as the west side are “pretty frothy,” he leans on another exhortation common among realtors: In a city bounded by the mountains to the north, the water to the west and the U.S. to the south, hot neighbourhoods with spacious homes are rare.
“Even if it slows down, where is the supply?” Mr. Rennie said. “It’s not like we’re producing mansions.”
It is a message embraced by Guo Tai Sun, a 48-year-old who works in real estate and building materials in Guangzhou near Hong Kong. In April, he came to visit friends who had moved to Vancouver and to look at real estate investments. He’s not moving here but made an offer on a $2.5-million home on the city’s west side, popular among China buyers for the quality schools in the area.
“They told me it was a beautiful city,” Mr. Sun said. “I look at the potential of a city. I think Vancouver has great potential.”

Ladner's Chinese rant ignores economic boom

View on Vancouver on October 1, 2005Image via WikipediaBY ETHAN BARON, THE PROVINCE



Former Vancouver councillor Peter Ladner argues that wealthy Chinese homebuyers are driving Vancouver's real-estate prices to heights unaffordable for regular British Columbians.
"Mainland Chinese immigrants are moving to Metro Vancouver at the rate of 10,000 a year," Ladner said. "These immigrants are in some sense political and economic refugees, securing citizenship in Canada as a backup plan for their children's futures."
Rich Chinese buyers, Ladner suggests, are making a killing. He quotes a realtor's flyer boasting that his average client's equity rose from $150,000 to $4.5 million between 1993 and 2011.
"The result of this frenzy is that Vancouver's housing has priced its average citizens well out of the market," Ladner added.
Cry me a river, and make it the Yangtze. Unless you don't buy Chinese-made products, you've got no grounds for complaint.
British Columbians purchase billions of dollars in goods from China, fuelling the economic boom enriching the people who are buying up Vancouver real estate.
In 2000, B.C. Stats predicted British Columbians' contribution to China's economic expansion.
"As China industrializes, the early indications are that British Columbia will . . . play an important supporting role in the emergence of an Asian economic giant," the agency reported.
Imports to B.C. from China the year that prediction was made stood at $3 billion, according to Statistics Canada. Last year, B.C. imported $8.8 billion in goods from China. Canada as a whole imported $44.5 billion in Chinese products in 2010.
"The top five commodities imported from China in 2010 were electronic computers, telecommunication equipment, games and toys, furniture and fixtures and outerwear," StatsCan's 2010 international trade review says.
China's share of Canada's imports rose to 11 per cent in 2010 from 3.7 per cent in 2001, according to StatsCan.
Why do we buy so many Chinese products? Because they're cheap. Why are they cheap? Because Chinese workers are paid very poorly, often toil in abysmal conditions and sometimes get kicked out of their homes so wealthy industrialists can level them and build more factories. Who benefits from this trade relationship? Why, we British Columbians who save money buying cheap goods, and those Chinese who make money off the cheap production of cheap goods. We get inexpensive sweaters. They get houses in Shaughnessy.
Shop at the dollar store all you want, it ain't gonna get you into West Point Grey.
Ladner is right. He's identified a problem that few will speak about for fear of being labelled as racist. But if you're going to point a finger, make sure you're standing in front of a mirror.
Oh, and about that mirror . . .
ebaron@theprovince.com


Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/business/Ladner+Chinese+rant+ignores+economic+boom/4605711/story.html#ixzz1JRKBhiEo

Stable Canadian economy and good quality of life is luring 'planeloads' of overseas buyers eager to invest

View on Vancouver on October 1, 2005Image via Wikipedia
When real estate entrepreneur Cam Good hosted a group of predominantly mainland Chinese investors this Wednesday at a White Rock condo showing, he was tapping into a market that's surging across much of Metro Vancouver.
Good, president of The Key, a Vancouver-based sales and marketing firm that's focusing on a new wave of Chinese buyers, figures he's sold more than 500 homes to mainland Chinese investors and immigrants in January and February in Vancouver and Toronto.
He's also opened an office in Beijing's business district -The Key China -where Chinese buyers can purchase Canadian condos from a presentation centre and view videos that showcase various condo developments and the virtues of Canada.
"[Chinese investors] have really picked up a lot of steam in the last two or three months," Good said in an interview. "And I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. There's an über-wealthy upper class forming and there's a strong middle class growing in China. This massive middle class is now getting to a point where they can afford international real estate. And Canada is viewed by the Chinese as a very stable place to put their money.
"There are literally planeloads of Chinese coming here to buy real estate."
Wednesday's attraction was Avra, a 17-storey condominium tower that's slated to be built over the next two years, and Good took along a busload of investors -some from China and some already living here -and their agents to view the plans.
But it's not just condos that are attracting Chinese buyers, with single-family homes and large lots topping the list.
Across the Lower Mainland, especially Richmond and Vancouver's west side, mainland Chinese buyers and immigrants are becoming a major part of the market, in some cases competing with each other through multiple offers.
But the phenomenon is starting to spread to other areas including Burnaby, West Vancouver, White Rock and beyond.
"We predict that this will be a dominant trend for a long time," Scott Brown, senior vicepresident, Western Canada for Colliers International residential marketing, said in an interview. "Some of the most expensive [Vancouver] real estate is only being marketed to Chinese buyers. And Vancouver and Toronto are very popular."
According to a report on new multi-family home sales in the Lower Mainland by Colliers, which recently opened a dedicated office in Shanghai to deal with the increasing demand, a total of 2,711 new multi-family units were sold in the region in the fourth quarter of 2010, making it the most active quarter of the past year.
"As in each quarter in 2010, the health of the market is expected to continue to be positively impacted by increasing Asian immigrant and investment demand," the report, prepared by Colliers and Urban Analytics, concluded.
Scott said the expected offshore demand will continue to be "the dominant story in 2011 that it was in every quarter of 2010 especially in Vancouver-west, Metrotown and Richmond."
The demand for Vancouver properties appears to be fuelled by many factors -including, ironically, a crackdown on property purchases in mainland China that may be moving much of that investment overseas, particularly to Canada.
Local real estate companies are tapping into the demand, which realtors say is also partly fuelled by an easing of travel restrictions by China with the granting of approved destination status to Canada.
As well, local Vancouver area Chinese-language newspapers are being used by realtors and agents to specifically target mainland Chinese buyers, citing Canada and Vancouver's stability and strong local real estate returns.
A recent report in the China Daily, a state-run publication based in Beijing, said Canada was "the most popular choice" for overseas investors while "growing restrictions on property purchases in major Chinese cities [are driving] the country's nouveau riche to look overseas for investment opportunities."
The newspaper noted that most overseas property purchases are motivated by a combination of factors including immigration, education and investment, with Canada, Australia and the U.K. topping the list of destinations.
The China Daily report also said buyers from the Chinese mainland represent between 40 and 50 per cent of the current market for pre-sale projects in Vancouver.
But China's effort to cool an overheating market is just one reason investment is pouring into Canada.
Brown believes there are many factors, especially Canada's image as a great country to live in and a safe place to invest money. "There's no one easy answer, but one of the main drivers is [they] believe that having their children educated in Canada [is good]. The other driver is that Vancouver is a beautiful, livable city and they want to buy their own piece of it."
One recent buyer is former Beijing resident Yang Yang, who moved to B.C. with her husband and young daughter last summer, purchased a detached house in Surrey, and accompanied Good to the White Rock condo showing.
"We prefer the peaceful life here," Yang said in an interview. "Beijing is very crowded and the air pollution is bad there."
Yang said that she and her husband, an IT engineer, are considering a condo at Avra as a place to retire when they no longer need their larger home.
Yang's realtor, Hong Lui, with Interlink Realty in Richmond, said she first noticed a surge in mainland Chinese interest last spring and it's grown increasingly stronger, with a mix of investors, including those who want to immigrate to Canada and others who are looking here after the Chinese government restricted their ability to own several homes.
Richmond MacDonald Realty realtor David Lindsay said: "January and February has been almost exclusively mainland Chinese buyers of big lots, with a house of little value on it. And we're getting multiple offers."
He said, for example, that a typical lot in the Seafair area, which sold for $800,000 in October, is now selling in the $1.2-million range. "I sold one last Sunday and we had four offers. The winning bid was $1.03 million. It was on the market for $968,000." Lindsay believes there's speculation is going on, because some buyers are getting an accepted contract with a clause that allows them to assign the contract to a third party before the sale is completed. "One buyer didn't even set foot on the property."
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Jake Moldowan said he believes lifestyle is the core reason for the interest. "Vancouver is an extremely desirable place to be."
He said that Richmond lots are now going for $1 million to $1.3 million. "And I know that there have been realtors from Hong Kong and mainland China, who fly over there, put packages together, and then bring people over."
Meanwhile, Bosa Properties announced this week that its 34-storey Sovereign tower in Burnaby's Metrotown sold out immediately, surpassing the single day sales record in the Burnaby market by selling $98-million worth of real estate.
bmorton@vancouversun.com



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Canada: New Employer Compliance Requirements Take Effect Soon

"Memorial to Commemorate the Chinese Rail...Image by Shaun Merritt via FlickrEmployers should be prepared for new restrictions on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program taking effect April 1, 2011. Employers will be required to demonstrate past compliance with program rules and commitments in order to participate in the program. Further, some foreign workers will be subject to a four-year limit on employment in Canada.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will introduce new restrictions for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) effective April 1, 2011. Employers will be required to demonstrate their past compliance with program rules and commitments, and risk suspension from the TFWP for past program violations. In addition, some foreign nationals will be subject to a four-year limit on the time they can work in Canada under the TFWP.
New Compliance Requirements for Employers

Effective April 1, 2011, employers seeking to hire foreign workers will have their compliance with TFWP requirements over the preceding two years assessed. CIC will examine whether a sponsoring employer has provided its TFWP workers with wages, working conditions and an occupation that were substantially the same as the terms and conditions of the job offer that supported the work permit application.
An employer who does not meet the terms and conditions of the job offer may be subject to a two-year probationary period during which it may not hire a foreign worker under the program, unless the employer can show its earlier noncompliance was justified. Acceptable justifications to excuse noncompliance can include:
  • A change in federal or provincial laws;
  • A change in the applicable collective bargaining agreements;
  • A good faith error in interpretation by the employer concerning its obligations to the foreign worker, so long as the employer subsequently provided compensation or made sufficient attempts to do so to all foreign workers who were affected by the error;
  • An unintentional accounting or administrative error made by the employer, so long as the employer subsequently provided compensation or made sufficient attempts to do so to all foreign workers who were affected by the error;
  • If the employer implemented measures that did not disproportionately affect foreign workers in response to dramatic economic changes directly affecting the employer, or
  • Similar or related circumstances.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada will also maintain a public list of noncompliant employers on its website.
Though these new regulations do not take effect until April 1, they will apply to employers retroactively. As such, employers should review all work permits obtained on or after April 1, 2009 to ensure that the wages, working conditions and occupation have remained substantially the same as disclosed in the employer’s original offers of employment. If necessary, remedial action must be taken by the employer to ensure compliance with the regulations.
Four-Year Employment Limit for Some Work Permit Holders

The new TFWP rules will limit some work permit holders to a cumulative maximum period of four years of work in Canada. Once the four-year cap is reached, these individuals will not be eligible to apply for another work permit for a period of four years. However, the new cap will not apply to certain workers who enter in a category that is exempt from the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) requirement. This includes foreign nationals holding work permits that are issued pursuant to an international trade treaty, such as NAFTA or the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), or those holding positions that are exempt from LMO requirements because they create or maintain significant benefits for Canadians (such as intra-company transferees, among others).
Note that the four-year limit applies to employment authorization. It does not limit a foreign national’s stay in Canada to four years. In theory, those subject to the four-year work limit may be eligible to obtain another form of immigration status, such as student or dependent status, if they qualify. However, employers should still plan ahead and explore options for permanent residence for those foreign employees who may be subject to the four-year cap.

Source: Fragomen


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