QIIP Adding Fuel to Vancouver Housing Crisis
In this episode of #TheSaretsky Show Ian Young a well respected journalist for the South China Morning Post and author of the popular Hongcouver blog discusses the Quebec Immigrant Investors program.
Ian believes the program, which basically involves selling Canadian passports is not only unethical but is a drain on the economy despite the initial influx of cash. Rich Chinese use the Quebec Immigrant Investors program to come through the backdoor into Vancouver and then purchase expensive real estate. Many of the investors then go on to pay little to no income tax here.
Ian Young believes the program should be shut down. This interview was an eye opener and I highly recommend you dive into it. I’ve included the show notes below so you can navigate to the parts that interest you.
Show Notes:
0:45 What’s your background and where are you from?
1:57 Do you own real estate here in Vancouver?
3:44 Is Vancouver heading towards a Hong Kong market?
4:44 Did you see any immediate changes to the Hong Kong market when they implemented their 15% tax?
6:01 What do you think is the biggest reason behind unaffordability here in Vancouver? Can you single one out?
8:07 What do you think of the new tax?
10:17 Being Chinese yourself, do you feel the tax is prejudice?
10:44 What’s the sentiment amongst other Chinese people?
11:44 Can you explain the Quebec Investors program?
13:38 Are investors supposed to stay in Quebec?
14:45 How much are these investors worth?
17:01 What would you like to see happen with the Quebec immigrant investor program?
20:25 What do you say to people who argue the Canadian economy needs the investors money to help the economy grow?
22:31 Do you think the pros outweigh the cons to shut down the Quebec immigrant investor program?
24:05 What kind of immigrants should Canada be accepting?
24:50 How much income tax are Quebec immigrant investors paying?
27:54 How many people are arriving each year through this program?
28:40 How much can the Quebec Immigrant investors program affect prices in Vancouver?
32:32 If we ended the program tomorrow how much do you think prices would come down?