According to The Star Vancouver: In an effort to crack down on tax avoidance, the B.C. government will create a public registry to show who owns real estate in the province.

B.C.’s finance minister says the province has gotten a reputation for being a place to invest anonymously and hide wealth.

“Right now in B.C., real estate investors can hide behind numbered companies, offshore and domestic trusts, and corporations,” said Carole James in a statement. “Ending this type of hidden ownership in real estate will help us fight tax evasion, tax fraud and money laundering.”

In May, the Canada Revenue Agency reported it had identified nearly $600 million in unpaid taxes over the past three years by taking a closer look at Vancouver and Toronto’s real estate markets.

According to BIV,Residential construction all along the Canada rapid transit line is steadily transforming downtown Richmond from a strip of shopping malls into an urban core with cosmopolitan flair. Part and parcel of many developments is space for professional offices.

But most of the new construction has been strata space sold to local owner-occupiers or investors like so many of the surrounding residential units. Mo Yeung International Enterprise Ltd.’s International Trade Centre development at Versante, a mixed-use project with 97,846 square feet of strata office space at 8477 Bridgeport Road, is but the latest case in point.

The situation is about to change, however, with the 343,000 square feet of leasehold office space set to start with completion by the end of 2020.  The largest is Yuanheng Holdings Ltd.’s plan for 237,832 square feet of office space at 3311 No. 3 Road, which began the development permit process last year.

An additional 105,420 square feet is proceeding without pre-lease commitments at iFortune Centre, which iFortune Homes Inc. is building at 6860 No. 3 Road.  The lack of commitments underscores the tight nature of the market. Avison Young reports that vacancies in Richmond as a whole ended 2017 at less than 10 per cent for the first time in 10 years, but those in the core along No. 3 Road are closer to two per cent.

从一个众多人心目中的食堂和购物街，Richmond已经开始向着城市中心的方向大步的迈进了，2020年底一大型商业租用的楼群在8477 Bridgeport将建成，缓解大批商铺被重建成居民住宅而造成的紧缺。这是过去10年内首次建造的租赁型单位，除本地商户以外，还会有不少被从Downtown挤出来的商户的青睐。3号路沿线目前有6个大型开发项目在进行时，大家喜闻乐见的高楼林立的都市景象即将呈现～～