Greater Vancouver by the numbers
.
Regional Challenges
Despite Greater Vancouver’s bright near-term economic outlook, the region’s longer term performance will depend on the ability of its leaders to deal with seven important challenges revealed in our study.
-
1 Transit Infrastructure: Underinvestment in roads and public transit infrastructure
-
2 Housing Affordability: Poor housing affordability
-
3 Port Expansion: Land scarcity for trade-enabling port expansion
-
4 Productivity Levels: Low labour productivity levels
-
5 Educational Attainment Rates: That fall short of the Scorecard leaders
-
6 Tax Rates: High marginal effective tax rate on capital
-
7 Head Offices: Fewer head offices than cities of comparable size
I did like how one of the metrics of success is what % of people do NOT commute by car.
Hmm. The striking part about point 6 is the extremely low marginal tax rate on residential real estate investments (used as primary residence). Just another factor steering all that money ends up in real estate.
Indeed. Why work hard to make another $100,000 as a middle to high end professional and pay close to 50% of it in income taxes if you can upgrade your house / condo for you or your kids and make a few hundred thousand tax free ?
Much of the immigrant and foreign money is gifted ( tax free ) to spouses, kids or relatives and then used to buy real estate. Free ESL, healthcare and schools, too ! Why work ?
Our tax system, rooted in post WW II thinking, of very slow real estate gains and based on very low immigration rates ought to change. Lower income taxes and up consumption taxes ( which includes real estate as another form of consumption).
“Our tax system, rooted in post WW II thinking, of very slow real estate gains and based on very low immigration rates ought to change.”
This is a great point Thomas. Never thought of it that way
If Lower Mainland mayors actually encouraged investments, job creation and fair taxation Vancouver and area could be so much better, but no, energy exports (and harbor expansions and rods for it) are bad. But more diesel buses are good. Business folks get that conflicting message. Do politicians ? http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/b-c-s-lower-mainland-mayors-vow-to-fight-trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion