B.C. to introduce 'cooling off' period legislation for real estate
CBC
British Columbia's government will introduce legislation in the spring of 2022 with the aim of giving homebuyers a chance to change their minds on the purchase of a home, according to the province.
In a statement Thursday, the province said a so-called cooling-off period would allow purchasers to back out with no or diminished legal consequences.
The B.C. Financial Services Authority said it also will be consulting with those in the real estate industry and other experts on more ways to protect consumers, including a review of the blind bidding system, which can significantly raise the price of purchase.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the real estate market, first by dipping during the initial weeks of the pandemic, then surging, according to Finance Minister Selina Robinson who spoke at a media briefing Thursday. She also said the consumer protection consultation "needs to be done right.''
Blair Morrison, CEO of the Financial Services Authority, says ensuring fair markets and promoting public confidence in B.C.'s real estate sector is a key priority.
The province already has a cooling-off period in place for pre-construction condo sales.
Any Yan, urban planner and adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University, said homebuyers making likely the biggest purchase of their lives have been facing a lot of pressure due to a changing market and the emotional roller coaster of living under a pandemic.
He said the rush to buy has meant people were purchasing a home without inspections and proper research.
"A lot of this is really due to the type of kind of significant volatility that has occurred just over the last 18 months with COVID, low interest rates and a relatively low inventory," said Yan.
He said the cooling off period provides a layer of consumer protection that will be built into the contract for real estate purchases, which he said he believes will have a 'calming effect' on the province's real estate market.
Kamloops Coun. Bill Sarai has apologized after admitting he secretly recorded his argument with Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson in January 2023, then sent a snippet of the conversation to the mayor, suggesting someone else had recorded it.
Yellowknife city council removed $550,000, intended to operate its own dog pound, from the city's draft budget on Monday.
The RCMP says it's considering deploying Mounties-in-training to help police the Canada-U.S. border as political anxiety over border control mounts in the face of tariff threats from the incoming Trump administration.
The death and destruction in the Crosschild family didn't stop at the domestic murder of Autumn, a 25-year-old Indigenous woman killed by Brandon Yellowfly, the man she once wanted to marry.
Josh Smee imagines a future in which food banks no longer exist in Canada, because people don't need them.
The Toronto Transit Commission board has voted to ban electric bikes with lithium-ion batteries from TTC vehicles and stations from November 15 to April 15 each year due to safety concerns.
Prince Edward Island now has a law on the books to regulate service dogs, but it could be two more years before it comes into effect.
The partner of a man who went missing near Chetwynd, B.C. more than six weeks ago says she believes their dog, which disappeared at the same time, has been found alive.
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Multinational food corporation Cargill said on Tuesday it plans to cut roughly five per cent of its staff, or about 8,000 jobs.
The season's first blast of winter weather continued Tuesday in the region and north of the city with some schools and school purpose vehicles cancelled and plows out in force on the roads.