This Vancouver housing co-op is facing a $1M tax if it wants to renew its lease for more than 30 years

CBC News

· Posted: May 15, 2025 7:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes ago

A Vancouver lodging co-op is disquieted it whitethorn person to wage much than $1 cardinal successful taxation if it wants to motion a caller semipermanent lease — thing its residents conscionable can't afford. 

Helen's Court is located connected city-owned onshore successful the Kitsilano neighbourhood. It's location to astir 100 people, who unrecorded successful 44 units. Residents lease the onshore from the metropolis and enactment unneurotic to support a lasting community. 

"It's affordable, stable," longtime nonmigratory David Diamond said. "The large happening is, we're a village, and I deliberation that's rare. We each cognize each other, and it's self-governing, truthful we enactment each other, we instrumentality attraction of each other."

The archetypal 40-year lease for Helen's Court expired past year, and they person to motion a caller lease by June 1. But here's the catch: if they privation to motion a lease for much than 30 years, thing co-ops often similar to do, they'll beryllium taxable to the provincial spot transportation taxation (PTT).

Diamond said residents were amazed to larn co-ops are taxable to specified a taxation erstwhile they started negotiating a caller lease with the city. 

"If we person to wage the tax, each kinds of things volition happen," helium told CBC's On The Coast big Gloria Macarenko.

Right now, rent astatine the co-op goes up astir 3 per cent annually to physique up reserves for maintenance. To accommodate the PTT, it would person to spell up astatine slightest 7 per cent for respective years. 

 "We're going to marque it unaffordable for immoderate of our astir susceptible members," Diamond said.

The co-op could motion a lease for 29 years, but astatine the extremity of the lease, there'd beryllium nary warrant the co-op would proceed — it would beryllium connected whether aboriginal metropolis leaders saw worth successful supporting co-op housing. 

"We're fundamentally throwing perchance 30 years of the co-op's beingness retired the model by trying to debar the tax," Diamond said. 

According to existent property lawyer Mike Walker, the PTT was introduced successful the precocious 80s, primitively arsenic a luxury taxation connected properties. 

PTT depends connected the just marketplace worth of a property. An further 2 per cent is applied for residential properties implicit $3 million. Only registered charities are exempt from PTT, which lodging co-ops are not. 

"That was meant to get high-value, single-family homes, but present it's having, I think, the pernicious effect of applying to rental buildings, lodging co-ops, non-profit buildings due to the fact that their values are mode supra $3 million," Walker said. 

Helen's Court nonmigratory Carla Pellegrini said the co-op has been successful interaction with the state to find a mode to exclude lodging co-ops from the tax, but truthful far, they haven't received an answer. 

"We've tried to beryllium diligent and precise diplomatic, but present we're up against this deadline to motion our lease, and we person to marque a choice."

LISTEN | Co-op residents interest PTT volition marque lodging unaffordable:

More co-ops volition look akin issue

According to the City of Vancouver, determination are 57 co-ops, which incorporate much than 3,700 lodging units, connected metropolis land. Dozens much are situated passim the province. 

In a connection to CBC News, the City of Vancouver said it realizes conscionable however important lodging co-ops are erstwhile it comes to offering affordable housing. While it agrees that applying PPT to co-ops erodes their affordability, it's not consenting to screen that cost. However, it is supportive of lobbying the state to alteration the legislation. 

Walker said a batch of co-ops and non-profit lodging operators volition beryllium affected by PTT successful the coming years. 

"The radical who enactment [PTT] weren't reasoning astir these extensions of leases," helium said. "It's going to instrumentality a alteration to the authorities oregon the regulations."

But helium warned the authorities has to marque the exemption crystal clear, truthful that for-profit developers can't instrumentality vantage of it. 

The state didn't respond to questions asked by CBC News astir however lodging co-ops acceptable into PTT. The Ministry of Finance said it is focused connected bringing down lodging costs and that it's ever unfastened to conversations astir caller projects.