Mike Smyth
The Province
There are millions of people around the world who can only dream about starting a new life in a prosperous country like Canada, where hard work and talent are welcomed and rewarded.
Nivesh Sharma, 30, was living that dream when he arrived from India in November 2015 with a work permit and visa and found a job as a shipping-logistics expert with a company in Richmond.
His wife, Neha, also had a work permit and found a job as a bookkeeper with a kitchen-supply company in Surrey.
With their application for permanent-resident status awaiting approval in Ottawa, the Sharmas began planning to raise a family. Last April, they put down a $20,000 deposit on a new townhouse under construction in Surrey.
With the townhouse scheduled for occupancy in November, the Sharmas could not have been happier.
“We were renting a basement apartment and enjoying our first summer together in Canada,” Nivesh Sharma told me.
“We had settled in our new country, we both had jobs, friends and a new house to look forward to. It was a joyful time.”
But things took an unexpected turn last July 25 when Premier Christy Clark announced a 15-per-cent foreign homebuyers tax, vowing to “put British Columbians first” in Metro Vancouver’s overheated housing market.
Because the Sharmas had agreed to buy the townhouse for $361,000, it meant the government was now demanding an additional $54,000 from them.
They did not have the money and the bank would not loan the additional cash. Heartbroken, Sharma tried to get out of his purchase contract, but the townhouse developer would not refund his $20,000 deposit.
“We had two options: Lose $20,000 and our new townhouse or try to come up with the $54,000,” he said. “We had many sleepless nights over it.”
He eventually scraped up the money by securing six separate personal loans. He borrowed money from his father and his father-in-law (both back in India), two friends and from his boss and his wife’s boss.
Now he is working long overtime hours to pay off the unexpected debts.
“We somehow managed it, though it’s been extremely difficult and stressful,” he said.
But then came another twist. On Jan. 29, Clark suddenly announced the government would eliminate the tax on foreign homebuyers living, working and paying taxes in B.C.
“We believe that people, the best and the brightest, should be able to come to British Columbia,” Clark said.
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