Why is a Richmond B.C. neighbourhood with many expensive mansions also one of the city’s ‘poorest’? | National Post: "Albert Lo, head of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, is concerned residents with expensive assets in Canada, particularly houses, are earning most of their money outside the country and not reporting it to the B.C. and Canadian governments.
The Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which operates on a $24-million endowment from the federal government and ethnic groups, is urging the Canada Revenue Agency to more closely examine the earnings of immigrants who “park large amounts of money” in Canadian real estate and then “go back to work in China” or elsewhere, said Lo, a longtime Richmond resident and Realtor.
Jiun-Hsien Henry Yao, who ran for Richmond city council in 2014, is also troubled by the income-reporting problem. Normally, he said, “you would need a family income of $150,000 to $200,000 just to feel you can afford any home in Richmond.” But in high-end Thompson, most households report income well under $100,000.
Both Halsey-Brandt and Lo said even though the problem of low reported incomes seems most exaggerated in Thompson, it is also occurring in other parts of Richmond.
“Statistics Canada continues to show (the entire city of) Richmond as one of the poorest cities in British Columbia, with a very high child poverty rate,” says Halsey-Brandt, who also represented Richmond as a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister.
This is a “serious financial issue,” Halsey-Brandt said, “because of the demands placed on our health care and education systems by newcomers.”
Although people who live in expensive houses pay property taxes, Halsey-Brandt said, many appear to not be paying an appropriate share of provincial and federal income taxes, which fund highways, transit, universities, hospitals and much more.
The Metro Vancouver Housing Data Book says Richmond, on average, has the third highest prices for single-family dwellings of any municipality, behind only Vancouver and West Vancouver.
But that appears to contradict the reported poverty levels in Richmond, particularly among immigrant households.
The Housing Data Book says that, statistically, Richmond has the highest proportion of households maintained by immigrants who are, based on their reported incomes, judged to be in “extremely dire housing” situations.
Across Metro Vancouver, the Housing Data Book reports 51 per cent of the households that report spending at least half of their incomes on shelter, which is the definition of “extremely dire,” are maintained by immigrants. In Richmond, that figure jumps to 71 per cent.
Lo said the issue of low reported incomes relates in part to Richmond’s large number of so-called astronaut parents.
“If a family moves here, but the head of the family goes back to China or East Asia to make money, that means Richmond often ends up with the spouse and children. That family is not going to declare earning much money in Canada,” said Lo.
A federal government analysis recently showed that immigrants to Canada from China, as well as Taiwan and Korea, are most likely to declare the lowest incomes in Canada."
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The Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which operates on a $24-million endowment from the federal government and ethnic groups, is urging the Canada Revenue Agency to more closely examine the earnings of immigrants who “park large amounts of money” in Canadian real estate and then “go back to work in China” or elsewhere, said Lo, a longtime Richmond resident and Realtor.
Jiun-Hsien Henry Yao, who ran for Richmond city council in 2014, is also troubled by the income-reporting problem. Normally, he said, “you would need a family income of $150,000 to $200,000 just to feel you can afford any home in Richmond.” But in high-end Thompson, most households report income well under $100,000.
Both Halsey-Brandt and Lo said even though the problem of low reported incomes seems most exaggerated in Thompson, it is also occurring in other parts of Richmond.
“Statistics Canada continues to show (the entire city of) Richmond as one of the poorest cities in British Columbia, with a very high child poverty rate,” says Halsey-Brandt, who also represented Richmond as a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister.
This is a “serious financial issue,” Halsey-Brandt said, “because of the demands placed on our health care and education systems by newcomers.”
Although people who live in expensive houses pay property taxes, Halsey-Brandt said, many appear to not be paying an appropriate share of provincial and federal income taxes, which fund highways, transit, universities, hospitals and much more.
The Metro Vancouver Housing Data Book says Richmond, on average, has the third highest prices for single-family dwellings of any municipality, behind only Vancouver and West Vancouver.
But that appears to contradict the reported poverty levels in Richmond, particularly among immigrant households.
The Housing Data Book says that, statistically, Richmond has the highest proportion of households maintained by immigrants who are, based on their reported incomes, judged to be in “extremely dire housing” situations.
Across Metro Vancouver, the Housing Data Book reports 51 per cent of the households that report spending at least half of their incomes on shelter, which is the definition of “extremely dire,” are maintained by immigrants. In Richmond, that figure jumps to 71 per cent.
Lo said the issue of low reported incomes relates in part to Richmond’s large number of so-called astronaut parents.
“If a family moves here, but the head of the family goes back to China or East Asia to make money, that means Richmond often ends up with the spouse and children. That family is not going to declare earning much money in Canada,” said Lo.
A federal government analysis recently showed that immigrants to Canada from China, as well as Taiwan and Korea, are most likely to declare the lowest incomes in Canada."
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