Finance committee  No. Unfortunately, we have both first-hand and second-hand knowledge of international owners of accommodation selling their properties with the institution of the UHT. In fact, they are extremely disheartened, as they were solicited to invest in Whistler and they recognize that Whistler's success is, in part, due to their investments.

Finance committee  Yes. There are two municipalities. Whistler and Sun Peaks are both zoned as resort municipalities in Canada that have designated tourist zones. However, other destinations that would also be impacted are larger resort destinations that rely on international investment, such as Big White, Mont-Tremblant and, possibly, Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Finance committee  There are approximately 6,600 tourist accommodation rental units located on resort lands. These are one-, two- and three-bedroom units, or approximately 9,300 bedrooms. About 12% of these properties—somewhere between 10% and 15%—are owned by U.S. and international property owners, so about 790 to 1,110 bedrooms.

Finance committee  If an international property owner sells to a Canadian, the following could occur. First, the resale of these properties would not go to local community residents. As resort lands, properties are not suitable for residential living, so the resales would likely go to British Columbia second-home owners, who would use their properties more often due to their close proximity to Whistler.

Finance committee  Okay. I have provided information that people can have a look at.

Finance committee  Thank you. Good morning. My name is Dave Brown. I'm a long-time realtor in Whistler, British Columbia. I'm here today to discuss the underused housing tax on behalf of both the Whistler Real Estate Association, which is made up of about 150 realtors, and Tourism Whistler, a non-profit tourism organization representing 8,000 members who have tourist-zoned property on resort lands in Whistler.