Guides · For you
New to BC real estate
Moving to the Lower Mainland, or buying from outside Canada — the federal foreign-buyer ban, BC's additional tax, financing as a non-resident, and choosing a community.
Start here
The one to read first
The roadmap for this whole path — read it before the rest.
BC Foreign Buyer — Complete Pillar
Federal Foreign Buyer Ban (sunsets Jan 1, 2027) × Provincial 20% PTT (does NOT sunset).
Read the guideThe full set
Every new to bc real estate guide
Each one is sourced to a primary document and re-verified every quarter.
Areas Within 15 Minutes of Fort Langley
Seven surrounding neighbourhoods (Glen Valley, Walnut Grove, Willoughby, Langley City, Murrayville, Brookswood, Aldergrove) and which one suits which buyer — drive times, price ranges, and what each is known for.
Bedford Landing, Fort Langley
The master-planned community north of Mavis Avenue along the Bedford Channel — what to know about pricing, walkability to the village, and how it differs from the heritage village stock.
Cambie Secondary (Richmond) — IB Diploma Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 38 secondary at 4151 Jacombs Road.
Earl Marriott Secondary (South Surrey) — Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 36 secondary at 15945 16 Avenue.
Eric Hamber Secondary (Vancouver) — Catchment Buyer Guide
VSB / SD 39 secondary at 5025 Willow Street.
Federal Foreign Buyer Ban
Plain-English guide to Canada's Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act — exceptions, geographic scope, and how it differs from BC's 20% Foreign Buyer Tax.
Fort Langley Cranberry Festival
Visitor wayfinding for the Fort Langley village's biggest single-day event — typically Thanksgiving Saturday in October.
Fort Langley Heritage Village
The village heritage core at Glover Road and Mavis Avenue — Township façade guidelines, the National Historic Site overlay, the Coulter Berry case, and what character-home buyers need to know about renovation rules.
Fraser Heights Schools — A Home Buyer's Catchment Guide
In Surrey the catchment school is set by a home’s address — so for a family relocating to Fraser Heights, catchment is a real input into which home to buy.
Handsworth Secondary (North Vancouver) — Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 44 secondary at 1044 Edgewood Road.
International Newcomer Guide — Buying in Vancouver (UK / AU / HK / SG / IN)
Cumulative tax-stack pricing problem ranked: Federal Foreign Buyer Ban → BC FBT 20% → BC SVT 2% → federal UHT 1% → Vancouver EHT 3%.
Langley Fine Arts School (LFAS)
K-12 program-of-choice fine arts school in Fort Langley with district-wide draw — what application-based admission means for buyers, and what proximity to LFAS looks like in real estate terms.
Lord Byng Secondary (Vancouver) — Catchment Buyer Guide
VSB / SD 39 secondary at 3939 W 16th Avenue.
Moving from Calgary / Alberta to Vancouver — Buyer Research Guide
Alberta is one of only three Canadian provinces with no provincial land transfer tax (with SK and NL), so the BC PTT lands as a brand-new closing-statement line — quantified at roughly $22,000 on a $1.2M Lower Mainland purchase vs low-hundreds Alberta land-titles fees.
Moving from Seattle / Portland / US Pacific Northwest to Vancouver — Buyer Research Guide
Five-surface tax stack quantified (BC PTT + BC FBT 20% + federal UHT 1% + BC SVT 2% + Vancouver EHT 3%) on top of USD/CAD currency layer, with the federal Foreign Buyer Ban gating eligibility entirely.
Moving from Toronto / GTA to Vancouver — Buyer Research Guide
GTA-to-BC tax stack comparison side-by-side (Ontario LTT + Toronto MLTT vs BC PTT, NRST 25% vs FBT 20%, FTHB rebates, SVT).
Moving to Fort Langley
Pillar relocation guide — village fabric, schools, commute math (Vancouver, Surrey, Langley City, YVR, Albion), housing-market layering, daily life, and the trade-offs that matter when comparing Fort Langley to other Lower Mainland communities.
Pacific Academy, Surrey — A Home Buyer's Field Guide
Pacific Academy is a regional private school — families apply from across the region — which makes it a relocation and demand factor for North Surrey and Fraser Heights housing.
Pinetree Secondary (Coquitlam) — IB Diploma Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 43 secondary at 3000 Pinewood Avenue.
R.E. Mountain Secondary (Langley) — IB Diploma Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 35 secondary at 7755 202A Street.
Schools Near Fort Langley (SD #35 + SD #42)
Every public secondary within 15 minutes of Fort Langley village — Walnut Grove, R.E. Mountain (IB), D.W. Poppy, Brookswood, Aldergrove, Langley, Garibaldi (IB), plus the K-12 program-of-choice schools (LFAS, Langley Fundamental).
The Vancouver Special — Cultural & Architectural Pillar
The 1965-1985 BC architectural archetype: ~10,000 built in East Van + South Van.
West Vancouver Secondary — IB Diploma Catchment Buyer Guide
SD 45 single-secondary district (with Rockridge Secondary serving the western District including Caulfeild).
Yorkson, Willoughby (Langley)
The northern Willoughby sub-area — Polygon and Mosaic project list, Yorkson Community Park (27.6 acres), Yorkson Creek Middle / R.E. Mountain Pre-IB feeder pattern, and what differentiates Yorkson from Routley, Latimer, and Carvolth.
