Christy Clark and Mike de Jong for years laughed at anyone who suggested foreign money was having a material impact on prices in BC (they are bought-out by the RE industry). All of a sudden they implemented the 15% tax before the provincial election because they realized the polls weren't looking good and scared off many foreign investors from the Lower Mainland. Coincidentally, Vancouver's market started to cool and Toronto's market started to take off. 

In the middle of the over-heated market in BC, when Canadian residents are desperate for affordable housing, Christy Clark traveled to China with New Coast Realty, which is comprised of the most corrupt Chinese realtors around who are well-known for unethical and illegal activity. Christy was trying to attract more Chinese buyers to BC to fuel the housing crises. Reliable data on foreign ownership is non-existent because our government doesn't want everyone to know the real reason why BC leads economic growth (selling our soul).